Lending and borrowing in Germany

Latham & Watkins LLP handles matters on the entire financing spectrum, including various interdisciplinary issues at the corporate, capital market and restructuring interface. This interdisciplinarity and the group's multijurisdictional skills are also evident at management level; Frank Grell, who jointly heads the practice with Alexandra Hagelüken, is one of the key contacts for the latter cross-sectional segment, while Hagelüken, as part of the three-strong management team of the firm's global finance department, is qualified not only in German but also in English law. In addition, clients – including sponsors, banks, companies and debt funds – benefit from the German practice's US law expertise in cross-border matters. The team recently assisted with government-sponsored and KfW financing, ESG-linked transactions, investment grade and cross-over investment grade financing, direct lending and unitranche financing with senior/super-senior structures as well as with corporate loans and bond refinancing. Kim Woggon, who made counsel in January 2021 and covers a similarly broad range of topics, is regularly involved. Sibylle Münch is another key contact and excels in the area of (secured) promissory note loans.

Banks, private equity investors, direct lending funds and companies instruct Clifford Chance to assist with acquisition and corporate financing, restructuring and refinancing as well as with the financing of takeovers of listed companies under German and English law. Recently, the group advised on an increasing number of regulatory-related issues, for example when advising KfW on the implementation of its Corona special program 'Direct Participation for Syndicated Financing'. The group is led by Bettina Steinhauer, whose expertise includes mezzanine and high-yield financing as well as public-to-private transactions. At the end of 2020, former practice co-head Barbara Mayer-Trautmann joined Milbank with a team of senior associates.

Milbank's activity is characterised by acquisitions and refinancings that often entail complex financing structures and cross-border elements, but also include capital market products, above all term loan B loans. In this regard, the group is instructed by lenders such as banks and debt funds as well as by financial investors and companies. Investment grade and sub-investment grade borrowers are also regularly advised on corporate financing. With the addition of Barbara Mayer-Trautmann in January 2021, the group not only strengthened its leveraged finance and corporate loans practice, but also its restructuring and infrastructure financing capabilities; she previously held the position of co-head at Clifford Chance and now jointly leads the practice with Thomas Ingenhoven who is also managing partner of the Frankfurt office. Ingenhoven also focuses on acquisition financing and regularly takes the lead in syndicated loans. Mathias Eisen is another key member of the practice and offers extensive advice across financing matters.

Gleiss Lutz has extensive expertise in restructuring-related matters, which is not least due to its close cross-practice cooperation with the restructuring team. The group recently particularly utilised this strength in assisting corporates and lenders with financial restructuring and crisis-related financing due to Covid-19. Practice head Kai Arne Birke regularly took the lead in these matters, while also advising on capital market-related issues. Frank Schlobach is a key contact for LBO and acquisition financing – another mainstay of the practice – with his clients including sponsors in the large and mid-cap sectors in particular. Eva Reudelhuber, who specializes in corporate financing, is another key contact.

White & Case LLP regularly advises national and international financial institutions on acquisition financing. These usually span several jurisdictions, for which the group is well equipped due to its cross-location capacities on one hand and its German, English and US law expertise at its German locations on the other. Vanessa Schürmann, head of the bank finance practice, specializes in advising on English law and also assists with matters pertaining to the high-yield sphere. Insolvency and restructuring-related issues such as the refinancing of existing loans or the modification of existing credit lines also represent parts of the group’s case load. Sébastien Seele made partner in January 2021 and assists with leveraged and investment grade acquisition as well as with corporate finance and financial restructurings.

In February 2021 and at the end of 2021, respectively, Kerstin Block (Hamburg) and André Frischemeier (Frankfurt) took over the lead of CMS' banking and finance group, replacing Markus Pfaff (Frankfurt) and Marc Seibold (Stuttgart), who remain key members of the team. Block has particular expertise in advising on matters in the energy and digital infrastructure sectors, while Frischemeier assists with restructuring and refinancing of financing transactions among other matters; here, the team frequently  cooperates with its corporate and restructuring colleagues which, alongside corporate and acquisition financing, represents one of the practice's mainstays. The practice predominantly, but not exclusively, acts for borrowers.

Taylor Wessing focuses on acquisition and corporate finance as well as on financial restructuring, while the arrival of Jennifer Maiworm in Hamburg as a salary partner at the end of 2020 (previously Principal Associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) also strengthened the group's real estate finance capacities. Practice head Clemens Niedner also devotes himself to this range of topics, including restructuring advice, for which the group routinely cooperates with the firm's insolvency and restructuring teams. In the acquisition financing field, the team predominantly advises private equity and private debt funds, and in the corporate loan area, it is primarily instructed by banks.

In the acquisition financing field, Hogan Lovells International LLP recently increasingly acted for debt funds, but also advises traditional lenders. In the corporate financing area, the group advised borrowers and lenders on financial restructuring and Covid-19-related financing measures, which often entailed capital markets aspects; subsequently, the practice regularly cooperates with its capital markets colleagues. The group is led by financing and financial restructuring expert Katlen Blöcker .

Norton Rose Fulbright primarily advises banks and alternative lenders and, to a lesser extent, companies on acquisition, asset and corporate financing, while the Covid-19 crisis resulted in an increased demand in advice on KfW loans and financial restructuring. For matters related to restructuring and insolvency, the group is well equipped thanks to its close cooperation with the firm's respective practice groups. Practice head Oliver Sutter focuses on acquisition finance and corporate loan transactions. With the arrivals of Stefan Schramm and counsel Carolin Glänzel from Eversheds Sutherland in July 2021, the team's acquisition financing capabilities were particularly strengthened, although both also field broad financing experience in relation to syndication and securitization.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP is renowned for advising sponsors and their portfolio companies on cross-border LBOs and refinancings, with a focus on the IT and healthcare sectors. Jan Wilms heads the practice and, in addition to LBOs, also assists with corporate finance and project finance matters.