About

Head of legal for family owned and globally recognised brand HARIBO, Klaus Cannivé manages and drives the legal and compliance team which supports the ambitious international expansion of a company with strong local roots and a rich business culture. Cannivé excels in this role by maintaining a close relationship with the business and paying close attention to the ever-changing needs of all various internal departments: ‘My experience is that a close relationship to other functions and honest efforts to understand their needs is an important factor for the quality of the legal advice’ explains Cannivé. A pragmatic and reliable leader, Cannivé has significantly moved the legal team forward, tangibly making an improvement to the overall style of the legal team. He has achieved this by shifting the team to a proactive unit and cultivating the global compliance culture by improving transparency and establishing its first steps towards global standards. By allocating clear areas of responsibilities within the legal and compliance team, Cannivé has made sure that the legal team is fully involved in early stages of all projects. Cannivé has previously displayed great talent in various sectors and roles. Previously serving as the general counsel EMEAA for Gfk, Cannivé was responsible for a legal team located in four countries and mentions his involvement in the sale of animal health and crop divisions as one of the highlights of his career: ‘One highlight was a complex MBO/carve out transaction which involved Gfk entities in several jurisdictions. It gave me a first-hand experience that detailed preparation and the focus on the commercially relevant aspects are the key aspects in deals with private equity investors’. A formative and ‘great experience’ for Cannivé was his time spent serving as a legal counsel for Commerzbank, where he advised in several very complex capital markets projects and divestiture projects under tight time pressure in the aftermath of the financial crisis.