What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

In 2021, we participated in the acquisition of KMS Group, operating several motorway petrol sites, of Burger King fast food restaurants, gaming halls and hotels. In addition, we took part in several acquisitions of KFC fast food restaurants, by way of APAs and SPAs. In 2022, our legal team engaged in the acquisition of OMV Petrol site network, in Germany.

The EG Group became active in the German market when the Esso petrol sites network was acquired from Esso Deutschland, in 2018. Since then, EG Group has aspired to develop the fuel and the retail business on the sites, by introducing new brands and new ways of operating the shop business. Further, EG invested in expanding the business through new acquisitions and entering the fast-food market and other new fields of business. Each transaction came with new challenges besides the usual negotiations around the purchase agreements and offered me the opportunity to learn and develop myself.

How do you feel the pandemic has changed the world of work for in-house counsel and the function of the general counsel?

The world of work of an in-house counsel usually provides for a lot of variations. The pandemic was an unforeseeable situation that all companies had to adapt to very fast. In Germany, the regulatory requirements and measures of local authorities changed from month to month in 2020. During this period, an ongoing close alignment between the legal in-house teams with almost all business lines in our group was mandatory. In times of unclarity about how to best implement governmental requirements, the legal teams had to provide clear guidance and were often asked to make the judgment call. The in-house counsel became more than ever the “trusted advisor” to provide guidance on how to maneuver through the situation.

How much influence do you, as a general counsel, have on the diversity and inclusion policies of your organisation?

In my organisation, we try to implement general group policies on international group level. However, those group policies must be implemented on country level and be in line the national legal provisions. We do not have a group policy on diversity and inclusion as of today. When we implement such group policy, the national teams can influence the content as needed. Such policy would be drafted by the in-house counsel with the support of HR teams and HSSE teams.