In view of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union (BREXIT), we have decided to transfer the business operations of our firm to a legal form under German law. Effective 1 January 2021, CORVEL Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB Backhaus, Brammer, Brockmeier, Jacobi, Kröger (Partnership Register of the Hamburg District Court, PR 1352) will take over the business operations of CORVEL LLP with debt-discharging effect.
Naturally, this does not change the trustful cooperation with our clients.
Hamburg, 31 Dezember 2020
CORVEL has provided legal advice to Unzer Group GmbH ("Unzer") on the acquisition of the leading technical network operator Lavego AG from Munich.
Lavego is a network operator for electronic-cash and is a BaFin-approved payment institution. In addition to the settlement of payment transactions, Lavego also processes transactions from technically demanding niche markets such as gas stations and unattended terminals in vending machines. With its own development team, Lavego creates the software used to process transactions itself. Currently, Lavego is preparing for the approval for the nexo standard. The seller and founder, Florian Gohlke, will re-invest in Unzer as part of the transaction.
For Unzer, Lavego and its team are a platform that enables them to onboard terminals faster and expand more easily into other European countries.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to conclude in the second quarter of 2021.
Unzer is a fast-growing, innovative and modular platform for international payments, offering its customers of all sizes and industries data-driven, secure and custom-fit solutions online, mobile or at the point of sale. The modules cover the entire spectrum of payment management: from the processing of different payment types, to automated analyses of customer behavior and needs, to holistic risk management.
Unzer was founded in 2003 as heidelpay. Today, more than 600 employees work for Unzer across Europe. KKR has been the majority shareholder of Unzer since 2020.
Advisors Unzer
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, lead), Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Stock Corporation Law), Associates: Thomas Sievers (Corporate, IT), Marc Großmann (Corporate, Due Diligence)
Hamburg, 11 December 2020
CORVEL advised Dryad Networks GmbH ("Dryad") on a Financing Round.
The start-up company Dryad is developing a large-scale IoT network mesh network for ultra-early detection of forest fires. The new system enables public and private forest owners to monitor, analyze and protect even the largest and most remote forest areas around the world. Through a network of sensors, forest fires can be detected in less than 60 minutes, even in the most remote areas.
The investors STIHL Digital, the corporate venture branch of the STIHL Group, the German energy company LEAG, the impact investor ISAR AG and the venture capital branch of ILB, Brandenburg Kapital, have granted Dryad start-up financing of EUR 1.8 million in the framework of the capital round.
CORVEL provided comprehensive legal advice to Dryad on the financing round.
Advisors Dryad Group GmbH
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Hamburg, 23 November 2020
CORVEL advised Unzer POS GmbH ("Unzer") on the acquisition of the PoS terminal business of Wirecard.
Two weeks after the opening of insolvency proceedings on the assets of Wirecard Retail Services GmbH ("WDRS"), Unzer took over the business operations and employees at Aschhei from the insolvency administrator (law firm JAFFÉ). Unzer is further expanding its market share in the PoS and terminal business in Germany.
WDRS is a service provider for sales and commercial support of customers with their payment processing around the point of sale (PoS). The approximately 20 employees at Aschheim currently support over 3,600 customers, primarily in the retail sector in Germany, to whom WDRS has leased a total of almost 7,000 card terminals for processing card payments at the PoS. WDRS had to file for insolvency following the insolvency of Wirecard AG.
By taking over the business operations of WDRS, Unzer is continuing its course of growth as a platform for international payment transactions. Unzer was founded in 2003 as heidelpay. With over 600 employees, Unzer offers its customers solutions for the entire spectrum of payment management: From the processing of various payment methods, to automated analyses of customer behaviour and needs, to holistic risk management. In 2019, the company processed a transaction volume of more than Euro 7 billion for over 30,000 customers via its platform.
Advisors Unzer
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate), Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Insolvency Law), Associate: Marc Großmann (Corporate)
EmLabLegal (Hamburg): Dr. Katrin Stamer (Labour Law)
Hamburg, 21 October 2020
CORVEL advised heidelpay Group GmbH on its investment in Tillhub GmbH.
Tillhub offers retailers digital payment methods via an all-in-one iPad cash register system. Well-known customers of Tillhub are Klier Hair Group GmbH and Fleurop AG. Heidelpay is thus expanding its expertise in the field of PoS (Point of Sale) and is continuing to drive its growth and omnichannel approach. The parties have agreed not to disclose the extent of the investment.
Heidelpay is one of the fastest-growing German tech companies for international payment transactions and offers its own solutions such as invoice and installment purchase, direct debit, online bank transfer or prepayment as well as credit card or wallet solutions from well-known providers. Since 2020 the investor KKR is the majority shareholder of heidelpay.
CORVEL has advised the heidelpay comprehensively in the investment.
Advisors heidelpay
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Thomas Sievers
Hamburg, 3 July 2020
CORVEL was awarded three stars in the Hamburg region for mergers & acquisitions and corporate law in the commercial law firm rankings conducted by the magazine Brandeins.
The ranking is based on a survey of 10,248 commercial law firm lawyers and 2,975 in-house legal counsels conducted at the end of 2019. With three out of four stars, CORVEL is one of the law firms which, measured by the number of recommendations in the respective legal field, lies in the range of 50 to 75 percent of the law firms recommended with above-average frequency.
The complete results are available here.
CORVEL advised AUXOLAR GmbH ("Auxolar") on an investment by Next Big Thing AG ("Next Big Thing").
The Berlin based start-up Auxolar serves both the German and European markets with innovative solar products for the housing industry. The systems are adapted to the specific building and can be delivered turnkey on request.
The company will now use the fresh capital to continue its further growth.
CORVEL has advised Auxolar comprehensively during the investment.
Advisors Auxolar
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer
Hamburg, 10 December 2019
The shareholders in Xenion Legal GmbH, Frankfurt a.M. ("Xenion Legal") have sold 100% of the shares in the company to the law firm Pinsent Masons.
Xenion Legal is a modern service and consulting company with special experience and competence in the areas of legal personnel solutions and management of legal services. Xenion Legal is also active in the field of Legal Tech - Xenion Legal's specially developed Matching Software MyXenion allows an accurate pre-selection of legal advisors according to area of expertise, specific competencies, region and availability.
Xenion Legal was established in 2012 in Frankfurt by the former Freshfields lawyer Dr. Carsten Reimann. The company focuses on providing flexible "lawyers on call" to law firms and businesses. Over the past three years, Xenion Legal has placed over 150 lawyers with law firms and companies. Xenion Legal's other shareholders include the former Freshfields lawyer Dr. Stephan Schumacher.
With these acquisitions, Pinsent Masons intends to expand its flexible legal services offering, Vario, to Germany.
CORVEL has advised the sellers comprehensively during the sales process.
Advisors founders
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Thomas Sievers
Hamburg, 9 December 2019
CORVEL advised Betterspace GmbH ("Betterspace") on an investment by Statkraft Ventures GmbH ("Statkraft Ventures"). In addition to Statkraft Ventures, the existing investor InnoEnergy is also involved in the 'Series A' financing round.
The Kassel-based startup offers smart, digital solutions for hotel digitization and energy efficiency. Betterspace offers 360° software solutions in the DACH region with integrated digital assistants. Digital solutions increase the efficiency of work processes in hotels. Betterspace's in-room tablet computer increases the per room turnover while reducing the workload of hotel staff. The intelligent room control of radiators and air conditioning systems reduces energy costs.
The company will now use the fresh capital to continue its international growth.
CORVEL has advised Betterspace comprehensively during the investment.
Advisors Betterspace
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Thomas Sievers
Hamburg, 14 November 2019
CORVEL has yet again advised ALSO Holding AG ("ALSO"), listed on the Swiss stock exchange SIX, on an acquisition.
With the acquisition of the Belgian IoT platform specialist AllThingsTalk NV ("AllThingsTalk"), ALSO is further expanding its technological expertise and its range of IoT (Internet of Things) services. The company's platform enables the gathering, aggregation, visualization and evaluation of machine and sensor data. With these, vendors, network providers, ISVs, system integrators and resellers can offer customized solutions for their IoT projects to companies in various branches of industry.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with a presence in 18 European countries and sales of EUR 9.2 bn. (2018) and over 4,000 employees across Europe.
CORVEL has advised ALSO comprehensively in the transaction.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead); Associate: Thomas Sievers
Laga (Brussels): Wouter D'herde (Belgian law).
Hamburg, 28 August 2019
Dr. Philipp Jacobi was recognized in the Handelsblatt / Best Lawyers Ranking as a leading advisor in corporate law.
Every year, the U.S. publishing house Best Lawyers selects Germany's most renowned legal advisors in more than 60 areas of law exclusively for Handelsblatt. Rankings have a long tradition in the U.S. and the publishing house is regarded as one of the market leaders in lawyer rankings in the U.S.. The rankings are based on a comprehensive peer-to-peer survey conducted exclusively within the legal profession. Lawyers are asked about the reputation of their competitors.
The Handelsblatt / Best Lawyers Ranking on the web:
www.handelsblatt.com/bestlawyers
Hamburg, 27 August 2019
CORVEL advised Brighter AI Technologies GmbH ("Brighter AI") on a financing round by eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners AG and Giesecke+Devrient Ventures GmbH.
Brighter AI is a deep tech startup founded in Berlin in 2017. Brighter AI works to overcome the limits of human and machine vision with artificial intelligence. Brighter AI's innovative approach to anonymization through artificial neural networks aims to solve the "data protection vs. analytics dilemma" for more than 1.1 billion CCTV cameras. The "Deep Natural Anonymization" process anonymizes personal features such as faces, but preserves camera data for analytics and machine learning use cases.
The funds generated by the financing round will be used in particular for the expansion of the team.
CORVEL has advised Brighter AI comprehensively on the financing round.
Advisors Brighter AI
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Thomas Sievers
Hamburg, 30 July 2019
CORVEL advised Ideematec Deutschland GmbH ("Ideematec") on an investment by ABN AMRO Energy Transition Fund ("ABN AMRO ETF").
The Company, its current shareholders and ABN AMRO ETF have signed an investment agreement.
The closing of the transaction is subject to the usual approval of the German Federal Cartel Office.
Ideematec is a leading provider of solar tracking systems based in Wallerfing and has installed more than 2 GW on six continents. Ideematec's innovative safeTrack Horizon™ Tracker is powered by a patented drive technology and protects against torsion effects. The company currently supplies solar projects with a total output of one gigawatt, including flagship projects such as 350 MW in Australia and 250 MW in Jordan.
ABN AMRO ETF manages a EUR 200 million fund dedicated to investments in companies and energy system transformation projects: renewable energy, clean mobility, smart infrastructure and energy efficiency.
CORVEL has advised Ideematec comprehensively on the investment process. In addition, CORVEL has been advising the company on major projects for many years.
Advisors Ideematec
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead), Dr. Dirk Brockmeier; Associate: Thomas Sievers
CORVEL advised ALSO Holding AG ("ALSO"), listed on the Swiss exchange SIX, once again on an acquisition.
With Solytron Bulgaria ("Solytron"), ALSO acquired the largest Bulgarian IT distributor. With just over 120 employees, Solytron generated sales of EUR 110 million. The closing of the transaction is in particular subject to the approval of the cartel authorities.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with a presence in 18 European countries and sales of EUR 9.2 bn. (2018) and over 4,000 employees across Europe.
CORVEL has advised ALSO comprehensively in the transaction.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead), Associate: Thomas Sievers
Wolf Theiss (Sofia) (Bulgarian law)
Hamburg, 15 April 2019
CORVEL advised ALSO Holding AG ("ALSO"), listed on the Swiss exchange SIX, on two transactions in Poland and Croatia.
In Poland, together with the majority shareholder, the private equity fund MCI Capital, a public tender offer for ABC Data S.A. ("ABC Data") was launched. ABC Data is active in Poland and five other Eastern European countries and in 2017 generated sales of around EUR 1.08 billion. Once the tender offer has been completed and the regulatory authorities have given their approval, ALSO Holding AG will take over the entire business operations of ABC Data.
Furthermore, RECRO, one of Croatia's largest IT distributors, was acquired by ALSO. RECRO, based in Zagreb, was founded in 1992 and sells IT products and solutions from renowned manufacturers such as HP Inc. and Microsoft. The transaction is expected to close at the beginning of January 2019.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with sales of EUR 8.9 bn. (2017) and over 4,000 employees across Europe.
CORVEL has advised ALSO comprehensively in the two transactions.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer, Associate: Thomas Sievers
Wolf Theiss (Warsaw) (Polish law)
Wolf Theiss (Zagreb) (Croatian law)
Hamburg, 7 January 2019
CORVEL advised Consus Real Estate AG ("Consus") on its acquisition of a majority stake of 93.4% of the shares of SSN Group AG ("SSN"). The closing of the transaction is expected to occur within the fourth quarter of 2018.
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board of Consus have resolved to acquire 93.4 % of the shares of SSN, one of the leading real estate developers in Germany. SSN holds 51 % of the shares in SG Development GmbH, which holds nine out of twelve of the SSN development projects. As part of the transaction, Consus will also acquire additional 38.9% of the shares in SG Development GmbH as well as a 43% stake in an SSN development project in Berlin from Aggregate Deutschland S.A., Consus' majority shareholder by way of an capital increase against contribution in kind. The aggregated purchase price for the transaction, including the contribution in kind, amounts to EUR 470m, valuing SSN at an implied enterprise value of c. EUR1.1bn.
The cash component of the purchase price will be financed by cash on balance and a EUR 250m acquisition facility from J.P. Morgan subject to customary drawdown conditions.
Consus, based in Berlin, Germany, with its subsidiary CG Gruppe AG, is a leading developer of residential real estate properties in the country's top-9-cities. With a gross development value of EUR 6.2bn Consus focuses on the construction of standardised apartment blocks.
The shares of Consus are listed in the Scale Segment of Deutsche Börse AG and in the m:access segment of the open market (Freiverkehr) of the Munich Stock Exchange (Börse München), and are traded via XETRA in Frankfurt.
CORVEL has advised Consus comprehensively with regard to the share purchase agreement pertaining to the SSN shares and the due diligence.
Advisors Consus
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert (lead, Corporate); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Capital Markets, Stock Corporation Law), Associate: Thomas Sievers (Corporate)
Inhouse Consus: Daniel Zimmer (Head of Legal)
Thouvenin (Zurich): Arlette Pfister (Swiss Law)
Blomstein (Berlin): Dr. Anne Huttenlauch (Antitrust Law)
White & Case (Frankfurt): Dr. Gernot Wagner (Finance); Alexander Kiefner, Thilo Diehl (both contribution in kind, Capital Markets)
Baker & Tilly (Berlin): Steffen Meining (Tax)
Advisors Verkäufer
Baker McKenzie (Zurich): Alexander Fischer, Pascal Richard, Christian Rioult (all Corporate)
Advisors Aggregate
Rasche von Knobelsdorff Heiser (Hamburg): Dr. Kristian Heiser, Associate: Cornelius Karcher (both Corporate)
Advisors J.P. Morgan
Latham & Watkins (Frankfurt): Alexandra Hagelüken, Sibylle Münch (both Finance), Dr. Rüdiger Malaun (Capital Markets)
Hamburg, 7 November 2018
With DistriWan, a French specialist wifi networking and security distributor headquartered near Lyon and turnover in 2017 of around EUR 24 mn. was acquired.
In Slovenia the acquisition of DISS d.o.o., one of the leading Slovenian distributors of software and IT equipment headquartered in Ljubljana and turnover in 2017 of around EUR 81 mn. was announced. The completion of this transaction is subject to merger clearance.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with sales of EUR 8.9 bn. (2017) and over 4,000 employees across Europe.
CORVEL has advised ALSO comprehensively in the transactions.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer
Lexcom (Paris): Mélissa Ferchaux (French law)
Wolf Theiss (Ljubljana): Markus Bruckmüller; Klara Miletič (Slovenian law)
Hamburg, August 2018
On 13 September 2018 the 3rd North German Arbitration Day will take place at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. This year's Arbitration Conference will focus on the topic of "Shaping International Commercial Contracts Wisely" and will offer initial information as well as tried and tested tips, practical examples and a forum for exchange with practitioners to entrepreneurs, managing directors, authorised signatories, legal practitioners and lawyers.
Dr. Nicoletta Kröger, partner at CORVEL, will give a lecture in the second forum "Tips for an Efficient Conduct of a Case" on the topic "Limits of Increase in Efficiency".
CORVEL advises national and international clients from the maritime industry.
Hamburg, 27 August 2018
Founded in 1953, the trading company Ferrostaal Piping Supply, headquartered in Essen, serves in particular customers from the sectors chemical, petrochemical, plant construction and trade. Ferrostaal Piping Supply is focused on the German an the Benelux markets. In addition Ferrostaal Piping Supply exports its products to different regions worldwide and generates annual sales of over EUR 50 mn.
Van Leeuwen is also an internationally active trading company specialized in steel tubes and piping equipment active in nearly all industrial sectors with worldwide offices. The integration of Ferrostaal Piping Supply enables Van Leeuwen in particular to expand its operations in the German market, especially in the chemical and petrochemical sectors.
Advisors Ferrostaal
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead, Corporate / M&A); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate); Associate: Thomas Sievers
Schramm Meyer Kuhnke (Hamburg): Dr. Nils Schramm; Associate: Dr. Frederik Martell (all employment law)
Biesheuvel Jansen (Amsterdam): Quirijn Biesheuvel (Dutch law / Corporate)
SAGIURE Legal (Amsterdam): Rachida el Johari; Madeleine Molster (Dutch law / Employment Law)
Advisors Van Leeuwen
McDermott Will & Emery (Düsseldorf): Dr. Jan Hückel (lead, Corporate / M&A)
Hamburg, 15 May 2018
CORVEL has advised NOPPIES Group, a portfolio company of VENDIS CAPITAL, on its acquisition of ALVI-Group.
NOPPIES, the leading specialized maternity wear and baby fashion brand based in the Netherlands, has acquired ALVI, the leading premium baby sleeping products company in Germany.
With the acquisition of ALVI, NOPPIES adds the market leading baby sleeping products brand in Germany to its portfolio. ALVI is a heritage brand and offers a full assortment in the baby sleeping segment, including sleeping bags, bedding and textiles. The ALVI company is the first German acquisition in VENDIS’ current investment fund.
VENDIS CAPITAL ist a Private Equity Funds focused on building and investing in small to medium-sized branded consumer companies in Europe. Currently the portfolio consists fro example of eyes+more, Fatboy und ferm LIVING.
Advisors NOPPIES / VENDIS CAPITAL
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead, Corporate / M&A); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Real Estate); Associate: Thomas Sievers (Corporate / M&A)
Schramm Meyer Kuhnke (Hamburg): Dr. Nils Schramm; Associate: Dr. Frederik Martell (all employment law)
b/cl (Hamburg): Bettina Clefsen (IP)
Wardynski & Partners (Warswaw): Krzysztof Libiszewski; Katarzyna Wójcik-Bąkowska (all Polish law)
Hamburg, 8 February 2018
Funds advised by ERGON Capital Partners (“ERGON”) agreed with the management to acquire the svt-group (“svt”) from sellers IK Investment Partners (“IK”). Svt is a leading German provider of passive fire protection for buildings and damage remediation.
svt with its headquarter in Seevetal near Hamburg developed to a leading German provider of passive fire protection and fire, water or elementary damage remediation, as well as pollutant cleanups since its foundation in 1969. svt has 30 sites in Germany and has more than 450 employees.
As previously in the course of the acquisition of svt by IK, CORVEL advised the CEO in the sale and the re-investment.
Advisors CEO
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer (both Corporate / M&A)
Hamburg, 8 February 2018
From 24 to 26 January 2018 the 56th Conference of the German Council of Transport Authorities took place in Goslar. Jurists and experts from the field of research, teaching and practice meet annually for discussing current issues. Inter alia, their recommendations are regarded within legislative proposals.
Dr. Nicoletta Kröger, partner of CORVEL, gave a lecture on “Property and Rights of Use regarding Data?” within Working Group VIII: “Digitization – Maritime Industry of the Future“. On that basis the working group made a recommendation to the legislator.
CORVEL comprehensively advises domestic and foreign clients from the maritime industry.
Hamburg, 07 February 2018
The Shareholders in Infront Consulting & Management GmbH, Hamburg („Infront“) have sold 100% of the shares to KPS AG. The Infront shareholders will reinvest as stockholders in KPS. KPS AG is listed with the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Prime Standard).
The Infront Consulting & Management GmbH is a leading consultant with a focus to digital transformation in German speaking countries, recently honored with the Innovation Price 2017 of the business magazine „Wirtschaftswoche“ and the Hidden Champion Award 2018 for Digital Transformation of the business magazine „Capital“. Infront will be continued as independent trademark and will lead the strategy consulting branch with focus on digital transformation within the KPS-Group. The closing of the transaction will occur approximately at the beginning of 2018.
CORVEL rendered comprehensively legal advice to the shareholders throughout the exit process.
Advisors Shareholders Infront Consulting
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert (lead, Corporate); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Advisors KPS AG
Taylor Wessing (Munich): Dr. Christian Traichel; Dr. Rebekka Krause (Corporate)
Hamburg, 14 December 2017
CORVEL teams up with new partner Dr. Jan Backhaus effective 1 December 2017. Previously, Jan was a partner at Dabelstein & Passehl, a Hamburg based law firm specialized i.a. in the fields of maritime business law and renewable energy.
Jan is well known for his comprehensive expertise in offshore wind projects as well as in shipbuilding and plant construction. He has deep experience in drafting and negotiation of complex international project, building and supply contracts for maritime businesses and other industries. Furthermore he advises clients in extrajudicial contractual disputes as well as in court and arbitration proceedings. In the area of renewable energies Mr. Backhaus also advises on onshore wind farm projects. In addition, he was the head of the specialist forum „Finance and Law“ of the cluster for renewable energy in Hamburg for a five years term. Amongst his clients are energy providers, national and international ship owners and maritime service providers, suppliers, building contractors, project cooperations as well as plant and system manufacturers.
With Dr. Backhaus CORVEL expands and strengthens further the areas of maritime business and renewable energy. With the expertise and corresponding market experience of Mr. Backhaus in the offshore sector, CORVEL will be in the position to offer their services in the field of M&A and finance companies of the offshore wind industry.
CORVEL legally advises international companies, family businesses and financial investors in the fields of M&A, Corporate law, Finance, Private Equity, Venture Capital and Conflict Resolution. In addition, CORVEL advises in the areas of renewable energy as well as in plant construction.
Hamburg, 28 November 2017
On 8 / 9 November 2017, the business fair of the Maritime Cluster Norddeutschland e.V. "Sea Contacts" took place in the Ostseekai in Kiel. Companies from several countries and a diverse field of sectors - shipbuilding and suppliers, marine technology, shipping, offshore and others- took part in the conference.
Dr. Nicoletta Kröger, partner at CORVEL, moderated the panel discussion of the sections Maritime ICT and Maritime Law of the Maritimer Cluster Norddeutschland e.V. on 9 November 2017 with the topic "Maritime IT - Connectivity, Big Data and Further Challenges for the Maritime Industry".
CORVEL comprehensively advises domestic and foreign clients from the maritime industry.
Hamburg, 23 November 2017
CORVEL advised the management and founder of the J&S GmbH Automotive Technology (J&S) on the sale to the private equity investor Seafort Advisors, based in Hamburg. Seller were the private equity investor Brockhaus Private Equity, the investment company IdInvest and the management. The management re-invested significantly in the company.
Founded in 1990, J&S is one of the world leading providers of safety and shielding components for the automobile industry, based in Wustermark near Berlin.
Brockhaus Private Equity acquired from the mid-cap investments focused private equity fund Finatem the majority stake in August 2014 as part of a secondary buy-out. CORVEL also supported the management and founder in this earlier transaction with comprehensive legal advice.
Advisor Management J&S
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (leadership, Corporate / M&A); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate / M&A).
Hamburg, 19 October 2017
CORVEL legally advised the founders of the Yieldlove GmbH („Yieldlove“) on the sale of the majority stake in Yieldlove to a subsidiary of Ströer SE & Co. KGaA („Ströer“).
Yieldlove, which is based in Hamburg, operates a specifically developed optimization platform in the field of programmatic marketing of digital advertising inventory.
The Yieldlove-technology will be integrated in the Ströer SSP-platform upon which connectivity with other platforms via the Header-Bidding-Procedure shall be enabled. Ströer intends to reach higher eTKPs at full capacity, by increasing the pressure on demand and auction, and therefore achieving further improvement on the monetarization of the advertising inventory.
Ströer (MDAX „SAX“) is one of the leading providers for external and online advertisement with a EUR 1,12 billion group turnover and about 8.000 employees in over 70 locations.
CORVEL supported the founders in the sale process with comprehensive legal advice.
Advisor Founder
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead); Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Associate: Thomas Sievers (all M&A)
Hamburg, 2 October 2017
CORVEL advised the founder of AERIAL GmbH (“AERIAL”) on the sale to Dantherm Group A/S (“Dantherm”).
AERIAL, headquartered in Norderstedt (Hamburg), Germany, is a European supplier of mobile dehumidifiers, adsorption dryers, indoor air-laundry dryers, insulation dryers and air purifiers for professional and private applications.
Dantherm, headquartered in Skive, Denmark, is a leading provider of mobile and fixed products and solutions within heating, drying, cooling and ventilation with further subsidiaries in Europe and Asia. In 2016 the Dantherm Group was acquired by Procuritas Capital Investors V LP.
CORVEL has comprehensively rendered legal advice to the founder on the sale process.
Advisors Founder
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead, Corporate / M&A); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate / Real Estate)
Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte (Zurich): Thomas Loher; Arlette Pfister (Swiss law)
Conrad Lahann & Partner (Hamburg): Maximilian Conrad; Oliver Nitsch (both Tax)
Hamburg, 5 September 2017
Für den 21. September 2017 lädt das Maritime Cluster Norddeutschland e.V. zu einer Veranstaltung zum Thema „Unternehmenstransaktionen und -kooperationen in der maritimen Wirtschaft“ ein. Herr Dr. Felix Brammer wird dort einen Vortrag zum Thema " Mergers & Acquisitions in der Maritimen Wirtschaft" halten. Nähere Informationen entnehmen Sie bitte der beigefügten Einladung.
CORVEL has advised Munich based Leonhard Moll AG on its acquisition of Techno-Physik Group. Seller is the private equity investor Finatem and the management.
The 1989 founded Techno-Physik-Group is a world-leading system supplier of high-quality thermal insulation and fire protection products for industrial applications, in the shipbuilding and construction industry. In the area of vermiculite based products the group is the world’s largest supplier.
TechnoPhysik was acquired 2010 by Finatem and has since been developed into a worldwide market leader for thermal insulation and fire protection products on the basis of vermiculite. Vermiculite is an environmental friendly, fiberless and non-flammable mineral with excellent insulation properties.
The group consists of Techno-Physik Engineering (headquartered in Essen), Mineralka (with production plants in Slovenia and Austria), as well as Hoffmann Wärmedämmtechnik (press-moulded parts, Werdohl).
Leonhard Moll AG, founded in 1894 as a construction company, is a family holding with up to now two business units paint (Keimfarben) as well as concrete components (LM Betonwerke).
Corvel advised throughout the whole acquisition process.
Advisors Leonhard Moll AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead, Corporate / M&A); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate / M&A); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Real Estate); Associate: Thomas Sievers (Corporate)
Kruhl · von Strenge (Hamburg): Dr. Klaas Kruhl; Associate: Dr. Jan-Peter Wiepert (all Public Law)
Schramm Meyer Kuhnke (Hamburg): Dr. Nils Schramm, Associate: Dr. Frederik Martell (all Employment law)
Harmsen Utescher (Hamburg): Dr. Jan Peter Heidenreich; Associate: Til Quadflieg (all IP)
Trummer & Thomas (Wien): Dr. Alexander Thomas; Associate: Nadine Dullnig (all Austrian law)
Odvetniki Šelih & partnerji (Ljubljana): Nataša Pipan Nahtigal; Associate: Andraž Glavač (all Slovenian law)
Hamburg, 12 June 2017
CORVEL advised the group of companies around KALORIMETA (KALO) and KeepFocus on the sale of URBANA’s contracting business to GETEC Wärme & Effizienz AG (GETEC). GETEC is a portfolio company of EQT, a PE investment company. The closing is subject to the approval of the Federal Cartel Office.
For more than 50 years URBANA is active as an energy service provider in the real estate business. The company manages the supply of 100,000 homes and 600 municipal and commercial objects from the head offices in Hamburg. With around 1,150 heat and cogeneration plants, URBANA provides a thermal delivery rate of more than 708 MW. The company generates a turnover of approximately 65 million Euros.
The sale of URBANA's contracting business and the recently completed acquisition of smart metering manufacturer QUNDIS supports the expansion of the group of companies to a leading supplier for in-home climate-intelligent control-systems.
CORVEL advised throughout the whole sale process.
Advisors KALORIMETA
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer, Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (all Corporate), Associate: Thomas Sievers (Corporate)
Blomstein (Berlin): Dr. Anna Blume Huttenlauch (Antitrust Law)
Advisors GETEC/EQT
Clifford Chance (Munich): Markus Muhs (Corporate), Associates: Dr. Wenzel Richter, Sebastian Lahner (all Corporate)
Vinge (Stockholm): Grant McKelvey (Antitrust Law)
Hamburg, 4 May 2017
CORVEL advised the group of companies around KALORIMETA (KALO) and KeepFocus on acquisition of measuring-instrument manufacturer QUNDIS and its subsidiary SMARVIS from HgCapital.
The acquisition supports the expansion of the group of companies to a leading supplier for in-home climate-intelligent control systems. QUNDIS devices are installed in more than 6 million homes. Moreover the specialist in measuring instruments is represented in 30 countries worldwide.
The takeover is to be completed by the end of May. Then, QUNDIS will be part of the Hamburg-based group of companies, which includes KALO, the data platform specialist in energy data KeepFocus, IKW Service as a full-service-provider specialized in utility invoicing and the shareholding in Powerplus Communications, the leading smart-meter-gateway company. In a first step, the group of companies takes all shares of the present Investor HgCapital. The London-based PE house will reinvest in the reorganized group of companies.
Corvel advised throughout the whole acquisition process.
Advisors KALORIMETA
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert (Corporate, lead); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Corporate, Finance); Associate: Thomas Sievers (Corporate)
Schramm Meyer Kuhnke (Hamburg): Dr. Nils Schramm; Frederik Martell (both labour law)
Truon (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Büllesfeld (Public Law)
Blomstein (Berlin): Dr. Anna Blume Huttenlauch (Cartel Law)
Advisor HgCapital
Latham & Watkins (Frankfurt): Oliver Felsenstein; Dr. Leif Schrader; Associates: Dr. Jan Feigen; Sylvia Semkowicz; Maximilian Platzer; Christoph Vaske (all Corporate)
Hamburg, 26 April 2017
CORVEL advised ALSO Holding AG, listed on the Swiss exchange SIX, on the acquisition of Five 4 U B.V., Uetrecht, The Netherlands.
Five 4 U is one of the leading specialized distributors for hardware and software in the Benelux. The company is a distributor for Apple and other hardware providers such as HP and Epson. Further, Five 4 U offers its customers software and IT services. A large part of its activities focus on logistics and service merchandising. The company markets more than 50 brands and has an international customer base of resellers and expects sales of about EUR 285 million in The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with sales of EUR 7.8 bn. (2015) and over 3,500 employees across Europe.
CORVEL has advised ALSO comprehensively in the transaction.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Associate: Thomas Sievers (both Purchase Agreement)
Biesheuvel Jansen (Amsterdam): Quirijn Biesheuvel (Dutch law)
Advisor Sellers
Rutgers & Posch (Amsterdam): Matthijs van den Broek; Valerie Hans
Hamburg, 27 February 2017
(English translation will follow shortly.)
Advisor enercity
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert
Hamburg, 17 February 2017
CORVEL advised ALSO Holding AG, listed on the Swiss exchange SIX, on the acquisition of Internet Smartsec Oy, Helsinki, Finland.
Internet Smartsec‘s portfolio encompasses secure e-commerce solutions, VPN routers, user identification equipment, smart cards, encryption technology, IDS and filtering products, as well as various firewall devices. The company also provides consultation and training in data security and data networks.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with sales of EUR 7.8 bn. (2015) and over 3,500 employees across Europe.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Associate: Thomas Sievers (both Purchase Agreement)
Castrén & Snellman (Helsinki): Carola Lindholm (Finnish law)
Advisor Seller
Smartius (Tampere, Finland): Ville Ranta
Hamburg, 2 February 2017
CORVEL advised Kreisverkehrsgesellschaft in Pinneberg mbH (“KViP”) on the appraisal proceedings of shareholders regarding the fair value severance payment after the squeeze-out from Uetersener Eisenbahn AG (“UeE”).
On 30 October 2013, the annual shareholders' meeting of UeE approved the squeeze-out. Two shareholders challenged in court and applied for a special audit. Following the clearance by the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig the squeeze-out has been registered with the commercial register on 23 April 2014. The appraisal proceedings, filed by four shareholders, along with the other litigation has now been subject to a final settlement.
Uetersener Eisenbahn AG is a former railway company that operated the Tornesch-Uetersen railway line until 1997. Currently, its operation focuses on the leasing of a railway-property to its majority shareholder. The UeE has handed over all of the operational management to NEG Niebüll GmbH.
CORVEL has comprehensively rendered legal advice to KViP.
Advisor KViP
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, M&A)
Hamburg, 30 January 2017
CORVEL advised ALSO Holding AG, listed on the Swiss exchange SIX, on the acquisition of BeIP SAS, Paris, France.
BeIP offers a wide portfolio of IT technologies and related support services across France and Africa, mainly in the areas of network and security infrastructure. The company focuses on so-called vertical markets such as those for telecommunications operators.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with sales of EUR 7.8 bn. (2015) and over 3,500 employees across Europe.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Associate: Thomas Sievers (both Purchase Agreement)
Lexcom (Paris): Mélissa Ferchaux; Aurélie Isselé (both French law)
Advisor Seller
HBC Avocats (Paris): Erwan Cossé
Hamburg, 9 January 2017
For 24 January CORVEL together with Tisson & Company invites you to an event with the title „Maritime Economy und Logistics 4.0 – Legal Framework and Business Management“. The presentations at the event will be held in German.
CORVEL advised EDEKA ZENTRALE AG & Co. KG (EDEKA) on the sale of a portfolio to REWE GROUP (REWE), containing inter alia 67 Kaiser’s/Tengelmann stores, mostly in Berlin. The Federal Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel and the labor unions ver.di and NGG already agreed to the transaction. As precondition for their approval, the labor unions concluded collective agreements with EDEKA and REWE concerning employment protection for about 15.000 employees. In turn REWE withdrew its appeal against the ministerial approval for the acquisition of Kaiser’s/Tengelmann-Group.
The acquisition’s closing is scheduled for 1 January 2017, pending the Federal Cartel Office’s approval.
EDEKA is going to take over about 80 percent of Kaiser’s/Tengelmann’s store network based on sales and headcount. This includes 338 stores in Bavaria, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, the headquarters in Mülheim, the regional administration in Viersen and Munich, three warehouse facilities, two meat factories of Birkenhof in Viersen and Donauwörth, shopfitter Ligneus, Tengelmann E-Stores GmbH and online merchant Bringmeister. At first, the Federal Cartel Office rejected clearance of acquisition, but finally clearance has been achieved upon ministerial approval of the Federal Minister of Economics Sigmar Gabriel. REWE appealed against the latter at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, but withdrew it with the conclusion of the purchase agreement concerning the store portfolio. This enabled EDEKA to close the acquisition of Kaiser’s/Tengelmann.
CORVEL advised EDEKA on all legal matters concerning Corporate and Contract Law with regard to the transaction.
Advisor EDEKA
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer; Dr. Dirk Brockmeier; Associate: Thomas Sievers (all Corporate/M&A)
Von Trott zu Solz Lammek (Berlin): Klaus Sturm (Labour Law)
Advisor REWE
Taylor Wessing (Düsseldorf): Dr. Ernst-Albrecht von Beauvais (lead); Maria Weiers; Patrique Willems (all Corporate/M&A) and others
REWE Inhouse Law (Cologne): Dr. Rainer Koll-Möllenhoff
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Cologne): Dr. Elmar Schnitker; Dr. Ulrich Sittard (Labour Law); Andreas Röhling (Cartel Law)
Hamburg, 8 December 2016
Mr. Dr. Axel Korn acquired jointly with Haspa Beteiligungsgesellschaft für den Mittelstand mbH (Haspa BGM) the majority share in AMAS-Group. In the course of the management-buy-in (MBI) Mr. Dr. Korn will assume the lead the management board of AMAS-Group. Additional shareholder is one of the founders of AMAS who will continue his role as managing director.
AMAS is a plant manufacturer and a manufacturer of special purpose machinery and renders services in engineering and construction together with own production facilities in particular in the areas of machine building, automation technology, concrete construction and switch gear construction. AMAS services as a market leader with around 130 employees at the premises in Neu Kaliß a broad range of industrial customers in particular within the growing aviation sector.
CORVEL advised Mr. Dr. Axel Korn on all legal matters in relation to the MBI.
Advisor Dr. Korn:
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, M&A)
Hamburg, 30 August 2016
German magazine WirtschaftsWoche (issue 49, dated 27 November 2015, page 86) counts CORVEL among the top ten of “Company’s Hidden Champions”. Based on the Kanzleimonitor-poll by BJU, WirtschaftsWoche ranked CORVEL on 7th place in the category “recommendable small law firms”. In the ranking, CORVEL was able to distinguish itself by a high ratio of recommendations by companies and the size of the firm.
WirtschaftsWoche has a circulation of over 120,000 and is the leading economics weekly in Germany. It is published by Handelsblatt publishing group.
Hamburg, 30 November 2015
STS Medical Group, located in Luxemburg, acts through affiliated companies in Germany, Italy and Bulgaria in the market of medical devices, in particular in the field of customer specific operation sets and cover systems. Besides the CEO of the group, Mr. Augusto Orisini, the U.S.-american private equity fund Monitor Clipper Partners is the majority shareholder.
STS Medical Group now acquired the MSS Medical-Set-Service GmbH located in Großwallstadt/Germany (“MSS”). Focus of MSS is the production of operation sets, particularly for eye surgery. Monitor Clipper Partners has invested equity in the amount of USD. 2 billion worldwide.
CORVEL has advised STS Medical Group in this important add-on acquisition.
Advisor STS Medical Group
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (Corporate, M&A); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Real Estate)
Hamburg, 5 October 2015
CORVEL advised EEW Energy from Waste GmbH (EEW) regarding the acquisition of a refuse derived fuel combined heat power plant in Stavenhagen. The transaction is pending clearance of the Federal Cartel Authority.
The power plant has been commissioned in 2007 and produces energy in the form of pro- cessing and heating steam, as well as electricity and can process up to 130,000 metric tons of refuse derived fuel. Almost the whole energy output is used by the adjacent facility for production of potato products. Remaining energy is supplied to the public grid.
With the acquisition, EEW strengthens its leading position as producer of energy, district heating and process steam through thermal utilization of refuse and other surrogate fuels. Stavenhagen will be the 20th power plant-site for the company which will operate 21 sites in Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the near future.
CORVEL already advised EEW in 2014 regarding the acquisition of IHKW Andernach at the Rasselstein/Germany-site.
Advisors EEW
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, Finance, Lead); Dr. Sven Schubert (Corporate); Associate: Thomas Sievers (Real Estate)
trûon (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Büllesfeld; Associate: Nina Schaube (Permits, Energy-Management Law)
Hamburg, 27 July 2015
Funds advised by IK Investment Partners (“IK”) agreed with the management to acquire the svt-group (“svt”) from sellers capiton and SüdBG. Svt is a leading German provider of passive fire protection for buildings and damage remediation.
Svt with its headquarter in Seevetal near Hamburg developed to a leading German provider of passive fire protection and fire, water or elementary damage remediation, as well as pollutant cleanups since its foundation in 1969. With its two business sectors, the company is able to combine comprehensive knowledge. Besides its 22 locations in Germany svt has further subsidiaries in Poland and Russia and a large international partner network. For instance, in the past svt developed fire protection for the Olympic winter games in Sochi in 2014 and for the new building of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. With 322 employees, the group generated sales in an amount of 80m Euro in 2014.
The transaction is subject to the usual regulatory approvals.
CORVEL advised the management in this re-investment.
Advisor management
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philip Jacobi; Dr. Felix Brammer (both Corporate)
Hamburg, 1 June 2015
CORVEL advised Droege Capital regarding the majority take-over of the business operations of the insolvent Weltbild Group based in Augsburg, Germany. Following approval of the EU commission the transaction has been closed on 6 October.
The restructuring of the multi-channel trade group under the brand Weltbild will be implemented by a joint venture. Droege Capital with a 60% share will assume the operational management role of the former church company which holds a stake in buecher.de. The insolven- cy administrator Arndt Geiwitz remains with 40% as representative of the creditors.
CORVEL has comprehensively rendered legal advice to Droege Capital on the acquisition process.
Advisor Droege Capital
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (corporate, lead); Dr. Felix Brammer (corporate, restructuring); Associate: Luca Weskott (corporate)
Hamburg, 10 October 2014
The mid-cap fund Finateam and Mr. Norbert Janz sold J&S GmbH Automotive Technology to Brockhaus Private Equity as a “Secondary Buyout.” Simultaneously a re-investment of Mr. Janz, founder and CEO of J&S was concluded. The investment company Idinvest Partners has provided unitranche financing.
J&S GmbH Automotive Technology is one of the leading suppliers of security and stamping parts in the automotive industry worldwide.
CORVEL advised the management regarding the sale and re-investment.
Advisor management
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (Corporate, lead); Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Advisor Brockhaus Private Equity
P+P Pöllath & Partners (Munich): Philipp von Braunschweig (Corporate)
Advisor Finatem
Otto Mittag Fontane (Frankfurt): Dr. Gabriele Fontane (Corporate)
Advisor Idinvest
Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (Frankfurt): Christoph Schauenburg
Hamburg, 8 September 2014
A subsidiary of the car manufacturer Daimler, moovel GmbH, has acquired Hamburg based Intelligent Apps GmbH. Intelligent Apps is the operator of the cab app mytaxi, which is worldwide number one in that market with more than ten million downloads.
moovel has been already a shareholder of Intelligent Apps. In the course of the transaction it acquired the remaining shares.
CORVEL advised the sellers (amongst others the founders Nic Mewes und Sven Külper, T- Venture, Johann Völkers, e42, and Max Neuhaus).
Advisors sellers
Inhouse: Dr. Jörn Biederbick, LL.M. (T-Venture); Florian Agthe, LL.M. (Intelligent Apps)
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (Corporate, lead), Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate)
Hamburg, 3 September 2014
Ideemasun energy GmbH has constructed a PV-Park in Suffolk, England with a capacity of approximately 3MW as EPC contractor for a British investor. The plant has been commissioned in March 2014 and has been connected to the grid of UK Power Networks. The electricity produced by the facility qualifies for Renewable Energy Certificates.
CORVEL has advised Ideemasun regarding the acquisitions of project rights from the devel- oper UK Sustainable Energy (UKSE) and the subsequent sale of the project.
Advisor Ideemasun
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Dr. Sven Schubert (both Corporate)
Advisor UKSE
Square One Law (Newcastle): James Bryce; Jennty Atkin (both Corporate)
Advisors Investor
Peachey & Co. LLP (London): David Wilson; Care Brennan (both Corporate)
Squire Patton Boggs (Manchester): Julian Scott (Construction Law)
Hamburg, 1 September 2014
Ideematec Deutschland GmbH supplies a large-scale photovoltaic plant in Rwanda with tracking systems. The installa- tion of the photovoltaic plant, which is already under construction, is part of Rwanda’s public IPP program. It will be East Africa’s first photovoltaic plant connected to the power grid and will cover 8 % of Rwanda’s national demand for electricity.
Ideematec provides the 8.5 MW-project with 156 trackers. Each tracker will be equipped with up to 240 solar panels. The completion of the project, located at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (Rwan- da), is scheduled for the third quarter of 2014.
In addition to the delivery of trackers, Ideematec accompanies the project throughout its entire con- struction process.
Ideematec, based in Wallerfing (Germany), is specialized on the supply to major photovoltaic pro- jects. Additionally, it offers services and assistance in planning, configuration and construction of solar systems.
CORVEL advised Ideematec regarding all legal aspects of the realization of the project.
Advisor Ideematec
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer
Hamburg, 1 July 2014
CORVEL has advised the sole shareholder on the sale of Wave & Motion Sport und Mode Vertriebs GmbH, Kircheim near Munich. Wave & Motion is in particular the exclusive distributor for products under the UGG® Australia brand (well known for the „UGG® Boot“) for Germany and Austria.
Purchaser of Wave & Motion is a subsidiary of NYSE listed Deckers Outdoor Corporation, the shoe company from California, which amongst others holds the UGG® Australia brand.
CORVEL has advised on all aspects of the sale.
Advisor of seller
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Dr. Sven Schubert
Hamburg, 29 May 2014
CORVEL advised ALSO Holding AG, listed on the Swiss exchange SIX, on the acquisition of Alpha International B.V., Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Seller is Saphin B.V., Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Alpha International B.V. is a distributor of printer and computer accessory in Europe. For the business year 2012 Alpha International B.V. has generated net sales of EUR 587 million with around 108 employees.
ALSO Holding AG is a leading European full-range provider for the ICT industry with sales of EUR 6.3 bn. (2012) and 3,000 employees across Europe.
Advisors ALSO Holding AG
Inhouse: Stephanie Babièl (ALSO General Counsel)
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi (Purchase Agreement)
De Breij Evers Boon (Amsterdam): Quirijn Biesheuvel (Due Diligence, Dutch law)
Advisor Saphin B.V.
Loyens & Loeff (Amsterdam): Herman Kaemingk; Daniël Wertheimer; Renée van der Maat; Vincent van der Lans
Hamburg, 27 May 2014
CORVEL advised EEW Energy from Waste GmbH (EEW) regarding the acquisition of IHKW Industrieheizkraftwerk Andernach GmbH (IHKW); the transaction still requires clearance of the Federal Cartel Authority. The seller is a company of the Techem Group, which finalizes with this transaction the reorganization of its portfolio to core activities.
The heating plant operates on refuse derived fuel (RDF) and comprises a natural gas backup boiler, with a yearly capacity of 130,000 tons of RDF. The generated energy in the form of processing and heating steam, as well as electricity is supplying 365 days a year exclusively the world’s largest tin foil factory of ThyssenKrupp at the site of Rasselstein.
EEW operates in Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands 18 refuse incinerators for household and commercial waste as well as processed highly calorific waste fractions and RDFs for generating electricity, district heating and processing steam. EEW belongs to a consortium of EQT and E.ON.
Advisor EEW
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Dr. Sven Schubert; Associate: Luca Weskott (corporate)
Hamburg, 1 May 2014
CORVEL advised Uetersener Eisenbahn AG on a squeeze-out of around 20 minority shareholders (including three so called “critical shareholders”). The general meeting has resolved the squeeze-out against fair compensation on 30 October 2013. The majority shareholder is KViP Kreisverkehrsgesellschaft in Pinneberg mbH. In a release proceeding according to the German Stock Corporation Act the High Court of Schleswig approved the registration of the squeeze-out with the commercial register, which was executed on 23 April 2014. The appeal of the general assembly’s resolution is still pending with the court.
Uetersener Eisenbahn AG was formerly operating a railway business on the tracks between Tornesch and Uetersen until 1997. At present the operational business activities are limited to the lease of land and railway constructions to the majority shareholder. The railway business is leased to CFL Cargo Luxemburg.
Advisors Uetersener Eisenbahn AG
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (both Corporate)
Hamburg, 29 April 2014
CORVEL strengthens its practice as of 1 October 2013 with Dr. Nicoletta Kröger joining as partner. Ms. Kröger worked prior thereto with the law firm Dabelstein & Passehl which specializes on maritime business law and renewable energy. An additional partner, who specializes on maritime businesses, will join CORVEL soon.
Ms. Kröger is particularly known for her expertise in the areas of litigation/arbitration and restructuring. Her clients are among others utility companies, charter companies, shipyards, construction companies, and suppliers of the maritime industry. In the field of renewably energy Ms. Kröger advised on on- and offshore windfarms.
The four founding partners of CORVEL und Ms. Kröger know each other already back from their joint engagement as attorneys with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
CORVEL specializes in providing legal services in connection with mergers & acquisitions, real estate transactions, complex industrial plant projects (in particular in the field of renewable energy) and financing. CORVEL strengthens its expertise with Ms. Kröger in the areas of litigation/arbitration and renewable energy.
Hamburg, 30 September 2013
“Renewable Energy – Future for Major Projects? Marketin, power trading, financing“ is the title of a conference hosted by CORVEL and HSH Nordbank in Hamburg on September, 18th. Challenges for Industry and business models 2020 will be discussed in lectures and two top class panels. How the parliamentary elections will influence the investment environment, how the sector will depend on subsidies and where the highest margins will be earned – those and other questions shall be answered by experts.
Among the participants are politicians of the Bundestag (lower house of the German federal parliament) (Michael Kauch, environmental speaker of the FDP in the Bundestag) and the Bürgerschaft (federal state parliament) of Hamburg (Rüdiger Kruse, CDU), representatives of the industry (Dr. Karl Kuhlmann, management S.A.G. Solarstrom AG; Martin Zembsch, director CSO Beletric Solarkraftwerke GmbH; Roland Stanze, authorized representative PNE WIND; Stefan Müller, management COO Enerparc AG; Mathias Renne, sales manager Central European Wind Power Siemens), the director of the foundation for environmental energy law (Torsten Müller), financing experts of HSH Nordbank (Lars Quandel, director Renewable Energy; Leopold Reymaier, Renewable Energy) and partners of CORVEL (Dr. Sven Schubert, Dr. Felix Brammer).
CORVEL has advised renewable energy projects with a total capacity of more than 2,500 MW in Germany and abroad. The partners in charge are Sven Schubert and Felix Brammer
Hamburg, 10 September 2013
Ferrostaal Group has sold its 100% subsidiary DSD Construcciones y Montajes, Santiago, Chile („DSD Chile“).
DSD Chile is an engineering and construction company with a focus on the construction of industrial plants in the areas of mining, oil & gas, power plants and the paper industry in Latin America.
Purchaser is the Peruvian based construction conglomerate Graña y Montero which is listed in the Lima and New York stock exchanges. The purchase price for DSD Chile amounts to USD 41 Mio.
CORVEL has advised Ferrostaal throughout the whole sales process.
Advisors Ferrostaal
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Philipp Jacobi
BMAJ (Santiago de Chile): Dr. Alejandro Alvarez; Nicolás Espina (both Chilean law)
Advisor Graña y Montero
Carey (Santiago de Chile): Salvador Valdés (lead); Francisco Guzmán; Ignacio Valenzuela; Ignacio de Solminihac
Hamburg, 10 August 2013
HATLAPA produces winches, hydraulic drives and compressors for the worldwide shipbuilding. The company will become part of Cargotec's business unit MacGregor, which offers and realizes worldwide self-unloading systems for vessels.
The former owners of the HATLAPA-Group will remain parties of the enterprise. As part of the purchase price, they granted a capital loan to Cargotec's holding company, which may be transformed into company shares on the intended stock market launch of MacGregor.
Advisors of HATPLA Group owners
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (lead); Dr. Sven Schubert; Dr. Felix Brammer (all Corporate, M&A)
Voigt Wunsch Holler (Hamburg): Dr. Oliver Wunsch (M&A)
Counsel Treuhand (Hamburg): Eckart Opitz
Hamburg 19 July 2013
Ideematec Deutschland GmbH supplies two of the most efficient photovoltaic plants in Africa with tracking systems. The installation of the photovoltaic plants, which are already under construction, is part of South Africa’s public IPP Procurement Programms. Ideematec provides the 22 MW-project “Herbert” with 4000 trackers and the 11 MW-project “Greefspan” with 2000 trackers; 23 solar panels will be fixed to each tracker. Both projects in Douglas, North Cape, South Africa, are scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2014.
In addition to the delivery of the trackers and components, Ideematec supports the installation of the trackers and accompanies both projects through their entire construction process. Both projects are realized and developed by AE-AMD Renewable energy, a joint-venture of the Spanish company AMDA energia and the South African company African Alt-E Technologies. EPC-contractor is Tenesol, a SunPower company (NASDAQ:SPWR).
Ideematec, based in Wallerfing (Germany), is specialized on the supply to major photovoltaic projects. Additionally, it offers services and assistance in planning, configuration and construction of solar systems.
CORVEL advised Ideematec regarding all legal aspects of the realization of the project (especially supply contracts and collateral documenta-tion). In addition, CORVEL coordinated all foreign law firms involved in the project on behalf of IdeemaTec.
Advisors Ideematec
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Christoph Prochnau (Corporate/Finance)
Rödl & Partner (Johannesburg, South Africa): Melanie Vorster
Foley & Lardner LLP (Los Angeles, USA): Jeffrey R. Atkin
Hamburg, 27 March 2013
SunEnergy Europe GmbH developed two solar parks with a total capacity of approx 42 MW in Barth, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany) and sold the project rights to RENERCO-Group (affiliate of BayWa) and Solarparc (affiliate of Solar World).
CORVEL advised SunEnergy regarding all legal aspects of the sale of the project rights.
Advisor SunEnergy
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert
Advisor RENERCO
Satell (Munich): Burkhard Reppich
Advisor Solarparc
Inhouse: Peter Schreier
Hamburg, 5 December 2012
Ideemasun energy GmbH, acting as EPC-Contractor for a local utility company, realizes a photo-voltaic plant with a capacity of approx. 2 MW in Romania (Ciocanesti). The local utility company is the investor and operator of the plant. The plant is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2012. This project is the kick-off for a pipeline of solar projects with a double-digit MW capacity. Those projects will be implemented in 2013.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor to Ideemasun regarding all project contracts.
Advisors Ideemasun
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (lead); Dr. Sven Schubert; Associate: Christoph Prochnau (all Corporate)
Rubin Meyer Doru & Trandafir (Bukarest): Florentin Timoianu; Associate: Anca Cimpeanu (both Romanian law)
Hamburg, 30 November 2012
A team of CORVEL advised Standardkessel Baumgarte-Group (SKG) in the construction of a 7.5-megawatt (net) biomass-to-energy facility on the Hawaiian island of Kaua'i. The plant will be owned and operated by a joint-venture of SKG and Green Energy Hawaii, LLC. It will be the first “closed loop biomass facility” in the U.S., meaning that all of the required fuel feedstock will be grown on dedicated lands owned or controlled by the facility. The plant will generate electricity to power 8,500 homes. The output will be sold to Kaua'I Island Utilitiy Cooperative (KIUC) on the basis of a long term power purchase agreement. The plant is scheduled to be operational in 2014.
The total investment is approximately $ 91 million. Until completion, debt financing of the project will be provided by a consortium of lenders lead by Deutsche Bank (New York). After completion of the construction, financing will be taken on by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Ser-vice.
SKG has its headquarter in Duisburg, Germany and specializes in the worldwide planning and construction of power plants. SKG is a world-leading company in the area of boiler technologies for power plants.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor to SKG regarding all legal aspects in connection with realization of the project (including corporate law, project and finance agreements). In addition, CORVEL coordinated all U.S.-based law firms advising the project developers.
Advisor Standardkessel Baumgarte-Group
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert (Corporate, Finance, Project Agreements); Felix Brammer (Corporate, Finance); Associate: Christoph Prochnau (Corporate, Finance)
Advisors Green Energy Team LLC, Hawaii
Steptoe & Johnson (New York): Michael Rennock (Corporate, Project Agreements, Finance)
Carlsmith Ball (Hawaii): Gerald A. Sumida (Corporate, Project Agreements); Terri Ann Motosue (Real Estate); David W. Wong (Tax)
Advisor Green Energy Hawaii
Keating Muething & Klekamp (Cincinnati): Paul V. Muething (Corporate)
Advisors Deutsche Bank (New York)
Haynes And Boone (Washington, D.C./Houston): Arthur Cohen (Corporate, Project Agreements ,Finance; Washington D.C.); Herb Glaser (Finance; Washington, D.C.); Theresa Einhorn (Corporate; Houston)
Goodsill (Hawaii): Lani L. Ewart; Peter Y. Kikuta (both Real Estate); David J. Reber; Sean K. Clark (both Corporate); Audrey E.J. Ng (Project Agreeements)
Hamburg, 19 November 2012
CORVEL hosted an international renewable energy conference with the topic "Project Realization in Germany and Europe without Feed-in-Tariff" on 13 November 2013 in Hamburg. More than 200 participants from renewable energy companies, banks, investors and insurance companies attended.
Michael Kauch, chairman of environmental committee of the FDP (Federal Democratic Party) in the German Bundestag (federal parliament) addressed the audience as the keynote speaker. He was followed by speakers from following institutions:
• GE Wind Energy GmbH (Sebastian Mertens)
• BELECTRIC-Group (Martin Zembsch)
• Vattenfall Europe AG (Pieter Wasmuth)
• NORD/LB (Björn Heinemeyer)
• Low Carbon Germany GmbH (Bastian Dittrich)
• GLS Bank Research (Johannes Prahl)
• CORVEL LLP (Felix Brammer, Sven Schubert).
CORVEL advised renewable energy projects with a total capacity of more than 2,000 MW in Germany and abroad. The partners in charge for renewable energy matters are Sven Schubert and Felix Brammer.
Hamburg, 14 November 2012
Triton Water AG, based in Norderstedt, sold its maritime solutions & services business to Evac Oy, Finland. Evac Oy is a subsidiary of the French group Zodiac Marine & Pool.
Since 1851, Triton Water AG developed and produced plants for wastewater treatment and drinking water supply needed for the maritime sector (in particular cruise liners). In the future, Triton Water AG will focus on plants for the treatment of fresh water, process water and wastewater for the industrial sector.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor to Triton Water AG in this transaction.
Advisor Triton Water
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Christoph Prochnau (both Corporate)
Advisor Evac Oy
Raupach & Wollert-Elmendorff (Hamburg): Dr. Michael von Rüden; Dirk Hänisch
Hamburg, 7 August 2012
ARCADIA Beteiligungen, based in Hamburg, acquired 100% of the SteinhilberSchwehr-Group based in Rottweil from the founders of former companies Steinhilber and Schwehr which have been merged in 2001.
SteinhilberSchwehr is a leading IT system integrator and offers under the brand name „ComputerKomplett“ turnkey IT system solutions with a focus on ERP and PLM to midcap enterprises of the manufacturing industry. This includes the consulting, selection and implementation of the infrastructure and integration of the software components.
A bank consortium of Kreissparkasse Biberach and Sparkasse Pforzheim-Calw has participated in the financing of the transaction.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor to ARCADIA in the acquisition process and on financing.
Advisor ARCADIA
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate, Finance); Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (Real Estate); Associate: Christoph Prochnau (Corporate)
Hamburg, 6 February 2012
Corporate Executive Board (“CEB”), an NYSE-listed company, acquired German-based Baumgartner & Partner Unternehmensberatung GmbH (“Baumgartner & Partner”).
CEB is a U.S.-based company. CEB’s clients include 85% of the Fortune 500. Baumgartner & Partner has positioned itself as a top consultant for strategic HR transformation and optimization in Europe. Through the acquisition of Baumgartner & Partner, CEB intends to expand its services in Germany and Europe.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor to the shareholders of Baumgartner & Partner during the acquisition process.
Advisor Baumgartner & Partner
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert (lead); Dr. Felix Brammer; Associate: Eva Stöckel
Hamburg, 7 November 2011
On May 12/13, 2011 the 3rd German-American Energy Conference took place in Berlin. Leading renewable energy companies as well as high-level government representatives from Germany and the U.S., including the U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Philip D. Murphy, attended the conference.
At the request of Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), Sven Schubert, partner at CORVEL, moderated an expert panel regarding “Financing of Renewable Energy Projects in the U.S.”.
CORVEL is one of the leading law firms in Germany in the area of renewable energy. It advised regarding projects with a total capacity of more than 1,000 MW. The partners in charge for renewable energy matters are Sven Schubert and Felix Brammer.
Hamburg, 17 May 2011
ARCADIA Beteiligungen acquired the shares in Bilfinger Berger Umweltsanierung GmbH from Bilfinger Berger Facility Services. Bilfinger Berger Facility Services and the management reinvested in the acquisition vehicle.
Bilfinger Berger’s remediation services branch comprises business units such as environmental redevelopment, disposal site technique, process technology regarding groundwater redevelopment, demolition as well as operation of an own thermal desorption facility. The company conducts business abroad together with an English subsidiary and by means of acquiring several international major projects.
The acquisition was financed by a consortium consisting of Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and KBC Bank Deutschland.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor to ARCADIA in the acquisition process, the re-investment and the financing documentation.
Advisor ARCADIA
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer (Corporate); Dr. Philipp Jacobi (Finance); Associate: Johannes Niesemeyer (Corporate)
Hamburg, 31 January 2011
CORVEL advised the City of Kiel regarding stock corporation law issues affecting Stadtwerke Kiel AG (utility) in connection with the restructuring initiative "Einmal gemeinsam" of MVV Energie AG. The City of Kiel is the minority shareholder of Stadtwerke Kiel AG. The majority shareholder is MVV Energie AG.
The restructuring initiative is expected to yield savings of EUR 20 - 30 million annually. 450 redundancies will be made at MVV Energie AG, Stadtwerke Kiel AG and Energieversorgung Offenbach AG.
Hamburg, 18 December 2010
Captiva Capital Partners III ELP ("Captiva"), a corporate real-estate investment fund managed by Natixis Capital Partners, acquired the German headquarters of Avon Cosmetics in a structured sale and leaseback transaction. Avon Cosmetics is one of the biggest direct marketers of cosmetics and body care products worldwide. The property, comprising 115,000 sqm, is located in Neufahrn near Munich and hosts the group’s German office eadquarter as well as its entire production and distribution facilities across more than 48,000 sqm of lettable area. The asset was sold as a part of an internal restructuring program and Captiva has signed a short-term leaseback agreement with Avon for the entire site.
CORVEL acted as legal advisor of Natixis in the sale and leaseback of the property.
Advisor Nataxis
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier; Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Associate: Johannes Niesemeyer
Hamburg, 5 December 2010
CORVEL advised Triton Water on the equity investment of EDB Investments, Singapore, and Wölbern Private Equity, Hamburg, in connection with a capital increase.
Triton Water is a leading supplier of turnkey solutions for the industrial maritime water treatment. EDB Investments is a leading, international operating investment company which invests in innovative and dynamic sectors e.g. of biomedical science, cleantech and digital media. Wölbern Private Equity is a PE- fund manager which specializes in direct shareholding and investments in funds in the cleantech sector.
CORVEL advised Triton Water on contractual and stock corporation law matters in connection with the investment and advises the company continuously in particular with respect to corporate law since the beginning of 2009.
Advisor Triton Water
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Felix Brammer
Advisor EDB Investments
Gibson Dunn: Dr. Philip Martinius
Advisor Wölbern Private Equity
Watson, Farley & Williams LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Christian Ulrich Wolf
Hamburg, 3 December 2010
"Attractive Foreign Markets for Renewable Energies"
CORVEL hosted an international renewable energy conference entitled "Attractive Foreign Markets for Renewable Energies" on November 10, 2010 in Hamburg. The conference highlighted the solarand wind markets in the U.S., England, France and Poland. Over 150 representatives of renewable energies companies, banks, equity investors and insurance companies attended the conference.
In addition to the Consul General of the United States of America in Hamburg, Ms. Inmi Patterson, representatives of the following institutions delivered speeches: Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH, S.A.G. Solarstrom AG, HSH Nordbank AG, Wealth Management Capital Holding GmbH, E.ON Climate & Renewables Central Europe GmbH, C.A.S.E (Council of American States in Europe), Commerzbank AG, Stoel Rives and CORVEL.
The speakers addressed the current commercial and legal framework for project development and financing in Europe and the U.S.
CORVEL is one of the leading law firms in Germany in the area of renewable energy. It advised regarding projects with a total capacity of more than 1,000 MW. The partners in charge for renewable energy matters are Sven Schubert and Felix Brammer.
Hamburg, 11 November 2010
SunEnergy Europe GmbH sold a solar park with a capacity of 8 MW in Meldorf, Schleswig-Holstein, to Solar-Energie Nord GmbH & Co. KG (“Solar-Energie”). DZ Bank and VR Bank Niebüll provided debt financing. SunEnergy and Solar-Energie provided equity. The park is fully operational since spring 2010. Solar-Energie plans to market the park through a closed-end investment fund.
CORVEL advised SunEnergy regarding all legal aspects of the project, including project financing.
Advisor SunEnergy
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert; Dr. Dirk Brockmeier; Dr. Philipp Jacobi
Advisor Solar-Energie
Honert & Partner (Hamburg): Dr. Sönke Friedrichsen; Dr. Arnd Weisner
Advisor banks
Inhouse
Hamburg, 8 June 2010
juwi Solar sold a 53 MW Solar Park (currently the third largest solar park (photovoltaic) worldwide) to WealthCap – a subsidiary of UniCredit bank, including staple debt financing. WealthCap intends to market the park through a closed-end investment fund.
juwi Solar and First Solar developed the park with a total investment of about EUR 160m on the former military training area in Turnow-Preilack, Germany. A consortium of six banks lead by KfW-IPEX provided debt financing. juwi Holding and First Solar provided equity by means of mezzanine loans. The solar park is fully operational since Fall 2009.
CORVEL advised juwi Solar regarding all legal aspects of the project, including project financing and its subsequent sale to WealthCap.
Advisor juwi Solar
CORVEL (Hamburg): Dr. Sven Schubert; Dr. Felix Brammer; Dr. Philipp Jacobi; Dr. Dirk Brockmeier
Advisor First Solar
HengelerMueller (Frankfurt): Dr. Daniel Kress; Dr. Ralph Defren; Dr. Axel Gehringer; Dr. Markus Lauer
Advisor of the banks
White & Case (Düsseldorf): Dr. Alexander Reuter; Ralph Busch
Hamburg, 12 April 2010
On March 22/23, 2010 the 2nd German-American Energy Conference took place in Berlin. Leading renewable energy companies as well as high-level government representatives from Germany and the U.S., including Federal Secretaries Rainer Brüderle (Secretary of Commerce) and Norbert Röttgen (Secretary of Environmental Matters) and the U.S. Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Philip D. Murphy, attended the conference.
The conference addressed the current legal and political framework for renewable energy projects in Germany and the U.S.
Sven Schubert, partner at CORVEL, gave a speech entitled "Project Development in the U.S.: Differences between the U.S. and the German market." Mr. Schubert’s co-speaker was Stephen Hall, partner at Stoel Rives, one of the leading U.S.-law firms for renewable energy.
CORVEL is one of the leading law firms in Germany in the area of renewable energy. It advised regarding projects with a total capacity of more than 1,000 MW. The partners in charge for renewable energy matters are Sven Schubert and Felix Brammer.
Hamburg, 24 March 2010
CORVEL has advised alstria office REIT-AG in the first three quarters 2009 on the sale of four office buildings. These single asset transactions were concluded with four different purchasers. The overall purchase price exceeds EUR 45m. Three of the sold assets are located in Hamburg and one asset is located in Berlin. These transactions account for roughly 15% of all investments in the Hamburg real estate market year to date.
Advisor alstria
CORVEL LLP (Hamburg): Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (lead, Real Estate); Dr. Philipp Jacobi (Corporate)
Hamburg, 1 October 2009
Another law firm with roots at Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer was founded in Hamburg. The corporate lawyers Dr. Dirk Brockmeier (41), Dr. Sven Schubert (40), Dr. Philipp Jacobi (37) and Dr. Felix Brammer (36) will start under the name CORVEL in September. Brockmeier was until recently a partner at the MDP law firm Alpers & Stenger in Hamburg, to which he switched from Freshfields.
Schubert comes from Hilbrandt Rückert Ebbinghaus. He joined the Freshfields spin-off in August 2006. Previously, he was with Freshfields for six years as a senior / principal associate like Brockmeier. Jacobi and Brammer, also with this status, will join directly from the Freshfields Hamburg Office.
CORVEL starts as an English LLP. Schubert already started his work, as he has quit at Hilbrandt Rückert Ebbinghaus in June; the other partners will follow in September.
“For all of us was clear, that we will focus on transactions”, Schubert said. “This means M&A, project development, real estate and private equity deals as well as restructuring, which we can advise on an international level.” While those transaction deals are the main business, CORVEL also offers continuous corporate advice. Brockmeier added: “In addition to that we share the same consulting philosophy and know each other from our time at Freshfields.”
There are many other small law firms in Hamburg, whos corporate partners started at Freshfields or their previous offices. Prominent examples are Rittstieg and Löhde Leo Schmidt-Hollburg Witte (and partially Luther).
In the past five years Freshfield Associates repeatedly established their own firms. Besides Hilbrandt Rückert Ebbinghaus, KAHB Rechtsanwälte (in part from Schindhelm) and Renzenbrink Raschke von Knobelsdorff Heiser were founded. The last launch was KNZP Rechtsanwälte, a IP- IT- and Media boutique: Prof. Christian Klawitter, longtime partner at Freshfields, formed this law firm together with the Freshfield Principal Associates Dr. Kai-Uwe Plath and Dr. Mathias Zintler as well as Dr. Gerald Nebem from Lovells.
Hilbrandt Rückert Ebbinghaus was created in August 2003, as the Senior Associates Peter Ebbinghaus and Dr. Tilmann Rückert from Freshfields joined with Dr. Christian Hilbrandt. The labour lawyer Hilbrandt already left Freshfields in the context of the English merger in 2001. A year later, the office extended its focus on antitrust law with Lutz Marcus Becker from White & Case. With the loss of the late Ebbinghaus in March 2007, the departure of Schubert means another loss for in the corporate law sector Hilbrandt Rückert Ebbinghaus.
With the change from Brockmeier six partners will remain at Alpers & Stenger (three lawyers and three tax consultants). The partner Dr. Gernot Stenger regrets the loss of Brockmeier. “But I can understand that he would like to implement his ideas in his own law firm”.
(Christine Albert / English translation by CORVEL)
Source: JUVE 21 August 2008