Profile: Hengeler Mueller

Hengeler Mueller - Who's Who Legal '70'

What is the Who's Who Legal '70'?

The firm’s practice is, however, not limited to Western Europe and, thanks to its “integrated team concept” and a series of “best friend” relationships with some of the industry’s leading names, Hengeler Mueller offers major German and international clients a truly integrated and global platform. The firm builds on its performance in the previous edition and earns a total of 30 mentions across 12 of the following chapters.

CORPORATE
The firm specialises in complex business transactions and it performs exceptionally well in the corporate and financial sectors. Maximilian Schiessl is one of only two German lawyers featuring on our shortlist of the most nominated individuals in the mergers & acquisitions chapter. Oleg de Lousanoff also features prominently in the chapter and advised JC Decaux on the acquisition of VVR-Berek. The equally impressive Michael Hoffman-Becking, about whom sources have “heard excellent reports”, joins them. All three also appear in the corporate governance chapter in which Gerd Krieger also features. Hans-Jörg Ziegenhain is the fourth Hengeler man in the M&A chapter.

Corporate tax is another strong point at the firm and a total of three Hengeler Mueller partners gain a place in that chapter. Lawyers from the firm are recognised for their counsel on the tax structuring of acquisitions and restructurings as well as on revenue taxation involving financial products. Friedhelm Jacob continues to draw praise from some of the practice area’s leading lights and both Martin Klein and Ernst-Thomas Kraft remain among the top advisers in the country. Tax aspects also play a prominent role in the structuring of investment funds and Hengeler Mueller has two entries in the private funds chapter. Thomas Paul comes recommended as “absolutely top and very responsive”, while Edgar Wallach is “first rate”.

COMPETITION
The firm maintains its excellent reputation for competition related matters with a contingent of five highly rated individuals in the corresponding chapter. Recently the group has worked on a number of deals in the energy and telecoms sectors including advising Eon on its acquisition of €10 billion of assets from Endesa and Enel in France, Italy and Spain. In the telecoms sector the firm advised the German arms of Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2 on the launch of a joint platform to broadcast television on mobile phones. Jochen Burrichter heads the group from the Düsseldorf office and was recommended to researchers as “effective, connected and someone who gets the job done every time”. “Young and good” Thorsten Mäger (also in the Oil and Gas chapter) and “top-tier” Christoph Stadler also feature from the Düsseldorf office. Prior to joining the firm, Frankfurt-based Horst Satzky worked as a case handler at the German Federal Cartel Office during which time he was seconded to the Federal Economics Ministry. Satsky was recommended to researchers as “very good” and among other matters worked on the proposed acquisition by Deutsche Börse of the London Stock Exchange. Hengeler Mueller is also represented in Brussels thanks to the performance of Hans-Jörg Niemeyer, whose work on state aid is said to be particularly noteworthy.

BANKING and FINANCE
Hendrik Haag is one of Germany’s best-known corporate lawyers and he appears prominently in both the banking and capital markets chapters. Haag is rated by sources as “one of the pillars of local banking law”. Partner Stefan Krauss is also in the banking chapter; his work on securitisations is said to be “terrific”. Krauss, like Haag, also features in the capital markets chapter alongside three other Hengeler Mueller lawyers. Martin Geiger comes recommended for structured finance while Torsten Busch was endorsed by some of the practice area’s most prominent names. His pre-eminence in the field led one corporate respondent to note that he’s “one of the two leading practitioners in Germany in the field of equity”. They then went on to recommend him as the “leading researcher and author of legal essays”. Thomas Cron completes the contingent in Capital Markets. He is “one of the leading practitioners”, sources tell us.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Hengeler Mueller also features in the litigation and arbitration chapters thanks to the regard in which sources hold Peter Heckel. The firm’s clients are drawn from the industrial, banking and insurance sectors and Heckel is a leading player in the dispute resolution arena.

Birgit Spiesshofer is Germany’s leading environment lawyer, according to our research, and Hans-Joachim Liebers “does very important work” in the labour and employment sector. With such a deep bench and diverse skill set Hengeler Mueller emerges as one of the publication’s most respected outfits.