Germany: Project Finance
The use of public private partnerships (PPP) and similar combinations of state and private funding has been the main talking point for German and European project finance lawyers in the last few years. Recently, the level of public investment has been reduced due to government deficits and austerity policies, and a waning confidence in the European markets. But PPP remains a viable option among investors, and the four lawyers we feature in this chapter expect their practices to remain busy for the foreseeable future.
In Frankfurt, Dirk Schmalenbach is the co-head of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP‘s finance group. He concentrates on cross-border projects in a number of industries, advising on debt and equity financing before and after M&A transactions. He has a special interest in lease financing and is “highly regarded” for his knowledge of the German Commercial and Civil Codes.
At Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH in Berlin, Irene Schmid is a civil law notary as well as a practising finance lawyer, counselling clients such as Citibank Europe on acquisitions. Her practice includes financing real estate projects, sale and leaseback and loan transactions. She also works with private clients on financing their business and charitable enterprises and inheritance.
Managing partner of Allen & Overy LLP in Germany, Peter Stenz is a banking and finance lawyer and leads the German project finance group in the Frankfurt office. He represents lending and borrowing institutions on both German and European arrangements, as well as energy, infrastructure and telecoms companies, and was recently involved in the WestLB AG financing of a coal power plant worth €1.3 billion.
Also in Frankfurt is Beda Wortmann from Clifford Chance LLP: a banking and capital markets lawyer with a specialism in PPP structured financing. He mainly works in the commercial real estate arena for banking clients, such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. He is lauded for his knowledge of legislation concerning loan defaults over commercial property.