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2027 Edition
Magic Circle firm Clifford Chance is among the largest law firms in the world, with global operations in 23 countries. It has offices in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Munich. The firm has a formidable practice across all sectors. Its standout capital markets practice includes Simon Reitz and Axel Wittmann. In a recent highlight the team advised GD Towers on its EUR 7.7 billion refinancing comprising the establishment of a new common terms financing platform and a record EUR 2.5 billion private placement. The project finance team includes highly regarded practitioner Florian Mahler, who advised Nofar Energy on the project financing of its first battery energy storage system in Germany, a deal that was shortlisted for Deal of the Year at the 2026 IFLR Europe Awards. The corporate team, led by Thomas Krecek, advised Helvetia Holding on its planned merger of equals with Baloise Holding, ultimately forming Helvetia Baloise Holding.

Key clients of the firm include GD Towers, Nofar Energy, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan, MTU Aero Engines, Vantage Data Centers, Aeral Bank, Barclays Bank Ireland, Helvetia Holding, Helvetia Holding, and BNP Paribas.

Testimonials
‘We especially appreciate their teamwork approach, availability, and pragmatism.’ (M&A)
Schalast & Partner was established in 1995 and has offices in Frankfurt, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart and is part of the Multilaw network. The firm is experienced in financial services regulation, banking, insurance, and M&A and is often noted for its work in with start-ups, on novel financing products and in the emerging digital finance space. This year, the Banking & Finance department, led by co-managing partner Andreas Walter, advised Raisin Bank on its regulatory assessment of European sustainability and ESG-related legislation and supervisory guidelines included in a regulatory review catalogue. The M&A team, led by managing partner Christoph Schalast, advised Beyond Capital Partner (BCP) on its acquisition of Sanitätshaus blu, requiring the coordination of corporate and real estate law expertise across multiple practice areas. Key M&A clients of the firm include Viessmann Generations Group, Mainova, Beyond Capital Partners, Faber-Castell, and Hannover Finanz. The Banking & Finance department advises DLT, Mondu, Fosun, Wayflyer, Morgan Stanley, and CRX Markets.

Testimonials

“Very active on thought leadership in the financial space and very active in the fintech sector; they are well-versed in working with start-ups and have been successful in areas such as blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT) and crypto-currency projects.” (Banking & Finance)

“They have a large team with a lot of dedicated regulatory lawyers and some very talented individuals.” (Financial Services Regulatory)

“Christoph Schalast is highly experienced; excellent rhetoric.”
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is an American multinational law firm founded in 1948 in New York. It is present in Germany with offices in Frankfurt and Munich. In Banking and Capital Markets, the firm advises on domestic and cross-border transaction, with a focus on structured finance, syndicated lending and debt restructuring, and equity capital markets work. In M&A and private equity, the firm has a strong international focus, advising private equity houses on their inbound buyouts in Germany, as well as pan-European transactions with a strong German component. The team also boasts substantial experience in significant transatlantic transactions involving major US corporates and investors. This year, the Capital Markets and M&A teams, led by Holger Hofmeister and Stephen Hutter, advised CureVac in its all-stock acquisition by BioNTech that valued CureVac at approximately USD 1.25 billion. The Private Equity team, led by Jan Bauer in Frankfurt, advised BlackRock as part of a consortium of investors led by Allianz, in the acquisition of Viridium Group, a transaction that was shortlisted as a Deal of the Year in the 2026 IFLR Europe Awards. Key clients of the firm include BlackRock, CureVac, Paypal, The Middleby Corporation, Qatar Investment Authority, Kulczyk Investments, HSBC, Jefferies, Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, Hillenbrand, AGRAVIS Raiffeisen, and Energy Infrastructure Partners.
Debevoise & Plimpton
5 practice areas
View profile
Germany
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
4 practice areas
View profile
Germany
Arnold & Porter
3 practice areas
View profile
Germany
King & Wood Mallesons
9 practice areas
View profile
Germany
A&O Shearman - Germany View profile
Germany
Hermann
3 practice areas
View profile
Germany
Leonhardt
2 practice areas
View profile
Germany
Magnusson View profile
Germany
Reed Smith View profile
Germany
Rödl & Partner View profile
Germany
Beiten Burkhardt
1 practice area
View profile
Germany
Hasch & Partner View profile
Germany
Brehm & v Moers View profile
Germany
Brödermann & Jahn View profile
Germany
WilmerHale View profile
Germany
ZIRNGIBL View profile
Germany
Squire Patton Boggs
1 practice area
View profile
Germany
Baum Financial Services Law Team View profile
Germany
BBORS Kreuznacht View profile
Germany
Becker Büttner Held View profile
Germany
756 results756 results
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Deal Highlights
1,539 results1,539 results
Deal Name Deal Date Firm Name Jurisdiction Deal Type Lawyer Names Client Names Client Role
Palmira Capital Partners GmbH - M&A
2022-04-20
Dentons
Germany
M&A
Birgit Gansel, David Zafra Carollo, Dominik Thomer, Holger Holkemeier, Janina Diesem, Jessica Vorster, Laura Appell, Lena von Schickfus und Neudorff, Nicole Lucks, Samira Bouzakri
Palmira Capital Partners GmbH
Buyer
Home Service AG - M&A
2022-06-28
Bär & Karrer
Germany
M&A
Christoph Neeracher, Julian Hodel, Luca Tarzia, Philippe Seiler, Susanne Schreiber, Thomas Rohde
Home Service AG
Target
Nikkiso Co. Ltd. - M&A
2022-03-16
Baker McKenzie
Germany
M&A
Ann-Kristin Freiheit, Bridget Doyle, Christian Burholt, Denise Tayler, Fabian Low, Jiro Toyokawa, Johannes Baier, Jon Meese, Joost Polman, Kathrin Marchant, Katrin Kurz, Kerstin Schmiedel, Laila Kouchi, Matthias Kohler, Mohammed Almarini, Nikolaus Reinhuber, Piotr Korzynski, Satoshi Abe, Thomas Gierath, Tino Marz
Nikkiso Co. Ltd.
Seller
NielsenIQ - M&A
2022-07-01
Weil Gotshal & Manges
Germany
M&A
NielsenIQ
Buyer
NielsenIQ - M&A
2022-07-01
Squire Patton Boggs
Germany
M&A
NielsenIQ
Buyer
NielsenIQ - M&A
2022-07-01
Covington & Burling
Germany
M&A
NielsenIQ
Buyer
Aareal Bank AG - M&A
2022-04-07
Freshfields
Germany
M&A
Christoph Seibt, Dominic Divivier, Gunnar Schuster, Holger Hartenfels, Jan Kothe, Jean Mohamed, Karsten Krumm, Uwe Salaschek
Aareal Bank AG
Target
NielsenIQ - M&A
2022-07-01
Ropes & Gray
Germany
M&A
Amirali Agha-Khan, Andrew Howard, Anthony Bernard, Chris Agnoli, Christian Westra, David Saltzman, Douglas Brayley, Edward Black, Jennifer Rikoski, Konrad Thallner, Matthew Richards, Rohan Massey, Samuel Duncan
NielsenIQ
Buyer
proALPHA Business Solutions GmbH - M&A
2022-06-02
Sidley Austin
Germany
M&A
Nicole Janssen
proALPHA Business Solutions GmbH
Buyer
GfK SE - M&A
2022-07-01
White & Case
Germany
M&A
GfK SE
Target
Dieter Braun GmbH - M&A
2022-06-27
King & Wood Mallesons
Germany
M&A
Dieter Braun GmbH
Buyer
Dieter Braun GmbH - M&A
2022-06-27
POELLATH
Germany
M&A
Dieter Braun GmbH
Buyer
Dieter Braun GmbH - M&A
2022-06-27
A&O Shearman - Germany
Germany
M&A
Dieter Braun GmbH
Buyer
Assmann WSW components GmbH - M&A
2022-06-27
Dechert
Germany
M&A
Carina Klaes-Staudt, Clemens York von Wartenburg, Federico Pappalardo, Philipp Schöfer, Sonja Feser, Thirith von Dohren, Veronica Santana
Assmann WSW components GmbH
Target
Dieter Braun GmbH - M&A
2022-06-27
Gleiss Lutz
Germany
M&A
Dieter Braun GmbH
Buyer
North Road Co. - M&A
2022-07-06
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
Germany
M&A
North Road Co.
Buyer
Straumann Holding AG - M&A
2022-05-20
Noerr
Germany
M&A
Alexander Schilling, Anette Purucker, Annika-Kristin Stamer, Clemens Schonemann, Enno Stange, Florian-Felix Marquardt, Isabel Jakobs, Jin-Sa Jun, Katja Schmitt, Kolja Deingruber, Laurenz Tholen, Markus Brosamle, Marvin Bartels, Michael Reiling, Moritz Koch, Patrick Geist, Peter Stauber, Stefan Schwab, Susann Jahn, Tabea Gutmann, Torsten Kraul
Straumann Holding AG
Buyer
Soundwide - M&A
2022-04-12
Kirkland & Ellis
Germany
M&A
Christopher Burwell, Daniel Hiemer, Devin Heckman, Jorg Ruff, Josefin Sjoestroem, Juliane Hubert, Marco Jacuta, Ryan Kabat, Sean Kramer, Seth Pritchard, Zak Morozov
Soundwide
Buyer
PDFTron Systems Inc. - M&A
2022-07-07
Choate Hall & Stewart
Germany
M&A
PDFTron Systems Inc.
Buyer
PDFTron Systems Inc. - M&A
2022-07-07
Hengeler Mueller
Germany
M&A
Andre Jahn, Andreas Kaletsch, Annika Clauss, Christian Hoefs, Frank Burmeister, Kira Fritsche, Marius Marx, Markus Ernst, Philipp Ersfeld
PDFTron Systems Inc.
Buyer
43
of
77
By Firm
173 results173 results
Firm Name Jurisdiction Total Deals Deals (Last 12 Months)
A&O Shearman
Germany
20
0
A&O Shearman - Germany
Germany
32
0
Addleshaw Goddard
1
0
AKD
Belgium
2
0
Alexander Koelle
Germany
1
0
AllBright Law Offices
1
0
Alston & Bird
1
0
ALTENBURG
Germany
6
0
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Japan
1
0
Arqis
Germany
27
0
Arthur Cox
Ireland
1
0
Ashurst Perkins Coie
Germany
11
0
Baker & Hostetler
1
0
Baker McKenzie
Germany
22
0
BarentsKrans
Netherlands
1
0
Barnes & Thornburg
1
0
Bech-Bruun
Denmark
1
0
Binder Grösswang
Austria
1
0
Bird & Bird
Germany
10
0
Blake Cassels & Graydon
1
0
1
of
9

Insights editorial only

From Germany to California, we round up key partner moves across private equity, secondaries, finance and venture capital
From UK private capital to Italian consolidation, tier changes demonstrate a more competitive regional cycle
The 2027 edition recognises 3,524 practices across 24 jurisdictions, with France, Germany and the UK driving much of the growth following the introduction of new tables
Eric Romba explains why digital finance regulation has become a live business priority – and why Fieldfisher is using it as a foundation in Berlin
We round up this week’s top moves in the finance, corporate, M&A and PE practices in the UK, France, the US and Germany
We round up this week’s lateral hires at leading firms across Germany, the US, UK and Brazil
New hires made in regulatory, corporate, M&A and finance practices at leading firms across the US and the UK, while German Hengeler Mueller elected two new managing partners
The finalists for the 28th annual Europe awards have been revealed, with the winners to be announced in London on June 11
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Insights editorial only cont'd