Dr. Johannes Rowold

Kirkland & Ellis advised Gordon Brothers on the sale of the global ORSAY brand, archives and related trademarks and other intellectual property to a private investor from the Czech Republic. The financial details of the deal are confidential. The private investor will continue to invest in the omni-channel women’s fashion brand and grow ORSAY’s presence in Europe online, in stores and with existing franchisees. Global advisory and investment firm Gordon Brothers acquired the ORSAY brand in March 2022 after Orsay GmbH had entered into insolvency proceedings under self-administration in January. The Kirkland team advising Gordon Brothers was led by transactional partner Hendrik Braun and included debt finance partner Alexander Längsfeld, as well as transactional associates Tamara Zehentbauer and Johannes Rowold.

Dec 27

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Thoma Bravo, a leading software investment firm, on entering into an investment agreement with EQS Group AG, a leading international cloud provider in the fields of corporate compliance, investor relations and ESG, under which Thoma Bravo will support the future growth of EQS and launch a public takeover offer for all outstanding shares of EQS at an offer price of EUR 40.00 in cash per share. The transaction marks Thoma Bravo's first investment in a German company. Read Thoma Bravo’s press release The Kirkland team was led by transactional partner Benjamin Leyendecker and transactional associates Johannes Rowold, Friedrich Focke and Antonia Gaupp, as well as transactional associate Philipp S. Poitiers, and included transactional partner Vincent Bergin; antitrust & competition partner Matthew Sinclair-Thomson; investment funds partners Katie St. Peters and Amy Fox; debt finance partner Kirsteen Nicol; and tax partner Anthony Antioch.

Nov 17

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis has advised Ingenio, LLC (Ingenio), a portfolio company of Alpine Investors (Alpine), on the acquisition of adviqo Group (adviqo). The transaction creates the global leader in the fast-growing segment of spiritual and emotional wellness in the media and technology sector, combining Ingenio’s 12 brands with adviqo’s 19 brands. Ingenio is a market leader in spiritual and emotional guidance in the US and combines a collection of online destinations including Keen.com and Purple Garden. Ingenio also owns and operates one of the world’s largest astrology media companies with brands including Horoscope.com, Astrology.com, Horoscopo.com and SunSigns.com. adviqo is a market leader in spiritual and emotional guidance in Europe, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It employs more than 240 people worldwide, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK. Its portfolio includes websites, apps, streaming media, podcasts, content-based online offerings, TV and magazines. Alpine Investors is a people-driven private equity firm that specializes in investments in companies in the software and services industries. Alpine is currently investing out of its $2.25 billion eighth fund. The Kirkland team advising Alpine and Ingenio was led by transactional partner David Huthmacher and included transactional partners Ben Leyendecker, Sean Z. Kramer, Paul Watt, Anna Schwander, Garrett A. Lorentz and tax partner Daniel Hiemer as well as associates Jan Mahlke, Johannes Rowold, Lukas Fellhölter, Marlene Ruf and Barbara Dunkel.

May 5

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is advising BC Partners on the sale of a majority stake in Aenova Group to Kühne Holding AG. As part of the transaction, BC Partners' advised funds will reinvest in Aenova alongside Kühne Holding AG and continue to support the company as a minority shareholder. Aenova Group, headquartered in Starnberg near Munich, Germany, is a leading global contract manufacturer and development service provider for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. With approximately 4,000 employees in 14 manufacturing sites worldwide, the company is a one-stop service provider for the development, manufacturing, and packaging of drug products for pharma companies around the globe. Read BC Partners' press release The Kirkland team advising BC Partners was led by transactional partners Attila Oldag and Sebastian Häfele and included tax partner Michael Ehret; debt finance partner Natasha Smith; antitrust & competition partner Shahrzad Sadjadi; as well as transactional associates Christina Albath, Johannes Rowold and Antonia Gaupp.

Apr 24

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised Brookfield Asset Management Inc. on an investment agreement between Alexandrite Lake Lux Holdings S.à r.l., a company controlled by one of its private real estate funds, and alstria office REIT-AG. In connection with the agreement, Brookfield intends to launch a voluntary public takeover offer for all outstanding shares of alstria office REIT-AG. Alexandrite Lake Lux Holdings S.à r.l., will offer alstria office REIT-AG shareholders a cash consideration of EUR 19.50 per share. The completion of the takeover offer will be subject to a minimum acceptance threshold and certain further customary conditions. alstria office REIT-AG is a leading German real estate platform with a high-quality office portfolio across Germany’s core investment markets, including Hamburg, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, Berlin and Stuttgart. As of September 30, 2021, alstria office REIT-AG’s real estate portfolio comprised 111 properties with a lettable area of 1.5 million square meters and a market value of EUR 4.7 billion. Brookfield is a leading global alternative asset manager with over US$ 650 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit. The Kirkland team advising Brookfield was led by M&A/Private Equity partners Benjamin Leyendecker, Philip Goj and Matthew Elliott and included capital markets partner Anna Schwander, tax partner Daniel Hiemer, debt finance partners Stefan Arnold-Soulby and Jonathan Birks and derivatives partner Scott J. Gordon as well as M&A/Private Equity associates Thomas Diekmann, Tamara Zehentbauer, Johannes Rowold, tax associate Tobias Stuppi, debt finance associate Maurice Walsh, and antitrust partner Thomas Wilson.

Nov 4

1 min