Dr. Cristina Weidner

Kirkland & Ellis advised O2 Investment Partners, a private equity firm investing in growth-oriented, privately-held businesses in the North American lower middle market, on the fundraising for O2 Investment Partners Fund V (Fund V) with $670 million in capital commitments. Read O2 Investment Partners’ press release The Kirkland team included investment funds lawyers Dan McQuade, Michael Black, William Ballentine, Kendall Kilberger and Allie Sopp; investment funds regulatory lawyers Nicholas Hemmingsen, Danielle Sartain and Matt Davis; investment funds ERISA lawyer Christine Matott; tax lawyers Dan Meehan and Florian Schütte; and financial services regulatory lawyers Albert Weatherill, Sky Kim and Matt Dixon-Ward.

Mar 3

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis announced today that Cristina Weidner will join the Firm as a partner in the Munich office to lead the Firm’s restructuring practice in Germany. “Cristina is one of the most well-known lawyers in her market, recognized for her leadership skills and pragmatic, commercial approach. We are all excited about her joining our premier global restructuring team,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. Ms. Weidner’s practice focuses on restructuring and insolvencies, including advice on financial and cross-border restructurings, creditor composition proceedings, contingency planning, distressed M&A transactions and going concern insolvency scenarios. She has represented clients in the private equity, real estate, industrial and banking sectors. She joins Kirkland from Clifford Chance, where she was a partner in the Frankfurt office and led that firm’s German restructuring and insolvency team.

Feb 16

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis is excited to announce that Dr. Christian Halàsz and Friedrich Schlott will join the Firm as partners in the Restructuring Practice. Dr. Halàsz and Mr. Schlott will be based in both Munich and Frankfurt, where Kirkland recently announced it would open a new office to support its growing business in Germany. “Christian and Friedrich bring decades of experience to our premier Restructuring practice,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “As we continue investing in the areas that matter most to our clients, we’re excited to welcome preeminent lawyers like Christian and Friedrich to our German team.” Dr. Halàsz’s practice focuses on cross-border and domestic financial restructurings, workouts, insolvency and multijurisdictional collateral enforcement. He advises clients on strategic and legal issues related to distressed debt and special situations and has experience across sectors including automotive, telecommunications, packaging, paper, transport, mining and energy. He represents hedge funds, bondholders, institutional lenders, secondary market investors, creditor committees and domestic and international companies. Mr. Schlott has extensive experience in restructuring, insolvency-related corporate law and insolvency law, including in-court and out-of-court restructuring, and regularly advises stakeholders across the capital structure and from various business sectors. “Christian and Friedrich are outstanding lawyers with experience handling complex financial restructuring matters in Germany and throughout Europe,” said Benjamin Leyendecker, a partner in Kirkland’s Munich office. “They are dynamic and team-oriented individuals who will thrive on the Kirkland platform, and we are excited to welcome them to the Firm.” Both lawyers will join Kirkland from law firm Gleiss Lutz, where Dr. Halàsz is a partner and Mr. Schlott is a counsel. Dr. Halàsz and Mr. Schlott are the latest partners to join Kirkland in Germany. Earlier this month, the Firm announced leading M&A attorney Dr. Tobias Larisch would join as it launched an office in Frankfurt, it’s second location in Germany. Kirkland has operated in Munich for nearly two decades. In 2023, leading restructuring lawyer Cristina Weidner joined the Munich office as a partner.

Aug 27

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis advised an ad-hoc group of noteholders on the successful financial restructuring and recapitalization of Metalcorp Group S.A. (“Metalcorp”) and Ferralum Metals Group S.à r.l. (“Ferralum”). The transaction addressed Metalcorp’s €300 million senior notes due 2026 and €70 million senior notes due 2023 and resulted in €66 million of notes debt being transferred to Ferralum. Ferralum bundles the aluminum and bulk and ferrous businesses formerly belonging to Metalcorp, which had previously been carved-out from the Metalcorp group by way of a management buyout. The recapitalization followed a consent solicitation under the German Bond Act (SchVG) and a subscription offer combined with an automatic exchange into new instruments issued by Ferralum and Metalcorp. The Kirkland team was led by restructuring associate Michael Berger and restructuring partner Leo Plank and Cristina Weidner and comprised capital markets partners Siegfried M. Büttner and Tim Volkheimer; debt finance partner Fabrice Hipp as well as restructuring associate Paul Päfgen; and debt finance associate Deena Smith.

Jul 10

1 min

Kirkland & Ellis has bolstered its European corporate practice with the hire of Sebastian Heim, who joins as partner across its Munich and London offices. Heim, a Milbank London partner, has advised on deals including Carlyle’s €7.7 billion ($8.9 billion) acquisition of BASF’s coating business and General Atlantic’s $5.7 billion public offering of SMG Swiss Marketing Group, at the time the largest European IPO of the year. Heim joined Milbank in 2011 as an associate, according to his LinkedIn. “Sebastian is one of the go-to private equity lawyers in Germany,” said Jon A. Ballis, chairman of Kirkland’s executive committee. Heim’s regularly advises clients on corporate law, M&A, and growth equity matters. “Sebastian is an extraordinary lawyer with a stellar reputation,” said Benjamin Leyendecker, a corporate partner in Kirkland’s Munich office. The move comes just 18 months after Kirkland opened its Frankfurt office in August 2024. The hub cooperates closely with Kirkland's Munich office, which has been described by Leyendecker as “key pillar of our strategy”. Heim is joining the Munich office, which has 17 partners listed on Kirkland’s website. Kirkland saw record lateral hires and partner promotions globally in 2025 alongside seven lateral hires in Germany since opening in Frankfurt. Kirkland’s German partners have also been in demand elsewhere, however, with former restructuring partner Leo Plank moving to Gibson Dunn in February. Milbank has been contacted for comment.

Mar 3

1 min