Dr. Martin Erhardt LL.M.

The 2025 edition of the prestigious Germany’s Best Lawyers rankings, issued jointly by the Handelsblatt and US publisher Best Lawyers, features 37 attorneys from Milbank LLP. The lawyers selected from the firm’s Munich and Frankfurt offices are recognized for their strong market presence, professional excellence and outstanding reputation.~~Two Awards as "Lawyers of the Year 2025" Barbara Mayer-Trautmann (Finance) Norbert Rieger (Corporate/M&A)~~21 Attorneys Recognized in Main Category – "Best Lawyers 2025" In the main category, "Best Lawyers" the following 21 Milbank attorneys are listed: Norbert Rieger, Sebastian Heim, Steffen Oppenländer, Christoph Rothenfusser, Leopold J. Riedl, Markus Muhs, Martin Erhardt, Ulrike Friese-Dormann, Michael Bernhardt, Andrea Eggenstein, Michael Pujol (all Corporate /M&A); Barbara Mayer-Trautmann, Thomas Ingenhoven (both Finance); Marlene Ruf, Mathias Eisen (both Financial Restructuring); Rolf Füger, Matthias Schell, Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (all Tax); Alexander Rinne (Antitrust & Competition) und Philipp Klöckner, Nico Feuerstein (both Corporate Finance and Securities).~~16 Attorneys Named in "Ones to Watch" Category In addition, 16 Milbank attorneys are recognized as "Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch". This category highlights emerging legal talents who demonstrate exceptional potential. Notably, seven of the Milbank lawyers are included in the list for the first time this year.~~The following attorneys are named among the "Ones to Watch": Pascal Härdtner, Andreas Rief*, Markus von Lutterotti, Sandra Feil, Sarah-Maria Resch, Sebastian Reiner-Pechtl, Steffen Post*, Steven Buschle*, Svenja Tauchmann* (all Corporate/ M&A); Thomas Möller, Alexander Lang, Gerrit Merkel, Anna Merkl* (all Finance), Moritz Lichtenegger*, Martin Juhasz* (both Antitrust & Competition) and Arne Hammerich (Tax). (*recognized for the first time)~~About the Rankings~~Best Lawyers, one of the most respected international legal directory publishers, compiles the German edition of its rankings exclusively for the Handelsblatt each year. The list is based on an extensive peer-to-peer survey in which business lawyers are invited to recommend colleagues whose work they particularly value. The German edition is published annually in exclusive cooperation with the Handelsblatt.

Jun 12

1 min

Milbank LLP advised Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group Corporation and its portfolio companies in the sale of 100% of H.C. Starck Holding (Germany) GmbH, a leading developer and producer of tungsten metal, chemicals and products, to Japanese materials manufacturer Mitsubishi Materials Corporation. The transaction is expected to close promptly following the attainment of regulatory approvals. In addition to the acquisition agreement, the parties have agreed to enter into a long-term, win-win ammonium paratungstate and tungsten oxide offtake agreement, in which Masan and its affiliates will continue to supply raw materials required for H.C. Stark’s business operations. Masan will also retain ownership in Nyobolt, a UK-based fast-charging lithium ion battery company, and potential monetary upside from future commercialization of H.C. Starck’s black mass technology and intellectual property. Milbank partner Jacqueline Chan said: “We are proud of our long-standing history of working with the Masan team and we are truly grateful for their continued trust in us to execute sophisticated, business critical transactions. The bespoke, complex nature of this transaction speaks to the unique problem solving skills of our deal teams and the creative prowess we deploy to help meet clients’ commercial needs.” Masan engaged a cross-office Milbank deal team based in the firm’s Singapore and Munich offices to seamlessly navigate the cross-border transaction involving Vietnamese, German and Japanese corporate entities. Drawing from a deep, international bench of attorneys, Milbank regularly executes complex cross-border transactions on behalf of leading businesses and financial institutions. The Milbank deal team was led by Ms. Chan. The Singapore team includes special counsel Min Kim and associates Stephanie Kam and Erin Zhang. The Munich team comprises partners Dr. Martin Erhardt and Dr. Alexander Rinne, special counsel Dr. Nils Bremer and associates Linus Knappe, Dr. Svenja Tauchmann and Florian Weustenfeld. Milbank previously advised Masan on a $200 million investment from Bain Capital and the Series B funding of Nyobolt.

Jun 19

1 min

Milbank LLP is representing Flow Traders Ltd in its partnership with DWS Group and Galaxy to create AllUnity, an enterprise with the mission of revolutionizing the on-chain economy by issuing a fully collateralized EUR-denominated stablecoin that is regulated by BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator. AllUnity’s long-term focus will be to accelerate mass market adoption of digital assets and tokenization. Flow Traders, founded in 2004, is an Amsterdam-based global trading firm that provides liquidity in multiple asset classes, covering all major exchanges and trading venues. Flow Traders is one of the leading ETP market makers and has leveraged its expertise to expand into fixed income, commodities, FX and digital assets. DWS Group is a global asset manager with EUR 860 billion of assets under management. Galaxy is a digital asset and blockchain leader providing access to the growing digital economy. The Milbank deal team includes Hong Kong Global Corporate partner Neeraj Budhwani and associate Matthew Leung, and Corporate/M&A partner Martin Erhardt in Munich.

Dec 13

1 min

Milbank LLP advised Verdane, the European specialist growth investor, on the acquisition of a portfolio of five technology companies from HQ Equita GmbH (“HQ Equita”), a leading investment firm in Germany, and the related partnership with HQ Equita. The HQ Equita team will continue to operate independently, supporting the five companies on their individual growth tracks, in partnership with Verdane. The closing of the transaction is subject to obtaining requisite regulatory clearances. The HQ Equita Fund V portfolio in the transaction comprises five holdings: Ebertlang, a leading pan-European, value-added distributor for cybersecurity and infrastructure software; Muegge, an industrial technology provider of plasma and microwave technologies for end markets, including production of sustainable lab-grown diamonds; r2p-Group, a supplier of intelligent technology systems for public transport; indevis, a cybersecurity provider; and The Packaging Group, which develops advanced packaging technology that helps customers switch from plastic to sustainable paper packaging. Verdane is a specialist growth investment firm that partners with tech-enabled and sustainable European businesses. Verdane can invest as a minority or majority investor, either in single companies or through portfolios of companies, and looks to deploy inside two core growth themes: digitalization and decarbonization. Verdane funds hold over €5.7 billion in total commitments and have made over 400 investments in fast-growing businesses since 2003. Verdane’s team of over 130 investment professionals and operating experts, based out of Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, is dedicated to being the preferred growth partner to tech-enabled and sustainable businesses in Europe. The HQ Equita team primarily supports owner-managed medium-sized companies in the strategic orientation and growth of their business. Since 1992, HQ Equita has developed into an established and trustworthy partner for medium-sized businesses. Around 1 billion euros have been invested in 37 small and medium-sized enterprises in German-speaking countries during this time. The Milbank team that advised Verdane was led by partner Martin Erhardt (Corporate/M&A) and included partners Rolf Fueger (Tax), Alexander Rinne (Antitrust) and special counsel Michael Pujol (Corporate/M&A) as well as associates Svenja Tauchmann, Florian Weustenfeld (both Corporate/M&A), Marlies Zeck and Stefanie Gschoßmann (both Antitrust).

Nov 2

2 min

Milbank LLP advised capiton AG (“capiton”) on the sale of its portfolio company GRITEC TopCo GmbH (“GRITEC”) to Viessmann Generations Group (“Viessmann”). GRITEC is Germany’s largest solution provider of turnkey technical buildings and stations for energy-, water- & industrial infrastructure. The company specializes in intelligent infrastructure and key components in the shift towards a decentralized and renewable-based energy grid. The transaction is subject to the approval by the competent merger control authorities. capiton is an independent private equity fund manager that advises funds of EUR 1.6 billion. Founded in 1984 as the investment operation of a large insurance group, capiton became an independent partnership in 2004. capiton currently invests out of the most recent fund capiton VI. Investors of the capiton investment programs are renowned national and international institutional investors. Viessmann, founded in 1917, is today an independent family company and a globally diversified group. All activities are based on the company’s purpose "We co-create living spaces for generations to come”. This is the passion and responsibility that the large worldwide Viessmann family brings to life every day. In line with this goal, Viessmann offers companies and co-creators an ecosystem that is committed to avoiding, reducing and storing CO2 beyond the heating industry. The Milbank team was led by partner Martin Erhardt and special counsel Michael Pujol (both Corporate/M&A) and included partner Thomas Kleinheisterkamp (Tax), special counsel Gerrit Merkel (Finance) as well as associates Svenja Tauchmann, Florian Weustenfeld, Thomas Vogl (all Corporate/M&A), Adrian Müller-Achenbach (Finance) and Jan Maas (Antitrust).

Oct 30

1 min