Dr. Heiner Braun

Global law firm Freshfields has advised a consortium comprising Partners Group (acting on behalf of its clients), CDPQ and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (‘Ontario Teachers’’) on selling Techem to US private equity group TPG and Singapore’s state fund GIC. The transaction values the company at an enterprise value of around €6.7bn and is expected to close in the first half of 2025, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. Since acquiring Techem in 2018, the consortium has overseen a period of strong growth at the company, with revenues reaching over €1bn and EBITDA growing approximately 50%. Techem is headquartered in Germany and provides energy services, including resource management, residential health and building efficiency, as well as energy contracting services to property managers and owners of multi-tenant residential buildings. The company has over 425,000 customers in 18 countries and serves more than 13 million households. Partners Group is one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry with approximately $150bn in assets under management. CDPQ, based in Québec, is a global investment group that primarily manages funds for public pension and insurance plans. Ontario Teachers’, based in Toronto, is a global investor with net assets of $255.8bn (as at June 30 2024) which invests across a broad array of assets and markets to deliver retirement income for 336,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, Canada. The Freshfields team was led by Partner Natascha Doll and Principal Associate Friedrich von der Heydt-von Kalckreuth (both Corporate/M&A, Hamburg) and also included: Partners: Heiner Braun (Frankfurt), Dirk-Jan Smit (Amsterdam, both Corporate/M&A), Christoph Gleske (Frankfurt), Simone Bono (London/Frankfurt, both Corporate), Frank Schaer (Labour Law, Frankfurt), Tanja Walter-Yadegardjam (Tax, Frankfurt) Counsel: Kyle Miller (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Sascha Arnold (Regulatory, Hamburg), Zach Truscott (Corporate/M&A, Amsterdam) Principal Associates: Lorenz Koffka, Tobias Dreßler, Maximilian Kind (all Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Maximilian Hobuß (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Mark Maarschalkerweerd (Corporate/M&A, Amsterdam), Daniel von Bülow (Corporate), Fabian Zöpfchen (Labour Law, both Frankfurt), Christian Schmidt (Tax, Frankfurt) Associates: Yannick Griesbach, Simon Wizemann (both Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Jens-Ole Steiner (Corporate/M&A, Hamburg), John Haviland (Corporate, Frankfurt), Felicitas Weber (Regulatory, Berlin) The transaction was internally legally advised by Jolyon Smith and Katariina Koivisto (both Partners Group), Anna Cross (CDPQ) and Robert Goldsmith (Ontario Teachers’). Freshfields also comprehensively advised the consortium on its acquisition of Techem in 2018.

Oct 1

2 min

Global law firm Freshfields announces the expansion of its partnership in Germany and Austria for the Global Transactions practice group at the start of the new year. The four new partners in Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna are Dr. Florian Sippel, Dr. Carsten Bork, Dr. David Schwintowski and Lukas Treichl. In addition, the highly regarded partners Dr. Heiner Braun and Dr. Stephan Waldhausen are reinforcing the Munich office. Dr. Florian Sippel joins the Munich office as Private Equity partner. He was formerly at Freshfields for seven years until 2021, based in Frankfurt, Munich and London. He advises leading private equity funds and strategic investors, with a sector focus on technology, e-commerce and software. Over the years, the private equity funds he has worked for include Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Triton, TPG and Permira. At Freshfields, he was part of the teams that advised Permira on its investment in Adevinta in 2021 and Hellman & Friedman on its acquisition of AutoScout24 in 2019. Dr. Carsten Bork (Frankfurt) focuses primarily on advising cross-border transactions in the infrastructure and energy sectors, especially for private equity and strategic investors. His clients include CPP Investments, Brookfield, Global Infrastructure Partners (part of BlackRock), and AXA IM. Together with Dr. Simon Schwarz, he led the team that recently advised the Federal Republic of Germany on a security agreement as part of the TKMS IPO. Alongside Dr. Lars Westpfahl, Bork headed the Freshfields team handling the restructuring of Meyer Werft. Dr. David Schwintowski (Munich) has most recently been based in Singapore and previously in the Munich office, to where he will now return. With his appointment, Freshfields now has a partner who is exclusively dedicated to strategic and transactional advice in the insurance sector. Schwintowski played a central role in many of the industry's most significant and recent deals: He advised Vienna Insurance on its merger with Nürnberger and was in a leading role for Cinven on the sale of Viridium, Germany’s largest life insurer. With Dr. Heiner Braun, he headed the team accompanying Baloise on a merger, which created the second-largest insurer in Switzerland. Lukas Treichl (Vienna & Munich) is a member of the Global Transactions practice group and Co-Head of the Lab. In that role he regularly advises clients on data-driven transformation projects and strategic digital matters, most notably in the automotive industry. Another focus is on advising private equity and telecommunications companies on digital infrastructure transactions. An AI collaboration platform developed by Treichl with the Lab and CARIAD (Volkswagen Group) was honored by the Financial Times in 2024. He himself has been recognized as “Future Leader” by Germany’s business weekly WirtschaftsWoche and one of “30 talents under 35” by Austrian daily Die Presse. In addition, partners Dr. Heiner Braun and Dr. Stephan Waldhausen, Global Co-Head of the Industrials sector group, will further strengthen the Munich office. Both are highly regarded for their experience in international transactions for large corporates and financial investors. This brings the number of lawyers in Munich to over 90, including 19 partners. Braun is one of the most accomplished lawyers in Germany for high-volume international transactions. He also has experience handling transactions with a complex regulatory angle, such as those in insurance or infrastructure. He regularly advises Private Capital clients such as KKR and in 2024, he was the lawyer with the largest deal volume in Germany (Mergerlinks) – advising on the sale of Techem and being the lead partner advising DSV on its $14.3bn acquisition of Schenker – the largest transaction in Deutsche Bahn’s history. Waldhausen is one of Germany’s most respected and highly rated lawyers for corporate law and takeovers, with strong ties to listed industrial and technology companies. His clients include Siemens Energy, Porsche SE, Beiersdorf, ZF Friedrichshafen, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, thyssenkrupp, and CompuGroup. He regularly advises on complex M&A transactions not only in Europe, but also in relation to the US (Beiersdorf, Wincor Nixdorf) and Asia (Siemens Energy, Knorr-Bremse, Vossloh). “We are strengthening our overall position in M&A and Private Equity with today’s announcement, and we increase our deep industry expertise in technology, insurance, and infrastructure,” says Dr. Patrick Cichy, Head of the Corporate/M&A practice in Germany and Austria since May 2024. “We are taking our Munich office to a new level: We now have even more partners on the ground, further driving international transactions and pushing key future sectors.” Dr. Arend von Riegen, global Co-Head of our Private Capital practice group adds: “We are excellently positioned for the future to advise our private capital clients on all topics that are highly relevant to them. We rely on a cross-generational approach, trusting in both established names and emerging talents, all of whom we have trained ourselves – a proven hallmark of quality in the market.”

Jan 13

3 min

Global law firm Freshfields announces the expansion of its partnership in Germany and Austria for the Global Transactions practice group at the start of the new year. The four new partners in Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna are Dr. Florian Sippel, Dr. Carsten Bork, Dr. David Schwintowski and Lukas Treichl. In addition, the highly regarded partners Dr. Heiner Braun and Dr. Stephan Waldhausen are reinforcing the Munich office. Dr. Florian Sippel joins the Munich office as Private Equity partner. He was formerly at Freshfields for seven years until 2021, based in Frankfurt, Munich and London. He advises leading private equity funds and strategic investors, with a sector focus on technology, e-commerce and software. Over the years, the private equity funds he has worked for include Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Triton, TPG and Permira. At Freshfields, he was part of the teams that advised Permira on its investment in Adevinta in 2021 and Hellman & Friedman on its acquisition of AutoScout24 in 2019. Dr. Carsten Bork (Frankfurt) focuses primarily on advising cross-border transactions in the infrastructure and energy sectors, especially for private equity and strategic investors. His clients include CPP Investments, Brookfield, Global Infrastructure Partners (part of BlackRock), and AXA IM. Together with Dr. Simon Schwarz, he led the team that recently advised the Federal Republic of Germany on a security agreement as part of the TKMS IPO. Alongside Dr. Lars Westpfahl, Bork headed the Freshfields team handling the restructuring of Meyer Werft. Dr. David Schwintowski (Munich) has most recently been based in Singapore and previously in the Munich office, to where he will now return. With his appointment, Freshfields now has a partner who is exclusively dedicated to strategic and transactional advice in the insurance sector. Schwintowski played a central role in many of the industry's most significant and recent deals: He advised Vienna Insurance on its merger with Nürnberger and was in a leading role for Cinven on the sale of Viridium, Germany’s largest life insurer. With Dr. Heiner Braun, he headed the team accompanying Baloise on a merger, which created the second-largest insurer in Switzerland. Lukas Treichl (Vienna & Munich) is a member of the Global Transactions practice group and Co-Head of the Lab. In that role he regularly advises clients on data-driven transformation projects and strategic digital matters, most notably in the automotive industry. Another focus is on advising private equity and telecommunications companies on digital infrastructure transactions. An AI collaboration platform developed by Treichl with the Lab and CARIAD (Volkswagen Group) was honored by the Financial Times in 2024. He himself has been recognized as “Future Leader” by Germany’s business weekly WirtschaftsWoche and one of “30 talents under 35” by Austrian daily Die Presse. In addition, partners Dr. Heiner Braun and Dr. Stephan Waldhausen, Global Co-Head of the Industrials sector group, will further strengthen the Munich office. Both are highly regarded for their experience in international transactions for large corporates and financial investors. This brings the number of lawyers in Munich to over 90, including 19 partners. Braun is one of the most accomplished lawyers in Germany for high-volume international transactions. He also has experience handling transactions with a complex regulatory angle, such as those in insurance or infrastructure. He regularly advises Private Capital clients such as KKR and in 2024, he was the lawyer with the largest deal volume in Germany (Mergerlinks) – advising on the sale of Techem and being the lead partner advising DSV on its $14.3bn acquisition of Schenker – the largest transaction in Deutsche Bahn’s history. Waldhausen is one of Germany’s most respected and highly rated lawyers for corporate law and takeovers, with strong ties to listed industrial and technology companies. His clients include Siemens Energy, Porsche SE, Beiersdorf, ZF Friedrichshafen, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, thyssenkrupp, and CompuGroup. He regularly advises on complex M&A transactions not only in Europe, but also in relation to the US (Beiersdorf, Wincor Nixdorf) and Asia (Siemens Energy, Knorr-Bremse, Vossloh). “We are strengthening our overall position in M&A and Private Equity with today’s announcement, and we increase our deep industry expertise in technology, insurance, and infrastructure,” says Dr. Patrick Cichy, Head of the Corporate/M&A practice in Germany and Austria since May 2024. “We are taking our Munich office to a new level: We now have even more partners on the ground, further driving international transactions and pushing key future sectors.” Dr. Arend von Riegen, global Co-Head of our Private Capital practice group adds: “We are excellently positioned for the future to advise our private capital clients on all topics that are highly relevant to them. We rely on a cross-generational approach, trusting in both established names and emerging talents, all of whom we have trained ourselves – a proven hallmark of quality in the market.”

Jan 13

3 min

Freshfields has hired a Kirkland & Ellis partner to its Munich office, as the firm aims to rebuild its PE practice following the departure of four partners last month to Latham & Watkins. Florian Sippel joins Freshfields in a rare hire for Freshfields in Germany, where the firm has made only six laterals in the past 25 years. The move comes after four Freshfields senior partners were poached by Latham & Watkins including outgoing continental Europe managing partner Markus Paul and global M&A co-head Wessel Heukamp, with one insider at the time calling the hires “the end of Freshfields PE in Germany” and “probably the biggest move the German market has seen in years.” Sources called this blow a direct result of the firm’s increasing focus away from Europe and towards the U.S. Sippel advises leading private equity funds and strategic investors, with a focus on the technology, e-commerce and software sectors. Over the years, he has advised private equity funds Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Triton, where he advised on the company’s €2 billion sale of heating supplies company Kelvion. He was formerly at Freshfields for seven years until 2021, based in Frankfurt, Munich and London when he joined Noerr as associate partner, joining Kirkland as partner in November 2024. He was part of the Freshfields team that advised Permira on its €14 billion acquisition of Adevinta in 2021. Sippel is now Freshfields’ first pure private equity partner in Munich, with the company’s headquartering its lucrative M&A side in Frankfurt. Kirkland was contacted for comment. Alongside the hire, Freshfields also announced five internal promotions, effective from January 1, ahead of its usual round on May 1, as the firm scrambles to fill the gaps left by the departing senior partners. The firm now has around 210 lawyers in Germany for M&A, of whom around one third are private equity lawyers, with 90 lawyers and 19 partners in Munich. “We are strengthening our overall position in M&A and Private Equity with today’s announcement, and we increase our deep industry expertise in technology, insurance, and infrastructure,” said Dr. Patrick Cichy, head of the corporate/M&A practice in Germany and Austria since May 2024. Dr. Arend von Riegen, global co-head of our private capital, added: “We are excellently positioned for the future to advise our private capital clients on all topics that are highly relevant to them.” With David Schwintowski, they now have their first partner in the firm who focuses entirely on the insurance sector, recently advising on the acquisition of the €1.6 billion Nünberger insurance. Newly-promoted partner Lukas Treichl is a member of the global transactions practice group with connections to private equity and co-head of Freshfields’ legal tech-focused lab in Berlin. The firm is also strengthening in infrastructure and energy by elevating private equity partner Carsten Bork in Frankfurt. Bork advised the German government on the $6 billion spin off of steel giant Thyssenkrupp’s shipbuilding arm. The firm is also further strengthening in Munich through the relocations of Frankfurt partner Heiner Braun, co-head of the consumer and healthcare sector group, and Stephan Waldhausen, who acts as global co-head of industrials across Dusseldorf and Munich.

Jan 13

2 min

Global law firm Freshfields announces the expansion of its partnership in Germany and Austria for the Global Transactions practice group at the start of the new year. The four new partners in Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna are Dr. Florian Sippel, Dr. Carsten Bork, Dr. David Schwintowski and Lukas Treichl. In addition, the highly regarded partners Dr. Heiner Braun and Dr. Stephan Waldhausen are reinforcing the Munich office. Dr. Florian Sippel joins the Munich office as Private Equity partner. He was formerly at Freshfields for seven years until 2021, based in Frankfurt, Munich and London. He advises leading private equity funds and strategic investors, with a sector focus on technology, e-commerce and software. Over the years, the private equity funds he has worked for include Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, Triton, TPG and Permira. At Freshfields, he was part of the teams that advised Permira on its investment in Adevinta in 2021 and Hellman & Friedman on its acquisition of AutoScout24 in 2019. Dr. Carsten Bork (Frankfurt) focuses primarily on advising cross-border transactions in the infrastructure and energy sectors, especially for private equity and strategic investors. His clients include CPP Investments, Brookfield, Global Infrastructure Partners (part of BlackRock), and AXA IM. Together with Dr. Simon Schwarz, he led the team that recently advised the Federal Republic of Germany on a security agreement as part of the TKMS IPO. Alongside Dr. Lars Westpfahl, Bork headed the Freshfields team handling the restructuring of Meyer Werft. Dr. David Schwintowski (Munich) has most recently been based in Singapore and previously in the Munich office, to where he will now return. With his appointment, Freshfields now has a partner who is exclusively dedicated to strategic and transactional advice in the insurance sector. Schwintowski played a central role in many of the industry's most significant and recent deals: He advised Vienna Insurance on its merger with Nürnberger and was in a leading role for Cinven on the sale of Viridium, Germany’s largest life insurer. With Dr. Heiner Braun, he headed the team accompanying Baloise on a merger, which created the second-largest insurer in Switzerland. Lukas Treichl (Vienna & Munich) is a member of the Global Transactions practice group and Co-Head of the Lab. In that role he regularly advises clients on data-driven transformation projects and strategic digital matters, most notably in the automotive industry. Another focus is on advising private equity and telecommunications companies on digital infrastructure transactions. An AI collaboration platform developed by Treichl with the Lab and CARIAD (Volkswagen Group) was honored by the Financial Times in 2024. He himself has been recognized as “Future Leader” by Germany’s business weekly WirtschaftsWoche and one of “30 talents under 35” by Austrian daily Die Presse. In addition, partners Dr. Heiner Braun and Dr. Stephan Waldhausen, Global Co-Head of the Industrials sector group, will further strengthen the Munich office. Both are highly regarded for their experience in international transactions for large corporates and financial investors. This brings the number of lawyers in Munich to over 90, including 19 partners. Braun is one of the most accomplished lawyers in Germany for high-volume international transactions. He also has experience handling transactions with a complex regulatory angle, such as those in insurance or infrastructure. He regularly advises Private Capital clients such as KKR and in 2024, he was the lawyer with the largest deal volume in Germany (Mergerlinks) – advising on the sale of Techem and being the lead partner advising DSV on its $14.3bn acquisition of Schenker – the largest transaction in Deutsche Bahn’s history. Waldhausen is one of Germany’s most respected and highly rated lawyers for corporate law and takeovers, with strong ties to listed industrial and technology companies. His clients include Siemens Energy, Porsche SE, Beiersdorf, ZF Friedrichshafen, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, thyssenkrupp, and CompuGroup. He regularly advises on complex M&A transactions not only in Europe, but also in relation to the US (Beiersdorf, Wincor Nixdorf) and Asia (Siemens Energy, Knorr-Bremse, Vossloh). “We are strengthening our overall position in M&A and Private Equity with today’s announcement, and we increase our deep industry expertise in technology, insurance, and infrastructure,” says Dr. Patrick Cichy, Head of the Corporate/M&A practice in Germany and Austria since May 2024. “We are taking our Munich office to a new level: We now have even more partners on the ground, further driving international transactions and pushing key future sectors.” Dr. Arend von Riegen, global Co-Head of our Private Capital practice group adds: “We are excellently positioned for the future to advise our private capital clients on all topics that are highly relevant to them. We rely on a cross-generational approach, trusting in both established names and emerging talents, all of whom we have trained ourselves – a proven hallmark of quality in the market.”

Jan 13

3 min