Rick van Aerssen

Global law firm Freshfields has announced the re-election of Georgia Dawson as Senior Partner, with the next term commencing in January 2026. First elected in 2020, Dawson’s re-election reflects strong partner support and confidence in her continued leadership to deliver global growth and strategic progress. During Dawson’s first term, she has overseen a period of meaningful evolution at Freshfields - deepening client relationships, strengthening in strategic markets, such as the US, and advancing the firm’s commitments to innovation, inclusion and sustainability. Her first term also saw the introduction of a refreshed brand identity, reinforcing Freshfields’ ambition to be the firm of the future. Dawson will continue to work alongside Global Managing Partners Alan Mason and Rick van Aerssen as part of the firm’s global leadership team, with Rafique Bachour stepping back from his leadership responsibilities to focus on his market leading client practice. Dawson said: “It’s a privilege to continue serving as Senior Partner and I’m proud of the progress we have made to date. With strong momentum behind us, we’re refining what works and picking up the pace where we can do more, drawing on the strength of our global, multi-disciplinary platform. “I’m deeply grateful to Rafique for his leadership and support over the past term - he has been instrumental in helping shape the firm’s direction and commitment to our clients.  Alongside Alan and Rick, our ambition remains clear: to be the firm of the future, agile, principled and relentlessly focused on helping our clients succeed. That means continuing to invest in our people, to lead with purpose and deepening our global capabilities for the benefit of our clients.”

Jul 24

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Freshfields) is advising Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber) in two transactions with Delivery Hero SE (Delivery Hero), including a $950m share acquisition by Uber of Delivery Hero’s foodpanda delivery business in Taiwan (foodpanda Taiwan) alongside a separate $300m acquisition of newly issued ordinary shares of Delivery Hero. The acquisition of foodpanda Taiwan is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is targeted to close in the first half of 2025. Once completed, this deal would be one of the largest ever international acquisitions in Taiwan, outside of the semiconductor industry. Learn more about this transaction here. The Freshfields team is led out of Silicon Valley by M&A partner John Fisher and associate Devony Schmidt, alongside associate Connor Barrett. The cross-practice Freshfields team included partners Rick van Aerssen, Lars Meyer and Sabrina Kulenkamp and Principal Associate Daniel von Bülow on German corporate and capital markets matters;partner Sundeep Kapila and senior associate Michael Black on UK corporate matters; partner Mena Kaplan and senior associate Marissa Yu on intellectual property matters; partner Claude Stansbury and associate Courtney Canning on tax matters; partners Alan Ryan and Ninette Dodoo and associate Ally Ampudia on antitrust matters; partner Brandon Gantus, senior associate Jeffrey Anand and associate Kristen Stidham on executive compensation and benefits matters; partners Chris Lyon and Brock Dahl and associate Noah Lipkowitz on data privacy matters and counsel Jeremiah Nelson on real estate matters. The Freshfields team was further supported by colleagues from our Frankfurt, London, Beijing, Hong Kong, Dusseldorf and Amsterdam offices.

May 14

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has advised BASF on the merger between Wintershall Dea AG (‘Wintershall Dea’) and Harbour Energy plc (“Habour”). The merger agreement provides for the transfer of Wintershall Dea's E&P business to Harbour. This includes production and development assets as well as exploration rights in Norway, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Algeria, Libya (excluding Wintershall AG), Egypt and Denmark (excluding Ravn) as well as Wintershall Dea's carbon capture and storage (CCS) licences. In return, the shareholders of Wintershall Dea - BASF (72.7%) and LetterOne (27.3%) - will receive a total cash payment of USD 2.15 billion (BASF share: USD 1.56 billion) plus new Harbour shares to be issued by Harbour, representing a total shareholding in the enlarged Harbour of 54.5% (BASF share: 39.6%) upon completion of the transaction. The agreed enterprise value for the target assets of Wintershall Dea is USD 11.2 billion. This amount includes Wintershall Dea's outstanding bonds with a nominal value of approximately 4.9 billion US dollars, which will be transferred to Harbour upon completion of the transaction. The transaction is subject to, among other conditions, the approval of merger control and foreign investment authorities in several countries. Pending these regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024. The Freshfields team comprised partners Rick van Aerssen, Sabrina Kulenkamp (both Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Graham Watson, Samira Afrasiabi (both Corporate/M&A, London), Maria Dreher-Lorjé (Vienna), Thomas McGrath (London), Rafique Bachour (Brussels), Frank Röhling (Berlin, all Antitrust & Competition), Norbert Schneider (Tax, Düsseldorf), Frank Schaer (People & Reward, Frankfurt) and Philipp Dohnke (Commercial, Hamburg), Counsel Bukunola Alakija (Corporate/M&A, London) and Sarah Jensen, Principal Associates Susannah Prichard (both London), Florian Reiter-Werzin (Vienna), all Antitrust & Competition). Florian Reiter-Werzin (Vienna, all Antitrust & Competition), Thomas Richter (Tax, Düsseldorf), Nikolaus Bunting (Capital Markets, Frankfurt) and Elisabeth Wulf (Commercial, Hamburg) as well as associates Thomas Kelm (Corporate/M&A, Frankfurt), Martha Davis, Chloe Coleman, Dominic Armstrong (all Corporate/M&A, London), Nicholas English (London), Victoria Baert (Brussels, both Antitrust & Competition), Valentin Lang (People & Reward, Frankfurt) and Linus Cathomas (Capital Markets, Frankfurt). The BASF team comprised Stefan Rothweiler (Vice President Legal Corporate), Holger Pattberg (Director Legal Corporate) (both lead), Stephan Purps (Director Corporate Legal), Lars Reichmann (Vice President HR), Dr Michael Reichle (Director HR), Jochen Beyer (International Tax).

Dec 27

2 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advised K+S Aktiengesellschaft on its recent €500 million bond offering. The bond has a maturity of five years, carries a coupon at 4.25 per cent p.a. and was issued at 99.147 per cent of its nominal amount. The bonds have been admitted to trading on the regulated market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The consortium of banks consisted of BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Helaba and UniCredit as Joint Lead Managers and DZ Bank AG, HSBC and LBBW as Co-Managers. The Freshfields core team included Partners Rick van Aerssen and Stephan Pachinger as well as Associate Benedikt Graf (all Capital Markets). Inhouse at K+S Aktiengesellschaft, the project was managed on the legal side by Jens Christian Keuthen (General Counsel), Alexander Korn and Markus Ludwig.

Jun 21

1 min

Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has advised RWE Group (‘RWE’) on the $2bn notes offering consisting of $1bn 5.875% notes due April 16, 2034 and $1bn 6.250% notes due April 16, 2054 issued by RWE Finance US, LLC and guaranteed by RWE AG. This was RWE’s first green U.S. dollar bond offering. The proceeds will be used for its 'Growing Green' investment and growth programme. RWE is a leading international energy company headquartered in Essen, Germany, with a focus on power generation and trading. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are an increasingly important part of its business. The RWE Group’s core activities also include the storage of electricity and natural gas, hydrogen energy production, trading of energy-related commodities and innovative energy solutions for industrial customers. The Freshfields team was led by Partners Simone Bono and Rick van Aerssen, Counsel Ethan Magid, Senior Associates Brandall Nelson and Colleen Baehrend and Associates Gaurav Sen, Cira Danda and Enzo Paganetti. German law advice was also provided by Partner Christoph Gleske and Associate Linus Cathomas. Tax advice was provided by Partner Claude Stansbury and Counsel Dennis Caracristi.

Apr 30

1 min