German Practice

Click to review our German Practices:

Antitrust and Competition
Capital Markets in Germany
Corporate Practice
Distribution, Sales Representative, and Franchise Law
Entering the German Market
Intellectual Property, E-Commerce, Internet, and Data Privacy
Labor and Employment
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Mergers and Acquisitions
Private Equity and Venture Capital
Real Estate and Construction

Faegre & Benson LLP has maintained an office in Frankfurt, Germany since 1991, serving the national German market. The firm offers a highly experienced team of German lawyers who have long served U.S., UK, and European multinationals, as well as domestic German businesses, on their legal needs throughout Germany and in Europe generally. All of the lawyers and office staff in the Frankfurt office are fluent in German and English and the office also has one lawyer who is fluent in Japanese. The office offers depth of experience in serving its German, European, and U.S. clients.

The lawyers in our Frankfurt office work closely with Faegre & Benson's U.S. offices and with the Faegre & Benson offices in London and Shanghai.

Representative Transactions

Our clients in Germany include Aavid Thermal Technologies, Inc., Bemis, Inc., CIBER, Inc., Digi International, Inc., Graco, Inc., Japan Airlines, Inc., Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Pentair, Inc., and Zippo Manufacturing Company. More generally, our clients include major insurance companies, open end funds, and nationally and internationally operating institutional real estate investors.

Representative transactions and experience include:

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Representation of CIBER, Inc. in the acquisition of a majority of the shares in Novasoft AG, a German public company and SAP consultancy house
• Representation of Aavid Thermal Technologies, Inc. in the sale of its German holding company and its subsidiary, Curamik Electronics GmbH, to a European buyer
• Representation of Digi International, Inc. in the acquisition of all stock of ITK-Telekommunikation AG with several German, European, and U.S. subsidiaries

Private Equity and Venture Capital

• Representation of a leading investment bank in the acquisition of a German publicly listed company
• Representation of a large U.S. private equity fund in the acquisition of a Swiss-German publicly listed company
• Representation of a large U.S. private equity fund with respect to an IPO of shares of a German company
• Representation of a U.S. company in the sale of its shares to a publicly listed German company

Corporate and Commercial Law

• Formation of all legal forms of corporations and partnerships, domestically and abroad, including tax-exempt foundations and associations
• Use of the European Stock Corporation ("SE" - "Societas Europaea")
• Strategic counseling of disputes between shareholders and other corporate bodies
• Advising on the set-up and continuing support of stock option plans and other employee bonus plans, including the cross-border utilization of such compensation plans

Distribution, Sales Representative, and Franchise Law

• Establishment of distribution networks for several U.S. companies in the EU
• Termination of distributors, sales representatives, and dealers throughout Europe
• Formation of an EU-wide selective distribution system, taking into consideration the EU Vertical Restraints, Block Exemption Regulation (2790/1999)

Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law

• Notification to the antitrust authorities under the Merger Control Regulations of the EU and Germany
• Representation of a U.S. company in an inquiry by the EU Commission as to potential antitrust violations under Article 81(1) as to its European distribution system
• Defense of the selective distribution system of a German-based multinational company against a wholesaler's claim to join the distribution system as a retailer

Intellectual Property

• Portfolio Management services for a U.S.-based multinational as to its portfolio of 1,500 marks registered in over 120 countries
• Registration and defense of IP rights in Germany and the EU
• Licensing of IP rights and technology transfers

E-Commerce, Internet, and Data Privacy Law

• Drafting privacy policies for websites
• Registration of domain names
• Advising on cyber-squatting disputes and agreements as to Internet use by distributors
• Advising clients regarding compliance with the EU Data Protection Directive and the "Safe Harbor" provisions established between the U.S. and the EU

Labor and Employment

• Advising several internationally operating companies in labor and employment law aspects of major lay-offs of employees and in business closures
• Advising foreign companies as to German labor and employment law rules and drafting of "standard" employment contracts for their workforce

Commercial Real Estate and Construction Law

• Representation of different open end funds in real estate purchase and sale transactions including real estate due diligence
• Advising several nationally and internationally operating companies, domestic construction and insurance companies, institutional investors, financial service providers, architectural firms, brokers, and private clients throughout Germany and Europe on all aspects of German commercial real estate, construction, architecture, and broker laws

Dispute Resolution

• Advising national and international clients in temporary and permanent injunctions when the normal process before the civil courts will not provide an adequate remedy, simply because of the length of normal civil court procedure, particularly in areas of unfair competition and antitrust law, infringement of trademarks and patents, or other areas of industrial property rights

Why work with Faegre & Benson in Germany?

• Faegre & Benson is an international law firm that provides a full range of German business law expertise.
• As our clients expand around the globe, we have the depth of experience to help them enter and establish operations in international markets.
• We deliver quality service that is responsive to clients' needs and is timely and cost-effective.
• We have a highly experienced team of German and international lawyers who provide value to their clients.
• We know our clients - their goals, policies, strategies, and industries.
• We are small enough to provide personal service to our clients, yet large enough to have the resources to advise our clients in all national and international legal matters.
• We add value to our clients' businesses and we build partnerships the old-fashioned way - through approachability, continuity, and trust.
• The results of that focus are simple: strong, trusting, and long-lasting client relationships.