Dr. Alexander Kiefner

Partner, Frankfurt

Biography

Numerous directories rank Alexander Kiefner as one of the most renowned lawyers in the field of corporate law in Germany (e.g. The Legal 500 Germany 2022, Kanzleimonitor 2022, JUVE 2021). He is highly regarded for his expertise by both German and international clients.

Overview

Alexander advises companies on all aspects of corporate law, with a focus on the law of stock corporations and affiliated companies, including capital markets law issues.

He is often involved in landmark international transactions of significant value, and a range of clients benefit from his knowledge and experience of structural measures, such as statutory mergers, squeeze-outs, or domination and profit transfer agreements.

Other transactions on which Alexander has advised clients include litigation in actions for rescission or appraisal proceedings, as well as the preparation and execution of shareholders' meetings. He also advises management and supervisory board members on aspects of corporate governance, compliance and intra-group financing.

Recent prominent clients include Asklepios, Deutsche Lufthansa and Daimler and banks including Deutsche Bank and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.

Noted for his cutting-edge knowledge of corporate law, Alexander has undertaken various speaking engagements for professional organisations such as Deutsches Aktieninstitut (The German Institute for Stock Corporations), Börsenzeitung and Bund der Unternehmensjuristen (association of inhouse counsels).

Bars and Courts
Rechtsanwalt
Education
Dr jur
Eberhard Karls University Tübingen
Second State Exam
Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart
First State Exam
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
Languages
German
English

Experience

Advised Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa Group) on a €2.5 billion revolving credit facility with a five-year term and two extension options of one year each.

Change of the legal form of major German hospital operator Asklepios Kliniken into a  partnership limited by shares.

Advising the board of a leading German bank in connection with a large compliance matter.

Advising a leading German bank on a high-volume cross-border upstream merger of a foreign subsidiary into the German parent. This transaction was the first cross-border merger involving a public-law institution.

Advising various international major companies (including DAX30) in connection with intra-group cash management.

Publications

Click here for a full list of publications.

Co-author: "Prohibition of voting in a de facto AG group in the event of a special audit and assertion of claims for damages (Stimmverbot im faktischen AG-Konzern bei Sonderprüfung und Geltendmachung von Ersatzansprüchen)", AG 2024, 345 (with Karsten Krumm and Philip Eichhorn)

Competence for asserting the directors' liability in a GmbH & Co. KG, liber amicorum for Grunewald, 2021, Page 465 et seq (Zuständigkeit für die Organhaftung bei der GmbH & Co. KG, Festschrift Grunewald, 2021, S. 465-486)

The Liquidity Requirements for Share for Share Offers under the German Takover Act, BKR 5/2021 , Page 265- 272 (with Matthias Kiesewetter)

Ad hoc disclosure and insider law under the new module C of BaFin's guidelines for issuers, Der Betrieb, Nr. 26, Page 1386- 1393 (with Lutz Krämer and Benedikt Happ)

New Issuer Guidelines on insider law and ad-hoc publicity, Der Aufsichtsrat, Heft 05/2020, Page 72 (with Lutz Krämer)

Does a domination and/or loss pooling and transfer agreement hinder a subsidiary to fall insolvent?, Festschrift E. Vetter, 2019, p. 293 et seq.

The new BaFin guidelines re: insider law and ad-hoc-disclosures (Der neue Emittentenleitfaden zum Insiderrecht und zur Ad-hoc-Publizität), Der Aufsichtsrat, Heft 10/2019, Page 148 (with Lutz Krämer)

Co-author: "'Cash Pooling', 'Profit Participation Rights', 'Share Pledge'("Cash Pooling", "Genussrechte", "Geschäftsanteilsverpfändung")", Formular-Kommentar GmbH-Recht. Ed. Andreas Meyer-Landrut. 4rd ed., Cologne, Pages 828-926, 2017 (with Kai-Michael Hingst)

Co-editor: "Rechtshandbuch Cyber-Security" with Detlev Gabel and Tobias Heinrich; authoring Chapter 1 "Corporate Law (Management and Business Organization)"

Co-author: "The code-reform: Not (yet) a great success (Die Kodexreform: (Noch) nicht der große Wurf)", Der Aufsichtsrat, Heft 2/2019, p. 18 (with Lutz Krämer)

Co-author: "Search and seizure in the sphere of the corporate counsel in the course of internal investigations – Current situation and need for action of the legislator (Durchsuchung und Beschlagnahme in der Sphäre des Unternehmensanwalts im Zuge von internen Ermittlungen – Bestandsaufnahme und Handlungsbedarf des Gesetzgebers)", Betriebs-Berater, Issue 50, 2018, p. 2953 ff. (with Simon Bahlinger and Karl-Jörg Xylander)

Artificial intelligence and corporate governance (Künstliche Intelligenz und Unternehmensführung), NZG 2018, 1131-1136, (co-author with Robert Weber and Stefan Jobst)

Defence readyness Condition of a publicly traded Comapany as Task of the Management (Verteidigungsbereitschaft eines börsennotierten Unternehmens als Vorstandsaufgabe), in: Ready for Takeover?, Studies of Deutsches Aktieninstitut, 1st ed. 2018, p. 31-38 (co-author with Lutz Krämer)

Investor Agreements and Business Combination Agreements as instrument of constitution for Bidder and Target Company (Investorenvereinbarungen und Business Combination Agreements als Gestaltungsinstrument für Bieter und Zielgesellschaft), in: Ready for Takeover?, Studies of Deutsches Aktieninstitut, 1st ed. 2018, p. 39-49 (co-author with Lutz Krämer)

Non-consideration of foreign employees for the purpose of calculating co-determination thresholds in view of Art. 3 of the Basic Law – relevance in status proceedings under substantive law and procedural (Nichtberücksichtigung ausländischer Arbeitnehmer bei der Berechnung der mitbestimmungsrechtlichen Schwellenwerte im Lichte von Art. 3 Grundgesetz – Materielle und prozessuale Relevanz im Statusverfahren), AG 2018, 1 et seqq. In: Die Aktiengesellschaft, March 2018, p. 140-151 (co-author with Weber, Robert and Jobst, Stefan)

Law of Affiliated Companies (§§ 67-70) (Konzernrecht (§§ 67-70)), Münchener Handbuch des Gesellschaftsrechts, Vol. 3 (limited liability company), 5th ed., 2018 (co-author with Vanessa Seibel)

Intergroup mergers, merger squeeze-out (§§ 16-17) (Konzerninterne Verschmelzung, verschmelzungsrechtlicher Squeeze-out (§§ 16-17)), Münchener Handbuch des Gesellschaftsrechts, Vol. 8 (Transformation Act), 5th ed., 2018

'Upstream securities by Limited Liability Companies and Stock Corporations in light of the most recent rulings by the Federal High Court', NZG 2017 (co-author with Matthias Bochum)

'Cash Pooling', 'Profit Participation Rights', 'Share Pledge' („Cash Pooling", „Genussrechte", „Geschäftsanteilsverpfändung"), Formular-Kommentar GmbH-Recht. 3rd ed. Andreas Meyer-Landrut. rd ed., Cologne, Pages 828-926, 2017 (co-author with Kai-Michael Hingst)

Public disclosure of inside information according to the ESMA Final Report (Ad- hoc-Publizität nach dem Final Report der ESMA), AG, Issue 17, Pages 621-627, 2016, (co-author with Lutz Krämer)

Scope and Limits of Protection against the Dilution of Share Value (Reichweite und Grenzen des Wertverwässerungsschutzes nach § 255 Abs. 2 AktG)", AG, Issue 9, Pages 301-315, 2016 (co-outhor with Vanessa Seibel)

Admissibility of Standstill and Lock-up Agreements with a Stock Corporation (Zulässigkeit von Standstill und Lock-up Agreements bei der Aktiengesellschaft), ZIP, Issue 38, pp. 1811-1817, 2015, (co-author, with Benedikt Happ)

Investor Agreements between the Law of Stock Corporations and the Law of Contracts (Investorenvereinbarungen zwischen Aktien- und Vertragsrecht), ZHR, Issue 178, pp. 547–602, 2014

Cash Pooling, Profit Participation Rights, Share Pledge ("Cash Pooling", "Genussrechte", "Geschäftsanteilsverpfändung"), Formular-Kommentar GmbH-Recht. Ed. Andreas Meyer-Landrut. 2nd ed., Cologne, pp. 748–802, 2014, (co-author, with Kai-Michael Hingst)

Commentary on Sections 250–252 German Stock Corporation Act (voidance and contestability of supervisory board elections) (Nichtigkeit und Anfechtbarkeit der Wahl des Aufsichtsrats), Kölner Kommentar zum Aktiengesetz. Ed. Wolfgang Zöllner and Ulrich Noack. Vol. 5/2, 3rd ed., Cologne, 2014, (Kommentierung der §§ 250–252 AktG)

Domination Agreements Involving Public/State Entities (Beherrschungsverträge unter Beteiligung der öffentlichen Hand), AG, Issue 21, pp. 789–796, 2013, (co-author, with Jan Schürnbrand)

The potentially unlawful appointment of the supervisory board – the doctrine of defective corporate bodies as a means to overcome legal uncertainty? Commentary on the decision of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) of February 19, 2013 – II ZR 56/12 (Der potentiell rechtswidrig bestellte Aufsichtsrat als fehlerhaftes Organ – probates Mittel zur Überwindung von Rechtsunsicherheit? Besprechung zum Urteil des BGH vom 19.2.2013 – II ZR 56/12), Der Konzern, Issue 5, pp. 310–314, 2013, (co- author, with Vanessa Seibel)

Awards and Recognition

Best Lawyer for Corporate Law, The Best Lawyers in Germany, 2020-2023

Leading Lawyer Corporate Law, Legal 500 2022 & 2021

Leading Lawyer for Corporate Law, Kanzleimonitor 2022

Highly Recommended Lawyer: Corporate, JUVE 2024/2025

Highly Recommend Lawyer, Best Lawyers/Handelsblatt 2021 & 2020
Corporate Law

TOP-Anwalt 2021 Kapitalmarktrecht (Capital Markets) by WirtschaftsWoche

TOP-Anwalt 2019 Gesellschaftsrecht (Corporate Law) by WirtschaftsWoche

Dispute Resolution Star, Benchmark Litigation Europe
Capital Markets, Commercial and transactions