Dr. Matthias Kiesewetter
Biography
Overview
Matthias is a Partner in the Global Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group of White & Case. He advises on M&A, joint ventures and fast growth investments across a broad range of business sectors, including technology, infrastructure and industrials.
Matthias is a widely recognized expert for Public M&A with more than 15 years of experience in advising bidders, targets and banks in takeover situations.
Recent representations include M&A transactions for Mercedes-Benz, Goldman Sachs, Nets/Concardis, Armira, Clariant, Fluxys, LANXESS, Verdane Capital and Battery Ventures.
Matthias was seconded to the in-house M&A team of a DAX-40 Company and to the in-house M&A/ECM team of a leading investment bank.
Prior to joining White & Case, Matthias trained with the Takeover Panel of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Übernahmereferat - Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, BaFin).
Experience
Mercedes-Benz on the cooperation agreement for its strategic partnership with energy company E.ON for the establishment and operation of the new Europe-wide Mercedes-Benz charging network, which enables fast, safe and environmentally friendly charging of electric vehicles.
JP.Morgan and Lazard in connection with Schaeffler AG's voluntary public acquisition offer to the shareholders of Vitesco Technologies Group Aktiengesellschaft.
Goldman Sachs on forming a consortium alongside Advent, Centerbridge, CPPIB, and LGT Group, to launch a take-private offer for Aareal Bank AG.
PPF Group on the acqusition of a 9.10% stake in listed media company ProSiebenSatz.1 Media SE.
GfK SE on the combination with Advent-backed NielsenIQ.
Armira Investment Holding on acqusition of Factor Eleven GmbH, a leading German digital marketing software company.
Battery Ventures inter alia on the public takeover offer for EASY SOFTWARE AG, the add-on acquisition of GIS software company Geocom for its portfolio company AED-SICAD and the acquisition of laboratory solutions producer Bernd Kraft GmbH.
Verdane Capital inter alia on its investments in momox, Navabi and smava.
Nexi Group/ Concardis on the acquisition of orderbird AG, a POS-software solutions provider for the hospitality sector.
Monterro, a Sweden-based software-growth investor, on its sale of Hypergene, a SaaS company in the North European market for corporate performance management and project management across eight offices in Sweden, Norway and Germany.
Mercedes-Benz AG inter alia on the acquisition of British electric motor specialist YASA Ltd.
Software company Hornetsecurity on the acquisition of IT Seal GmbH.
Open banking platform provider Tink on its acquisition of FinTecSystems.
LANXESS on the sale of its 40% stake in the chemical park operator Currenta to funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
Clariant inter alia on the sale of its health care packaging business to Arsenal Capital and on the public takeover of Süd-Chemie AG from One Equity Partners and numerous family shareholders.
Allen & Company in connection with KKR's public offer to buy out Axel Springer's minority shareholders.
Dual-listed AIXTRON, the target company, inter alia on the lapsed takeover by the Chinese financial investor Fujian Grand Chip Investment.
The management board of Germany's leading wine retailer HAWESKO Holding AG, the target company, in connection with the unsolicited public takeover bid by TOCOS Beteiligung GmbH as well as the search for a White & Knight.
Public Takeovers by Financial Investors, Die Aktiengesellschaft 2023, pp. 230 - 237 (Öffentliche Übernahmen durch Finanzinvestoren) (with Nico Frehse).
Exemptions from the mandatory bid in connection with the restructuring of the target company – a practice report of the last ten years, Betriebs-Berater 2021, pp. 135 – 138 (Die Befreiuung vom Pflichtangebot im Zusammenhang mit der Sanierung der Zielgesellschaft – ein Praxisbericht der letzten zehn Jahre) (with Nico Frehse).
The liquidity requirement for share for share offers under the German Takeover Act, BKR 5/2021, pp. 265 – 272 (Die Liquiditätsanforderung bei öffentlichen Tauschangeboten) (with Alexander Kiefner).
Stakebuilding, in: Paschos/ Fleischer, Handbook on German Takeover Law, C.H. Beck, 2017 (Beteiligungsaufbau, in: Paschos/ Fleischer, Handbuch Übernahmerecht nach dem WpÜG, C.H.Beck, 2017)
The handling of environmental risks in M&A transactions, Betriebs-Berater 2016, pp. 1798 – 1806 (Umgang mit Umweltrisiken bei M&A-Transaktionen) (with Dr. Martin Hofmann).
M&A from a Seller in Crisis, Betriebs-Berater 2015, pp. 1484 – 1489 (Unternehmenskauf vom Verkäufer in der Krise) (with Peter Freitag and Patrick Narr)
Reasoned Statement of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board under Section 27 of the German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act – Practice Report (January 2007 – June 2013), (Die Stellungnahme von Vorstand und Aufsichtsrat gem. § 27 WpÜG – ein Praxisbericht (Januar 2007 - Juni 2013) Corporate Finance Law, Issue 3, pp. 105 – 115, 2013, (with Dorothea Kreymborg)
Practical aspects of public takeover bids in times of volatile markets, AG, Issue 20, pp. 741 – 749, 2012, (Praxisrelevante Aspekte öffentlicher Übernahmen in Zeiten volatiler Märkte) (with Marc Christian Gei)
Practical aspects in connection with the financing of public takeover bids, Corporate Finance Law, Issue 6, pp. 284 – 291, 2011, (Praxisrelevante Aspekte der Finanzierungssicherstellung bei öffentlichen Übernahmen) (with Alexander Kiefner)
Competence of the general shareholders' meeting to approve the sale and purchase of assets in M&A transactions, Der Konzern, p. 451 et seqq., 2009, (Hauptversammlungszuständigkeit bei Veräußerung und Erwerb von Gesellschaftsvermögen im Rahmen von M&A-Transaktionen) (with Myriam Spengler)
The legal framework for prebid stakebuilding, WM, p. 340 et seqq., 2009, (Rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen des Beteiligungsaufbaus im Vorfeld von Unternehmensübernahmen) (with Andreas Meyer)
Top 10 M&A Lawyer in Germany, MergerLinks 2023
Best Lawyer Germany in Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Capital Markets Law, Handelsblatt 2019-2023
Highly recommended Lawyer: M&A, JUVE 2024/2025
Lawyer of the Year for Capital Markets Law, Handelsblatt, 2022
Konrad Adenauer Scholar
Best Lawyers, Capital Markets Law, 2019
