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 venture capital 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 Daimler, Goldman Sachs, Nets/Concardis, Clariant, Fluxys, LANXESS, Verdane Capital, Basalt Infrastructure and Battery Ventures.
Matthias was seconded to the in-house M&A team of a DAX-30 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
Advised Armira Investment Holding on acquisition of Factor Eleven GmbH, a leading German digital marketing software company.
Advised PPF Group on the acquisition of a 9.10% stake in German media company ProSiebenSatz.1 Media SE.
Advised Stora Enso Oyj on the sale of Maxau Paper GmbH to Schwarz Group.
Advised GfK SE on the combination with Advent-backed NielsenIQ.
Advised Nexi Group/ Concardis on the acquisition of orderbird AG, a POS-software solutions provider for the hospitality sector.
Advised member to the Advent/ Centerbridge lead consortium for the public takeover of German real estate financing bank Aareal Bank AG.
Advised Daimler AG inter alia on the acquisition of British electric motor specialist YASA Ltd.
Advised software company Hornetsecurity GmbH on the acquisition of IT Seal GmbH.
Advised Basalt Infrastructure on the acquisition of goetel GmbH and German Network Construction GmbH (together goetel).
Advised open banking platform provider Tink on its acquisition of FinTecSystems.
Advised Lime Technologies AB (publ), a provider of digital products for customer care and sales based in Sweden, on the acquisition of Userlike, one of the leading German providers of live messenger services for customer communication.
Advised LANXESS Deutschland GmbH on the sale of its 40% stake in the chemical park operator Currenta to funds managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
Advised Clariant AG inter alia on the sale of its health care packaging business to Arsenal Capital.
Advised Allen & Company in connection with KKR's offer to buy out Axel Springer's minority shareholders.
Advised Verdane Capital inter alia on its investments in momox, Navabi and smava.
Advised Battery Ventures inter alia on the add-on acquisition of GIS software company Geocom for its portfolio company AED-SICAD and on the public takeover offer for EASY SOFTWARE AG.
Advised Nordic Capital inter alia on its acquisition of the Ober Scharrer Group and the acquisition of GHD GesundHeits GmbH Deutschland.
Advised dual-listed AIXTRON, the target company, inter alia on the lapsed takeover by the Chinese financial investor Fujian Grand Chip Investment.
Advised 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.
Advised Super Group Limited on its acquisition of special logistics company INtIME group from Equistone.
Advised Deutsche Bank AG on the acquisition of Exchanging Transaction Bank GmbH from Xchanging plc.
Advised a bank consortium on the financing of the - lapsed - public takeover of Rhön-Klinikum AG by Fresenius SE.
Advised Motion Equity Partners on the divesture of ixetic group to Magna International Inc.
Advised Feintool AG, a listed Swiss technology company, on the acquisition of Herzing+Schroth group.
Advised Clariant AG on the public takeover of Süd-Chemie AG from One Equity Partners and numerous family shareholders.
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)
Best Lawyer Germany in Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Capital Markets Law, Handelsblatt 2019-2023
Lawyer of the Year for Capital Markets Law, Handelsblatt, 2022
Konrad Adenauer Scholar
Best Lawyers, Capital Markets Law, 2019
Highly Recommended Lawyer, kanzleimonitor 2013–2014, M&A
Highly Recommended Lawyer, kanzleimonitor 2013–2014, Capital Markets
