Biography
Thilo offers a unique combination of international merger control expertise and German FDI experience in international transactions, coupled with a relentless client service attitude.
Thilo advises international investors in the area of German investment control and handles a wide range of review proceedings at the BMWE in a broad spectrum of sectors (from energy/critical infrastructure to high-tech and pharmaceuticals to raw materials and defense), and coordinates multijurisdictional FDI proceedings. In addition, Thilo advises on German, as well as EU competition law, including merger control proceedings, distribution cartel law and vertical behavior, classic cartels, as well as on market dominance and comparable constellations. He regularly works closely with White & Case's energy law practice and advises on transactions (merger control and investment control) in the energy infrastructure sector.
In addition to its transactional activities, Thilo has experience in distribution law matters. He was involved in the revamp of a number of leading German and international branded goods manufacturers' selective distribution networks, and advises regularly on vertical conduct.
Prior to joining White & Case, Thilo worked for another renowned US law firm in Cologne and Brussels, focusing on German and European antitrust law. During this time, he was involved in a number of high-profile merger control proceedings.
Based on his merger control experience during the early stages of his career and relentless client service attitude, Thilo soon identified a growing need to offer clients coordinated advice regarding the two main regulatory requirements in international transactions – merger control and FDI. FDI advice has since become an integral part of Thilo's practice while retaining a strong stance in merger control and antitrust matters, offering seamless "one-stop-shop" regulatory advice to clients and colleagues. As a father of three, coordinating conflicting positions is also an integral part of Thilo's personal life – providing valuable insights for navigating novel challenges of any kind.
Experience
Vulcan Energy
Advised Vulcan Energy Resources Limited (Vulcan), a leading developer of sustainable lithium and renewable energy projects in Europe, on the completion of a fully integrated project and capital solution for Phase One of the Lionheart lithium and renewable energy project in the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany, combining an approximately €800 million equity investment with a €1.4 billion multi-source project financing package.
Clubessential Holdings
Advised Clubessential Holdings, a portfolio company of Battery Ventures and Silver Lake Partners, on the sale of The Assistant Company (TAC), a leading provider of software solutions for hotel spas, pools, and fitness clubs, to LEA Partners.
Asbury Carbons Inc.
Advised Asbury Carbons Inc., a portfolio company of Mill Rock Capital, on its entry into a definitive agreement to acquire Graphit Kropfmühl GmbH (GK).
NMi Group (NMi)
Advised NMi Group, a Bridgepoint portfolio company, on the acquisition of Phoenix Testlab, a leading German testing and certification body specialising in electromagnetic compatibility, environmental, radio, battery and product safety compliance.
Vivecti Group
Advised Vivecti Group, an integrated and technology-supported healthcare provider, on its acquisition of Sana Kliniken AG and the sale of Pro Care Management, one of the largest independent food group purchasing organizations in Germany, to Compass Group.
bluu unit GmbH
Advised bluu unit GmbH (bluu unit) on the acquisition of KKL Holding GmbH (KKL). Through this transaction, bluu unit acquires one of Germany's most renowned specialists in refrigeration, air conditioning, ventilation technology and data centre solutions, meeting its objective of offering high-quality and future-ready solutions throughout Germany that are better for people and the environment.
Georg Fischer AG
Advised Swiss industrial company Georg Fischer AG (GF) on the US$336 million sale of its automotive unit GF Casting Solutions to Nemak S.A.B. de C.V. (Nemak), a Mexico-headquartered global supplier of lightweight aluminum solutions for the automotive industry.
Ecobat
Advised US battery recycling group Ecobat on the sale of its battery recycling and specialty lead business to Clarios, a leading global provider of energy storage solutions.
Hyva
Advised Hyva, a leading provider of transport solutions for commercial vehicles, and its parent JOST Werke SE (JOST), on the sale of Hyva's global cranes business to private equity investor Mutares.
doValue S.p.A. (doValue)
Advised doValue S.p.A. (doValue), a leading pan-European financial services provider, on the signing of a binding agreement to acquire 100% of coeo Group GmbH (coeo), a German-headquartered digital receivables management platform, from Waterland Private Equity and other minority shareholders.
Regnology
Advised Regnology on the acquisition of the Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting (FRR) unit from Wolters Kluwer and the acquisition of Moody's regulatory reporting & ALM solutions business.
Samsung Electronics
Advised Samsung Electronics in relation to merger control and foreign direct investment proceedings globally for its €1.5 billion acquisition of Germany-headquartered FläktGroup, a global provider of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) solutions.
Teylor AG
Advised Switzerland-based financing platform Teylor AG on the acquisition of Grenke AG's factoring business, a global financing partner for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Snam
Advised Italian energy infrastructure operator Snam on the €920 million equity value acquisition from Infinity Investments of a 24.99 percent stake in the share capital of Luxembourg-based Vier Gas Holding S.à r.l. (VGH), which indirectly owns the entire share capital in Open Grid Europe (OGE).
CVC DIF
Advised CVC DIF on its acquisition of a 49 percent stake in BALANCE Erneuerbare Energien (BALANCE), the biogas subsidiary of Leipzig-based gas group VNG AG.
Nordic Capital
Advised Nordic Capital on a significant minority investment by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) in Nordic Capital's portfolio company Regnology, alongside a new investment from Nordic Capital.
GHD
Advised medical supplier GHD, a Nordic Capital portfolio company, on the sale of ForLife Group to private equity investor Duke Street.
Georg Fischer AG
Advised Georg Fischer AG (GF), a Swiss industrial company listed on SIX Swiss Exchange, on the divestment of its Machining Solutions Division to United Grinding Group, a Swiss-based manufacturer of grinding technology.
Mirova
Advised Mirova, a global asset management company dedicated to sustainable investing and an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, on its €480 million investment in RP Global to accelerate pan-European renewable energy development.
Astrong
Advised Pan-European private equity firm Astorg on entry into exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of a majority stake in Lebronze alloys in partnership with Michel Dumont, who will remain a significant shareholder and Executive Chairman of the Board.
Norvestor
Advised Norvestor IX SCSp, a fund advised by Norvestor Advisory (Norvestor), on the acquisition of a majority stake in glueckkanja AG, a cloud managed services provider and Microsoft partner, from Primepulse SE.
The KaDeWe Group GmbH
Advised the KaDeWe Group GmbH, the operator of three German luxury department stores, on its self-administration proceedings, including insolvency and reorganization law, employment and tenancy law, and on the sale of the business operations to Thai Central Group.
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (ABN AMRO)
Advised ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (ABN AMRO) on its acquisition of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank AG (Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe) from Fosun International Limited, which is subject to regulatory approvals.
Battery Ventures (Battery)
Advised the international private equity investor Battery Ventures (Battery) on the acquisition of steute Technologies GmbH & Co. KG (steute), a developer and manufacturer of switches, sensors and other products for medical and industrial applications.
Tier Mobility
Advised Tier Mobility on the sale of nextbike to Star Capital. The sale was preceded by a spin-off of nextbike that was driven by differences in business and operating models.
Battery Ventures-backed Proemion Holding GmbH
Advised Battery Ventures-backed Proemion Holding GmbH, a global provider of advanced data and analytics technology for mobile industrial equipment, on the acquisition of TrendMiner NV, an industrial analytics company of Software AG.
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA)
Advised Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), a producer of premium aluminium, on the acquisition of the German aluminium recycling company Leichtmetall Aluminium Gießerei Hannover GmbH (Leichtmetall).
Critical Metals Corp.
Advised Critical Metals Corp., an exploration stage mining and development company, on its business combination with Sizzle Acquisition Corp. The transaction will result in Critical Metals becoming a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol "CRML".
ENVIRIA Energy Holding GmbH (ENVIRIA)
Advised commercial and industrial decentralized energy solutions provider ENVIRIA Energy Holding GmbH (ENVIRIA) on a capital commitment of over US$200 million from BlackRock through its Global Renewable Power Fund IV. ENVIRIA offers solar solutions for companies in the commercial and industrial space with a projected development pipeline of over 2,000 projects across Germany and a projected generation capacity of 2.3GW.
TotalEnergies
Advised TotalEnergies on its acquisition of Kyon Energy (Kyon), one of the leading developers of large scale battery storage systems in Germany.
Argus Media Group
Advised Adrian Binks, chairman and chief executive of the Argus Media Group, a leading independent provider of intelligence to the global energy and commodity markets, on a strategic agreement to support its next phase of growth.
Kindred Group (Kindred)
Advised gaming giant Kindred Group (Kindred) on its public takeover by France-based independent betting and gaming company La Française des Jeux SA (FDJ).
Enpal B.V.
Advised Enpal B.V. on the structuring, negotiation, signing and completion of the first tranche of Equitix and Keppel Infrastructure Trust's investment in one of Enpal's energy system portfolios.
Prax Group
Advised the Prax Group, an independent global energy conglomerate, on its agreement to acquire a 37.5 percent interest in PCK Raffinerie GmbH (PCK) and its associated logistics assets from Shell Deutschland GmbH.
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW)
Advised EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) on the sale of its second minority shareholding of 24.95% in the transmission system operator TransnetBW GmbH (TransnetBW) to KfW.
Prax Group
Advised a Prax Group, a multinational, independent energy group on its acquisition of OIL! Tankstellen GmbH, a petrol station operator with subsidiaries and activities in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Denmark, from Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG, an energy company belonging to the Marquard & Bahls Group.
Pollen Street Capital (PSC)
Advised Pollen Street Capital (PSC) on its intended acquisition and combination of niiio finance group AG, fundsaccess AG, FundHero SA, FinTecc LLC and MiFID-Recorder GmbH.
Camtek Ltd.
Advised Camtek Ltd. on its agreement to acquire the FRT Metrology business (FRT) from California-based FormFactor Inc. for an all-cash purchase price of US$100 million, subject to customary adjustments.
Hy24, Altor, GIC and Just Climate
Advised a consortium of lead investors including Hy24, Altor, GIC and Just Climate on their landmark approximately €1.5 billion investment in H2 Green Steel, Europe's leading green steel start-up, to finance the construction of the world's first large-scale renewable hydrogen-based steel plant in Boden, Sweden.
Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar)
Advised Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), Abu Dhabi's leading renewable energy company, on its joint venture with Iberdrola Group, the Spain-based international energy group engaged in electric power generation, transmission and distribution.
Providence
Advised Providence Equity Partners (Providence) on the acquisition of Ardian's majority stake in Cubes Holding GmbH (d&b).
Regnology Group GmbH (Regnology)
Advised Regnology Group GmbH (Regnology), a portfolio company of Nordic Capital, on the acquisition of Invoke from private equity investors ISAI Expansion and Sagard NewGen as well as Invoke's CEO Raphael de Talhouet.
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW)
Advised EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) on the sale of a 24.95 percent minority shareholding in transmission system operator TransnetBW Gmbh (TransnetBW) to Südwest Konsortium Holding GmbH.
Faurecia
Advised Faurecia, part of the FORVIA Group and one of the world's largest automotive equipment suppliers, on the sale of its SAS Cockpit Modules division, a global provider of assembly and logistics services for the automotive industry, to automotive supplier MOTHERSON Group.
Fluxys
Advised Fluxys on the acquisition of Macquarie Asset Management's stake in Open Grid Europe (OGE), the largest transmission system operator in Germany.
Biosynex SA
Advised Biosynex SA, a market-leading designer and distributor of rapid diagnostic tests, on its entry into a definitive merger agreement with Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEMI), a leading point-of-care diagnostics company focused on infectious diseases, under which Biosynex will acquire Chembio by an all-cash tender offer for US$.45 per share.
Enpal GmbH (Enpal)
Advised climate tech company Enpal GmbH (Enpal) on its Series D equity financing with €215 million proceeds.
European Lithium AT (Investments) Limited
Advised European Lithium AT (Investments) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of European Lithium Ltd (ASX: EUR), on its entry into a US$838 million definitive agreement for a business combination with Sizzle Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: SZZL), a special purpose acquisition company.
Pollen Street Capital (PSC)
Advised Pollen Street Capital (PSC) on the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Pair Finance GmbH (Pair Finance) from some of its existing shareholders.
GlobalWafers
Advised silicon wafer manufacturer GlobalWafers on merger control and FDI in the context of its takeover attempt of direct competitor Siltronic AG.
Jenoptik AG
Advised Jenoptik AG on merger control and FDI aspects regarding its sale of its defense/mechatronics business Vincorion.
JP Morgan
FDI and related antitrust advice to JP Morgan regarding the acquisition of GETEC, one of Europe's leading sustainable energy service companies for real estate and industrial customers.
E.ON
Advised E.ON on merger control and FDI regarding the sale of 50 percent of its fibre network operations (Westconnect) to Igneo.
Ecobat
Merger control and FDI advice to Ecobat regarding its sale of Europe's largest lead smelter to international commodities trader Trafigura.
AGIC
Advised Chinese-German investment fund AGIC regarding FDI matters, including its acquisition of ATEC Pharmatechnik, a leading manufacturer of aseptic processing solutions.
FNZ
FDI advice to financial services company FNZ, including its acquisition of DIAMOS AG, a leading provider of software solutions to the financial industry.
Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp.
Advised Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp., a technology-enabled consumer focused special purpose acquisition company led entirely by women founders, CEOs, board members and other executives (NYSE: ACAQ), on its entry into a definitive business combination agreement with Next.e.GO Mobile SE, an innovative producer of urban electric vehicles based on disruptive production systems headquartered in Germany.
EV Metals Group plc (EV Metals)
Advised EV Metals Group plc (EV Metals) on its acquisition of Johnson Matthey plc's batteries manufacturing business (Batteries Business) for a cash consideration and a minority equity stake in EV Metals.
ADVANZ PHARMA
Advised ADVANZ PHARMA on its acquisition of the ex-US business of Intercept Pharmaceuticals.
Nestlé
Advised Nestlé on the acquisition of a majority stake in Ankerkraut GmbH and a related shareholder agreement.
Colt Technology Services
Advised Colt Technology Services, a multinational telecommunications company, on the carve-out and subsequent sale of twelve data centers across its Europe portfolio to AtlasEdge, the recently formed joint venture between Liberty Global and DigitalBridge.
Smiths Group
Advised Smiths Group on merger control and FDI regarding the sale of its global medical business.
Metso Corp.
Advised Metso Corp. in its €4 billion merger with Outotec Oyj in the mineral processing equipment industry, obtaining merger clearances in 19 worldwide jurisdictions in an expedited timeframe.
Faurecia
Advised Faurecia on German FDI aspects regarding acquisition of lighting specialist Hella.
FSN Capital
Advised FSN Capital on its acquisition of Adragos Pharma, a globally operating contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).
Softbank Vision Fund II
Advised Softbank Vision Fund II on its investment as lead investor in the Series C financing of Wiliot, a leader in Sensing as a Service and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Synthos
Advised Synthos on the US$449.4 million acquisition of Trinseo's synthetic rubber business.
Next Kraftwerke
Advised the founders and shareholders of Next Kraftwerke – Eneco, Neuhaus Partners, High Tech Gründerfonds and Hamburg FOR Mobile – on the sale of 100 percent of their shares to Shell Overseas Investment B.V (Shell).
EQT
Advised EQT on the acquisition of shares in Beijer Ref AB, representing 29.6 percent of the shares and 26.4 percent of the votes, from Carrier Global Corporation (Carrier), making EQT the largest shareholder of Beijer Ref.
EWE
Merger control advice to EWE as part of its joint venture with wind turbine manufacturer ENERCON to create the largest wind farm operator in Europe.
The Dow Chemical Company
Advised The Dow Chemical Company on its $130 billion merger of equals with DuPont (Phase II with remedies in the EU, additional filings in more than 20 countries worldwide).*
*Experience prior to joining White & Case
"Best Lawyer" Germany for Competition/Antitrust Law
Handelsblatt 2025
Antitrust Team of the Year
The Legal500 Germany Awards 2025
GCR 40 under 40
GCR 2023