Working in Cologne
Our Cologne office opened in 2004. Housed in an historic villa close to the Rhine, the office is located in a lively neighborhood, full of shops, restaurants, and bars.
“I love Cologne’s lively, diverse, and tolerant culture, which is, of course, epitomized by the annual Carnival. I also love its rich history and its location at the heart of Germany and the heart of Europe.”
Working closely with our colleagues in Frankfurt and our German or German-speaking colleagues in Brussels, we provide our clients with fully integrated German, pan-European, and global legal advice in a broad range of key practice areas.
Our lawyers in Cologne focus primarily on antitrust, mergers and acquisitions, and litigation and arbitration.
Antitrust
An integral part of our top-ranked global competition practice, our Cologne antitrust team advises on worldwide developments in competition law and on all aspects of EU and German competition law. We have extensive experience in proceedings related to merger control, abuse of dominant position, and cartel arrangements, including civil and criminal antitrust litigation and state aid. We also advise on cooperation, licensing, and distribution agreements.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Our German M&A team advises clients on public and private M&A matters, restructurings of corporate groups (including going-private transactions, delistings, mergers, spin-offs, and demergers of corporate divisions), as well as private equity investments and buy-outs, joint ventures, and outsourcing agreements. We also provide integrated and comprehensive advice on all tax, labor, IP, and regulatory matters related to M&A transactions.
In addition to our substantial multidisciplinary experience in cross-border and domestic transactions, we are able to draw on our highly integrated global infrastructure to offer advice on U.S. and other foreign-law aspects of M&A transactions in Germany.
Litigation and Arbitration
An integral part of the firm’s European and international practice, our Germany-based team is able to draw on far-reaching experience in domestic and cross-border dispute resolution and dispute avoidance.
We represent clients before national courts, domestic and international judicial authorities and arbitral tribunals, regulatory authorities, and mediation bodies on a broad range of matters, including major antitrust, post-M&A, capital markets, construction/infrastructure, energy, general commercial, intellectual property, public international law, and regulatory enforcement matters, often involving sovereign states and entities. We also advise clients on domestic and cross-border investigations and compliance-related matters, often with an antitrust, bank regulatory, or corporate governance background.