GLEISS LUTZ ANNUAL REPORT 2016/2017 “It is no doubt the way in which we manage to combine financing and capital market aspects – that we can work with both is what makes us stand out from so many other practices.” Eva Reudelhuber 36 Under the leadership of Eva Reudelhuber, Gleiss Lutz advised on the financing of Steinhoff Europe AG’s takeover bid for Poundland plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Gleiss Lutz brought Macfarlanes in London on board to cover English law. Only a few months earlier, working for Steinhoff Reudelhuber’s team advised on the financing of the offer made by its French subsidiary Conforama for Darty plc, also listed on the London Stock Exchange. Offer volume: around £673 million. Kortz and Reudelhuber advised on a high- volume financing transaction on the banking side when they supported a consortium of seven banks under the leadership of the Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale on the restruc- turing of financing for the construction of Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) by Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH (FBB). This saw the arranging of a new €2.5 billion syndicated loan with a 10-year term. And when the US company General Electric sold GE Capital, its finance division, in Germany and France, Gleiss Lutz advised Crédit Mutuel Group, the acquirer, on the transaction. “Projects such as these show clients our true expertise in this area,” says Reudelhuber. And as for what distinguishes the practice beyond such headline deals: “It is no doubt the way in which we manage to combine financing and capital market aspects – that we can work with both is what makes us stand out from so many other practices,” she says. On the whole, it is the interdisciplinary aspects, that is to say, the topics that straddle two or more areas of the law, that again and again most clearly demonstrate the quality that the firm can deliver. “Put simply,” says Kortz, “there are three major areas that are heavily involved in the financing side: corporate/M&A, real estate, and restructuring.” Alongside expertise in these areas comes special sector expertise, primarily energy, automotive, and private equity. What is critical from the point of view of the lawyers at Gleiss Lutz is that cross-disciplinary coopera- tion cannot be a one-way street. Companies are, for example, retaining restructuring experts who can then bring financial lawyers into play – as was the case when a restructuring team headed by Andreas Spahlinger advised on the restructuring of A.T.U Autoteile Unger, the German car parts and repair chain, paving the way for the entrance of a French investor. Kortz supported the financing division with an entire team. Conversely, the finance experts’ work on a mandate may end up shedding light on the fact that the financial health of the client company may no longer be what it needs to be, and so they may end up calling in the restructuring specialists. The practice group’s relationship with the specialists in corporate law is similarly close. “Of course, we are a firm with a strong background in corporate/M&A,” says Reudelhuber. “And we have always been heavily involved in takeover financing. But in recent years we have also been taking on bank mandates for which we have been bringing in our specialist corpo- rate/M&A colleagues.” Banking and finance’s collaborative relationship with the Private Eequity group has also found itself becoming ever closer. “This area in particular is one that is exhibiting strong growth.” The banking and finance lawyers worked closely with the real estate lawyers when Pradera, the real estate fund, acquired 25 retail centres from IKEA Centres, with Tim Weber, real estate, and Burkhard Jäkel, real estate finance, advising on the deal. Transaction volume: €900 million. This deal also saw Gleiss Lutz coordinating the work of a number of inter- national law firms, including Cederquist in Sweden, Walder Wyss in Switzerland, Loyens & Loeff in the Netherlands, and Addleshaw Goddard in Great Britain. That Gleiss Lutz operates in partnership with an international network of law firms makes itself apparent every working day at the firm. In every country in which their support is sought for a financing transaction, Gleiss Lutz’s lawyers scan the network for local firms that they can bring in (see page 16). “Recently a client approached me and said that his preference is to work with a law firm such as ours because we can involve the best lawyers wherever they are required,” says Reudelhuber, adding: “I once actually even brought in two law firms to work on one particular case in a single country because I really wanted to have the top specialists on board.” The major financial markets of the United States and United Kingdom are naturally a big focus. But, Asia, too, is a region in which Gleiss Lutz is particularly well positioned: The firm has the largest team with Asia expertise among the major