The retail company Otto Group has taken a majority stake in the Swiss provider of digital health services Medgate. Another deal followed on its heels. Immediately after Otto’s entry, Medgate took over BetterDoc, a Cologne-based provider of services in the field of medical quality data analysis. With this move, the retail company is upgrading in the digital health market, where, according to international studies, Germany has a lot of catching up to do. The founders of Medgate and BetterDoc retain a minority stake in Medgate Holding. […]
Advisors to the founders and shareholders of BetterDoc
Berner Fleck Wettich (Düsseldorf): Dr. Thilo Fleck (lead); Associates: Christina Peters, Denis Schütz (all Corporate)
ADKL Abels Decker Kuhfuß & Partner (Düsseldorf): Thomas Jorde, Marc Sarburg (both tax consultancy) – known from the market
To read the full announcement, please click here (in German).
The international retail and services group Otto Group has acquired a majority stake in the Swiss Medgate Holding, a provider of digital health services, including telemedical advice. At the same time, Medgate Holding is taking over BetterDoc GmbH, a data analysis service active in the DACH region that helps patients to identify the doctors and clinics best suited to their condition. The founders of Medgate and BetterDoc will remain on board and will hold a minority stake in Medgate Holding in the future. The parties involved have agreed not to disclose the economic terms of the transaction. […]
Berner Fleck Wettich provided comprehensive legal advice to the founders and all other shareholders of BetterDoc on the transaction. .
Click here for the full article (in German).
France’s Alliance Marine Group has acquired 12seemeilen.de, a major B2C boating accessories specialist based in Cologne and serving the German market. The acquisition was made on behalf of Intermer, a subsidiary of the French Alliance Marine Group, and its Accastillage Diffusion chain of more than 130 national stores in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Alliance Marine Group, a portfolio company of a private equity fund managed by Weinberg Capital Partners, specializes in the distribution of equipment and spare parts for repair and maintenance in the yachting and merchant marine industries. With 350 employees and a portfolio of more than 500 brands (mechanical parts and fittings), Alliance Marine is the undisputed leader in this sector in France, with sales of nearly €100 million.
The acquisition of 12seemeilen.de gives the Accastillage Diffusion group an important foothold in the German market.
Berner Fleck Wettich comprehensively advised the founders of 12seemeilen.de on the transaction.
Click here for the full article (in German).
EMMA Capital, EMH and minority shareholders of the Kiveda Group Holding, the parent company of “küchenquelle”, have formed the new “Home Furniture Group” (HFG). The new formed group will target to further disrupt the furniture market by expanding its successful tech enabled direct sales approach from kitchens into adjacent areas of home furniture. EMMA Capital and the existing shareholders see the used mixed reality technology, provided by Island Labs, Berlin as pivotal for implementing the accelerated growth strategy and secure the technology potential for HFG in the long term. With the new strategic Partner, EMMA Capital, on board, HFG is strengthened and well prepared to grow within the European market with its unique sales approach. […]
Berner Fleck Wettich advises EMMA Capital on the transaction.
Click here for the full article (in German).
MEDIA Central, a portfolio company of Bregal Unternehmerkapital advised funds, successfully completed the acquisition of Berlin-based Offerista Group at the end of July 2021.
Offerista Group, Europe’s largest shopper marketing network, specializes in providing customized, digital solutions for location-based offer and store marketing. With flexible, cross-channel advertising measures, the company – with a focus on stationary retail – accompanies and advises around 1,600 international retail and manufacturer brands along their customer journey. With a team of more than 130 employees and eight locations in Europe, Offerista Group will now become part of the group of companies of the market leader in unaddressed household advertising MEDIA Central. Through the transaction, the two companies aim to meet growing demand in the future with the best possible service from a single source. Customers are to benefit from an even greater overall reach through the use of cross-media strategies. As an independent full-service media agency, the MEDIA Central group of companies will continue to neutrally manage all haptic as well as digital channels according to customer requirements.
Berner Fleck Wettich comprehensively advised the Offerista Group shareholders on the transaction.
Click here for the full article (in German).
The Handelsblatt & Best Lawyers have awarded Berner Fleck Wettich again in three categories in their latest edition “Germany’s Best Lawyers 2021”. The ranking contains an overview of the law firms of the year 2021 in various fields of law and the lawyers particularly recommended this year.
As in previous years, all four partners of Berner Fleck Wettich are recommended in the current ranking for the following areas of law:
– Corporate Governance & Compliance: Carsten Wettich
– Mergers and acquisitions: Christian Nienkemper
– Corporate law: Olaf Berner, Thilo Fleck and Christian Nienkemper
For the 13th time already, the Handelsblatt has published the list “Die besten Anwälte und Kanzleien Deutschlands 2021” (The Best Lawyers of Germany 2021), based on research by the US publishing house Best Lawyers. Based on a peer-to-peer survey, Best Lawyers has identified Germany’s most renowned lawyers in various fields of law.
The complete results can be found here (in German): Germany’s best lawyers 2021.
In its current issue, WirtschaftsWoche has again named Berner Fleck Wettich as a top law firm for corporate law 2021. At the same time, Dr. Olaf Berner, Dr. Thilo Fleck and Dr. Carsten Wettich have been included in the list of Germany’s most renowned lawyers for corporate law.
For the selection of the best German lawyers in corporate law, the Handelsblatt Research Institute (HRI) asked more than 4,900 lawyers from 270 law firms about their most renowned colleagues in corporate law.
Berner Fleck Wettich has been awarded the highest rating of four stars for corporate law and M&A by brand eins as one of the best commercial law firms in Germany 2021.
The list is based on a survey among lawyers (colleagues survey) and in-house lawyers (clients survey) for a total of 24 legal fields.
The Düsseldorf-based corporate boutique Berner Fleck Wettich has strengthened its presence in December. Prof. Dr. Sabine Otte-Gräbener will be working for the law firm in the position of Counsel. The 41-year-old is professor for commercial and corporate law at the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences.
In addition to her work at the university, she will support Berner Fleck Wettich, especially at the interface of legal and economic issues. Her focus is on the law of limited liability companies, European corporate law and the law of the English Limited. In addition to corporate groups, the firm’s client base includes a whole range of family-run businesses which, in addition to legal input, place great value on a strategic and economic overall view. This is where the experience of Otte-Gräbener should play a particularly important role.
For the complete report (in German) click here.
Metro takes over the second largest Portuguese food supplier Aviludo. At the same time, Metro’s major shareholder EPGC is expanding its shares – but its public takeover bid to Metro shareholders is not supported by the Management and Supervisory Boards. The offer takes into account neither the current value of the company nor the transformation process of the MDax Group which has already been carried out, the boards announced. […]
Advisor to the Metro Supervisory Board on the takeover bid:
Berner Fleck Wettich (Düsseldorf): Dr. Carsten Wettich, Dr. Olaf Berner (both Corporate/M&A) – well known from the market
Background:
[…] The Supervisory Board, which is otherwise supported in its daily work by the head of the Corporate Office, General Counsel Bost, again called in the Düsseldorf corporate boutique Berner Fleck Wettich for the valuation of this low-threshold offer – it is a so-called low ball offer. The unit, founded by former Hengeler lawyers, had prevailed in a pitch in 2019.
For the complete report (in German) click here.