Freshfields Advised TRATON On Group-Wide R&D Reorganisation

Freshfields advised TRATON on group-wide R&D reorganisation

Freshfields advised TRATON SE on the transformative reorganisation of its group-wide research and development function. The transaction involved establishing a new Group R&D organisation integrating approximately 9,000 employees from the R&D departments of the TRATON brands — Scania, MAN, International, and Volkswagen Truck & Bus — into a single cross-border unit. The reorganisation aims to accelerate the development and innovation of the TRATON Modular System, under which modular components and interfaces are designed for all TRATON brands’ commercial vehicles.

Headquartered in Munich and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, TRATON SE is one of the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers and a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.

Freshfields advised comprehensively on all legal aspects of the reorganisation, including corporate, commercial agreements, intellectual property, employment, tax, product compliance, public regulatory, energy, export control, and foreign direct investment matters.

The Freshfields team was led by partners Rick van Aerssen, Elizabeth Oberholzer, and Philipp Dohnke, and included:

Partners: Ulrich Sittard (Munich), Thomas Granetzny (Düsseldorf, both Employment Law), Sabrina Kulenkamp (Frankfurt, Corporate Law), Christian Sistermann (Munich) and Philipp Redeker (Düsseldorf, both Tax)

Counsel: Martin Rehberg (Munich, Tax), Stefan Bajohr (Düsseldorf, Corporate), Philipp Roos (Düsseldorf, Data Protection), Gernot Fritz (Vienna, Commercial/IP), Lukas Pomaroli (Vienna, Product Compliance/Export Control), Uwe Salaschek (Berlin, FDI)

Principal Associates: Elisabeth Wulf, Aljosha Barath (Hamburg, both Commercial/IP), Nils Pelzer (Frankfurt, Corporate), Caspar Sachs, Marcel Michaelis (Berlin, both Product Compliance), Hubertus Reinbach (Hamburg, Employment Law)

Associates: Lisa-Marie Woschniak, Philipp Schneider, Jan Postweiler (Munich, all Corporate), Tobias Kalb (Munich, Employment Law), William Björklund (Berlin), Julius Röck (Vienna, both Corporate), Ilko Trenn (Munich, Tax), Lena Minkenberg (Düsseldorf), Philipp Mroz (Hamburg, both Commercial/IP), Marcel Reuter (Frankfurt, Real Estate)

In-house teams: The project was led by Dr. Eike Bleckwenn (General Counsel, TRATON SE) with Dr. Kyriaki Maurer (General Counsel, MAN), Cecilia von Heijne (General Counsel, Scania), Eleanor Cabrere (General Counsel, International Motors), Adilson Marostica (General Counsel, VWTB), Martin Thielecke (Associate General Counsel, TRATON SE), Michael Winkler (Associate General Counsel, TRATON SE), Julia Hausser (Senior Legal Counsel, TRATON SE), Chad Clark (Associate General Counsel, International Motors), Mari Hansson, Ana Carolina Remorino (both Legal Counsel, Scania), Katrin Schreiber (Senior Legal Counsel, MAN), Severin Stelzer (Legal Counsel, MAN), Maria Clara Nairismagi Alves (Legal Supervisor, VWTB), supported by Alina Nowosjolowa and Anja Lützelberger (both Senior Legal Counsel, TRATON SE) and other team members across jurisdictions.

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