Hengeler Mueller tags next co-managing partners

Hengeler Mueller tags next co-managing partners

The company will be led by M&A lawyer Bernd Wirbel and real estate specialist Thomas Müller in July

The German firm Hengeler Mueller has put Thomas Müller and Bernd Wirbel in charge of the firm's operations. Their predecessors Georg Frowein and Rainer Krause were in charge.

According to the firm, the duo will replace Frowein and Krause when their four-year term ends as scheduled in July.

The Frankfurt-based partner, Müller, joined the firm in 1996. He has played an integral role in the expansion of Hengeler's real estate practice, according to Hengeler, advising large international private equity investors on real estate transactions in Germany and Europe.

The most noteworthy of his projects over the last ten years includes working with Goldman Sachs to acquire Karstadt department stores and Morgan Stanley to acquire and sell Sony Center in Berlin.

His experience includes public and private takeovers, private equity deals and general corporate matters. He has been a partner at Hengeler since 2004, based in Düsseldorf. Over the past 15 years, he has worked with bidders and target companies on more than 20 public takeover transactions, both contested and uncontested.

Wirbel worked on the takeover of the Elster Group in 2014 by manufacturing giant Melrose and advised the sale of the Elster Group to Honeywell in 2016.

In a joint statement, Frowein and Krause praised the firms' time under their leadership, saying the firm developed "remarkably well" during the duo's tenure despite challenges such as the covid-19 epidemic, which they handled with "great prudence".

The Wirbels and Müllers expressed their gratitude on behalf of all employees for their successful co-management partnership with us. It is our goal to use the talent, collegiality and commitment of our entire team to develop Hengeler Mueller's leading position in the market.

Hengeler's turnover in 2020 was $332m, which placed it 149th in Law.com's Global 200 Ranking for 2021. The firm has 320 lawyers and 90 partners across offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Brussels and London.

In Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Brussels, the firm promoted six lawyers to partnership Last year - a double the number it made in 2020.

Other legal news in Germany in April was that Noerr reported impressive financial results, with firm-wide revenue for 2021 increasing by 9.3 percent to €297 million, up from 7.6 percent the previous year.

In March, Hueking, a leading German independent insurer, reported a 2.4 percent decline in revenues to €185.4m for 2021, as claims for diesel exhausts steadily decreased across the country.