The Legal 500 Deutschland and EMEA - 2017

Since 1987, Legal 500 has ranked European law firms and is publishing its 4th German edition in 2017.
The current edition recommends 23 P+P professionals. Of these, Patricia Volhard (investment funds), Andreas Rodin (private equity fund structuring), Matthias Bruse (private equity transactions), Christian Tönies (venture capital) und Andreas Richter (non-profit advisory) are leading advisors.
P+P is considered "one of the leading law firms in Germany" for its investment funds practice. P+P "not only performs as a service provider, but also as an economic partner". The team, which is both "implementation- and goal-oriented", recently achieved continued growth in the need for advice regarding regulatory questions, as well as for fund managers. In addition to fund structuring, P+P's team also handles asset management and fund litigation. The firm "also has extensive expertise in cross-border issues", is increasingly active as a national advisor in international negotiations for many large US-based funds and advised foreign fund managers on questions related to marketing in Germany. It also has particular expertise on fund structures in Luxembourg." In Frankfurt, Peter Bujotzek and Andreas Rodin are considered "innovative market leaders in fund structuring" and Patricia Volhard's regulatory team is also highly recommended. In Berlin, Amos Veith and Philip Schwarz van Berk are both practical thinkers and absolutely"reliable and, for many years, have worked without making mistakes, even when dealing with demanding time constraints". P+P is als a top-tier firm in fund structuring with the leading advisor, Andreas Rodin. The Berlin-based partner Uwe Bärenz is also highly praised as "an exceptional negotiator who focuses on solutions. At the same time, he is a well-balanced intermediary, whose "tax practice is strong, in particular with regard to cross-border fund structures".
In the transactional private equity sector, the Munich-based partner Matthias Bruse is considered a leading advisor. In particular, Otto Haberstock, Philipp von Braunschweig and Andrea von Drygalski are recommended experts in the mid-cap sector. P+P is also a market leader in management advisory and management participation programs.
In the venture capital sector, the "forward-looking and solution-oriented team", leading partner Christian Tönies is praised for being "very professional". His colleague Dr. Michael Inhester is recommended for his "excellent economic understanding" and his "creative input".
P+P's corporate law practice demonstrates a "very good understanding of the field and the ability to think outside the box". Large corporations are among P+P's clients, in particular family-owned shareholder groups. One "strength of Wolfgang Grobecker and Eva Nase's team is corporate disputes", as well as matters of corporate housekeeping and large projects, such as structuring measures following public-sector transactions.
P+P's real estate practice offers "proactive advisory on real estate portfolios and individual transactions" in all three of its locations and its "excellent level of service" is impressive.
In particular, the Berlin-based partners Matthias Durst ("always fantastically well-prepared and on top of things in negotiations"), Stefan Lebek ("thorough") and Carsten Führling ("strong negotiator"), are highly recommended, as well as counsel Daniel Elbel, Timo Winkelmann, who is valued for his "excellent economic expertise", and Marcel Guenoub.
The non-profit advisory also receives a top-tier ranking with the leading Andreas Richter. P+P's "comprehensive advisory offering" in this practice area focuses on succession and private clients, restructuring and tax and the relatively new practice related to social venture capital, including the establishment of social venture funds, to which P+P contributes "the firm's fund structuring expertise". Furthermore, the firm advises many foundations with significant assets and domestic family foundations on the establishment of foundations. In addition to Andreas Richter, counsel Katharina Gollan is also recommended.
Last but not least, P+P's tax practice is "reliable, competent and proactive and demonstrates entrepreneurial understanding". The tax practice focuses on transactional tax matters, with particularly strong competence in managing interfaces in the private equity and real estate segments, as well as in the advisory on fund structuring and succession issues. Particularly recommended advisors are Hardy Fischer, who handles difficult negotiation situations with finesse" and the Munich-based partner Michael Best, who is able to "build good relationships with auditors". In addition, the naming of Frankfurt-based Peter Bujotzek as partner strengthens the entire team.