The Legal 500 Germany and EMEA - 2016

In the current ranking published by Legal 500 Germany, P+P is recommended in all of its primary practice areas. In addition, the following five partners are considered to be "leading" advisors: Andreas Rodin and Patricia Volhard in fund structuring and investment funds (Patricia Volhard), Matthias Bruse for his expertise on transactions, Christian Tönies for venture capital and Andreas Richter for non-profit advice. Another 15 professionals are also recommended – 2/3 of all P+P partners are listed in their respective areas of expertise, often in more than one practice area.

P+P is again top-ranked for fund structuring; Andreas Rodin and Patricia Volhard are leading advisors in this practice area and "the Frankfurt office is the flagship for private equity fund structuring, as well as management advice. Utilizing his many years of experience and acting very quickly, Rodin advises on tax issues, while Volhard has particular expertise in the regulatory area." The Berlin partners Uwe Bärenz and Amos Veith, as well as Ronald Buge, are also "particularly admired".
P+P has an "excellent and highly professional" investment funds practice, with "exceptional understanding of this sector". The Frankfurt partner Patricia Volhard is considered leading due to the growing focus on regulatory issues since the implementation of the German Capital Investment Act (KAGB). Andreas Rodin also has "significant knowledge of the market". Other frequently recommended advisors are Amos Veith, Uwe Bärenz and Ronald Buge, "whose 'strengths are very direct and clear statements'".
For the first time, P+P is also recommended for credit law, thanks to Frankfurt counsel Jens Linde and the fact that he is "always available, competent and simply smart". P+P is "very client-oriented... primarily on the debtor side and has expertise in real estate financing".
For real estate law, the real estate and M&A expert Stefan Lebek is highly recommended and considered to be "goal-oriented, pragmatic and completion-oriented". The entire team is also "recommended without reservations" due to their "prompt, professional and expert advice", whereby project development and transactions are "particular strengths".
The firm has an "excellent reputation" for transactions, in particular for management advice, but is also known for its "advice to private equity firms on all phases of a transaction". Matthias Bruse is a leading, highly recommended advisor, as well as Otto Haberstock, Philipp von Braunschweig and Andrea von Drygalski.
Due to "extensive transactional experience" P+P also offers the highest quality advice on the VC sector. The "forward-looking" team has handled multiple financing rounds.
The Munich-based partner Christian Tönies is "particularly professional" and is a leader in his practice area. Michael Inhester is "in a class of his own" and Georg Greitemann has "very broad and relevant experience, is able to take a broad legal view as an advisor and is reliable, pragmatic and quick".
The strengths of the team in its corporate law practice are in corporate litigation, corporate housekeeping issues and large projects such as squeeze-outs and the structural measures resulting from public transactions. Recommended partners are Eva Nase, Bernd Graßl and Wolfgang Grobecker, whose "speedy comprehension and good deductive skills" are esteemed".
Ronald Buge was named partner in P+P's tax law practice and Michael Best is a well-known tax expert. Overall, the "renowned tax practice" has a good reputation and represents clients who "need advice at the interface between tax, M&A and PE transactions". In addition, the firm advises on company tax planning and fund structuring. Other areas of expertise are the development of tax concepts and administration of asset portfolios of wealthy individuals, as well as providing tax advice to foundations.
On this basis, the firm's non-profit practice area is also highly ranked and Andreas Richter is the leading advisor. P+P is "always recommended", in particular because of the "very active" Andreas Richter. Anna Katharina Gollan is also recommended. "The established practice covers the range of non-profit sectors, but is particularly strong in social venture capital and social venture fund formation, an area in which the team's experience and strength in fund structuring is evident. The team's succession and private clients practices are also closely connected to its advice to foundations, which advises several foundations with assets of over EUR 10 billion, in particular on capital investments. Restructuring and tax complement the advisory offerings." Clients include donors and sponsors, as well as foundations and charitable organizations.