Düsseldorf, 12. September 2018 – McDermott Will & Emery hat die österreichische SIGNA Gruppe bei der Gründung eines Joint Ventures mit der kanadischen Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) zur Zusammenlegung der Warenhausketten Galeria Kaufhof und Karstadt Warenhaus beraten. SIGNA erwirbt außerdem 50% des europäischen Immobilienportfolios von HBC. Der Vollzug der Transaktion steht noch unter dem Vorbehalt der Genehmigung durch die zuständigen Kartellbehörden.

SIGNA und HBC beabsichtigen die Gründung einer neuen Handelsgesellschaft, zu der die Galeria Kaufhof GmbH, die Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH, das Einzelhandelsgeschäft der HBC Europe (Saks OFF 5TH, Galeria Inno in Belgien, Hudson’s Bay in den Niederlanden), Karstadt Sports sowie alle Lebensmittel- und Catering-Zweige beider Gesellschaften (Dinea, Kaufhof Gourmet, Karstadt Feinkost, Le Buffet) gehören werden. Zudem werden die E-Commerce-Einheiten beider Handelsketten zusammengeführt. Die neue Gesellschaft wird 241 große Einzelhandelszentren in Europa unterhalten und insgesamt 32.000 Mitarbeiter beschäftigen. Dr. Stephan Fanderl, bisher CEO von Karstadt, wird die neue Einheit führen.

An der neuen Holding hält SIGNA Retail 50,01 Prozent und HBC 49,99 Prozent. Die SIGNA Prime Selection AG erwirbt im Rahmen der Partnerschaft 50 Prozent der Anteile an HBCs europäischer Immobilien-Holding; davon umfasst sind 41 Immobilien im Besitz von HBCs bestehendem JV in Europa sowie 18 weitere Immobilien der Galeria Kaufhof. HBC behält 50 Prozent des Immobilienbesitzes.

Ein Team von McDermott unter Federführung der Partner Dr. Matthias Kampshoff (M&A, Restrukturierung), Dr. Jan Hückel (M&A), Dr. Jens Ortmanns und Gregor Lamla (Immobilienrecht), Christian Krohs (Kartellrecht), Dr. Oliver Lieth (Finanzierung) und Dr. Kian Tauser (Steuerrecht) beriet SIGNA umfassend in allen Rechtsfragen.

Berater SIGNA Group:
McDermott Will & Emery, Düsseldorf: Dr. Matthias Kampshoff (M&A, Restrukturierung), Dr. Jens Ortmanns (Immobilienrecht), Dr. Jan Hückel (M&A), Dr. Oliver Lieth (Finanzierung), Christian Krohs (Kartellrecht), Gregor Lamla, Dr. Ulrich Flege (beide Immobilienrecht), Sebastian von Lossow (M&A), Dr. Kian Tauser (Steuerrecht, Frankfurt), Dr. Oliver Hahnelt (Finanzierung, Frankfurt); Counsel: Dr. Nadine Hartung (M&A, München), Dr. Marc Oberhardt (Restrukturierung/Insolvenzrecht), Dr. Jessica Hanke (Immobilienrecht), Dr. Heiko Kermer (Steuerrecht, Frankfurt), Dr. Claus Färber (IP/IT, München), Dick M. Okada (Finanzierung, Silicon Valley); Associates: Catharina Dickhäuser (M&A), Philipp Kutscher, Dr. Björn Biehl, Patric Urbaneck, Ulrike Witt, Jan Philipp Baale (alle Corporate), Dr. Pierre-André Brandt, Sakai Shabo, Dr. Anja Zelfel (alle Immobilienrecht), Mirjam Büsch (Öffentliches Recht), Dustin Schwerdtfeger, Sebastian Keding, David G. Schäfer (alle Finanzierung), Dr. Florian Schiefer (Steuerrecht, Frankfurt), Carina Kant, Marianne Thurm (beide Kartellrecht), David Henry (Kartellrecht, Brüssel)

Über McDermott
McDermott Will & Emery ist eine führende internationale Anwaltssozietät. Mit über 1.000 Rechtsanwälten sind wir an folgenden Standorten weltweit vertreten: Boston, Brüssel, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt a. M., Houston, Köln, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Mailand, München, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley und Washington, D.C. Es besteht eine strategische Allianz mit MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai. Die deutsche Praxis wird von der McDermott Will & Emery Rechtsanwälte Steuerberater LLP geführt.
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PARIS – McDermott Will & Emery advised Oscaro in its transaction with Parts Holding Europe group, a major European player in spare car parts distribution backed by Private Equity giant Bain Capital.

Founded in 2005, Oscaro is a European leader of the online spare parts market with a 2017 turnover of over 300 million euros and more than 8 million clients. Its alliance with Parts Holding Europe, a solid and ambitious partner, enables the development of a European omni-channel leader in all customer segments, including institutional and individual consumers.

By becoming a controlling shareholder, the Parts Holding Europe group is giving its full potential to this pioneering and emblematic brand in online sales in Europe.

The McDermott team advising Oscaro included partners Grégoire Andrieux, Lionel Lesur, Timothée Gagnepain and Pierre-Arnoux Mayoly (Corporate), Antoine Vergnat (Tax), Romain Perray (Data Protection) and Alexis Werl (Dispute Resolution), counsels Laura Morelli (IP) and Myrtille Lapuelle (Employment) as well as associates Louis Leroy, Charline Boulenger, Louise Aberg, Lucille Madariaga, Charles de Raignac, Sarah Candelibes, Côme de Saint-Vincent, Benjamin Briand and Julie Uzan-Naulin.

About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,100 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

PARIS – McDermott Will & Emery advised Canadian company LuminUltra Technologies Ltd., a company specializing in the monitoring and testing of microbes in drinking water, sewage water treatment and a market leader in rapid and portable microbiology monitoring instruments in the acquisition of the “ATP-Métrie” activity involving the microbiological solutions tests used by the aqua-tools company, a French company specializing in water microbiology in the industrial, health and environmental sectors.

McDermott Will & Emery acted along with LuminUltra Technologies Ltd. with a team composed of Partner Lionel Lesur, Raphaël Ben Chemhoun and Anaël Hadji in Corporate, Partner Antoine Vergnat, Romain Desmonts and Thibault Stumm in Tax, Partner Romain Perray in Data Protection, Counsel Laura Morelli and Charles de Raignac, in Intellectual Property and Partner Jilali Maazouz and Ludovic Berges in Employment.

The Fidal firm advised aqua-tools with Associate Director Laïd Estelle Laurent, Partner Bruno Nogueiro and Arthur Boutemy.

About McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,100 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES – International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced the addition of Charles (Chuck) Moll and Troy Van Dongen in the firm’s San Francisco office and Marcy Jo Mandel in the firm’s Los Angeles office. The trio joins from Winston & Strawn and offers experience successfully representing clients in complex state and local tax controversies in California and throughout the United States.

Moll, who served as the nationwide head of Winston & Strawn’s State and Local Tax (SALT) practice, focuses on resolving tax controversies. He is known for representing clients before all levels of state and local tax authorities and has in-depth litigation experience across California courts, the US Tax Court and the US Supreme Court.

“We are thrilled to welcome someone of Chuck’s stature with such a well-deserved reputation in California and a proven track record of success across the country,” said Jane Wells May head of McDermott’s SALT Practice. “The arrival of Chuck and his team bolster our California SALT presence and further strengthen the high-quality state and local tax capabilities clients expect from McDermott.”

“McDermott is a tax powerhouse, and we are excited to join the team and collaborate with its distinguished SALT practitioners,” said Moll. “As taxpayers grapple with an increasingly complex state and local tax landscape, having experienced, strategic counsel is more important than ever. McDermott has the best platform from which to offer that.”

Moll is joined in San Francisco by partner Troy Van Dongen, whose practice focuses on the resolution of state and local tax controversies through both litigation and negotiation. Van Dongen has extensive experience in property taxation and advises clients on various other state and local tax matters including franchise, sales and use and income tax. His clients span an array of industries including telecommunications, manufacturing, software, finance and sports and entertainment.

The group is rounded out by Marcy Jo Mandel, who has joined as counsel in McDermott’s Los Angeles office. As a tax litigator, Mandel focuses her practice on resolving state and local tax controversies drawing from over 35 years of experience, including her long service as California’s Deputy State Controller for Taxation. In that role, Mandel advised three consecutive State Controllers on a wide variety of important tax policy issues and sat on the State Board of Equalization and the Franchise Tax Board on each Controller’s behalf.

“This group’s arrival is a great example of how we continue to bring in the best practitioners to the best teams,” said Ira Coleman, chairman of McDermott. “We are particularly excited for the energy and experience they will bring to our offices on the West Coast, particularly to our growing San Francisco team.”

All three practitioners are known as thought leaders and have received a variety of awards and recognitions that speak to the quality of their work.  Moll and Mandel join McDermott counsel Roy Crawford as fellow recipients of the California State Bar’s Benjamin F. Miller Award for outstanding contributions in the field of state and local tax law.

Consistently ranked by Chambers USA and Super Lawyers, Moll is among the top SALT practitioners in the country and serves on the Executive Committee of the ABA Tax Section’s State and Local Tax Committee and is editor and California author for the ABA Property Tax Desk book.

Also ranked by Chambers, Van Dongen is the incoming chair for the Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association. He also serves as chair for the Marin County Assessment Appeals Board, and is a member of the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Director’s Advisory Council.

Moll and Van Dongen are part of McDermott’s expanding presence in San Francisco, including the April 2018 arrival of employment partners Ron Holland, David Durham, Pankit Doshi and Christopher Foster.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

CHICAGO – International law firm McDermott Will & Emery today announced the arrival of all-star intellectual property lawyer Christina Martini as partner in the Chicago office. Martini joins from DLA Piper, where she practiced for nearly 25 years. She was recently named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of Chicago’s Most Influential Minority Lawyers.

Martini’s experience reaches across a wide variety of business sectors, including the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, which are known for their unique, high-stakes challenges in the development and protection of brands. Previously, she served as on-loan intellectual property counsel for both Kraft Foods, Inc. and Searle/Monsanto, where she gained invaluable insight regarding the legal and business responsibilities of in-house counsel.

Martini was Chair of the Chicago Intellectual Property Practice at her prior firm and held a number of other key leadership roles, including as the National Hiring Partner – Associate Recruiting and as a member of its Executive, Policy, and Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committees.

Martini has been named to the BTI “Client Service All-Star Team” and is consistently recognized for her intellectual property prowess. In 2014 she was included on Managing Intellectual Property’s “IP Stars – Top 250 Women in IP”, and for the last eight consecutive years she has been named to the World Trademark Review 1000. Martini has also been designated as an Illinois Super Lawyer and is ranked in Chambers and The Legal 500.

“Tina strengthens our copyright and trademark work, solidifying McDermott’s ability to provide comprehensive and across-the-board intellectual property counsel,” said Nicole Jantzi, leader of the Firm’s Global Intellectual Property Practice. “She has a well-deserved reputation in the legal community and a proven track record of both leadership and the ability to collaborate across teams and practice areas. We are excited to onboard her as we continue to expand and fortify our domestic and international service offerings.”

“We are also particularly delighted to welcome such an extraordinary role model and effective champion for gender and racial and ethnic diversity,” added Ira Coleman, chairman of McDermott. “We know from discussions with our clients, our engagement with diversity thought leaders and our participation in diversity advancement programs that we are not going to meaningfully move the needle without hiring diverse talent into our equity partnership. Tina is just one example of how we are listening to our clients, reaching out and bringing in skilled and high-achieving diverse lateral partners. We are delighted to have Tina join our team; her energy, enthusiasm and passion are simply contagious.”

Martini has extensive international experience in counseling, prosecution, enforcement, due diligence and licensing matters, and in assisting clients in protecting their intellectual property rights through litigation and other means. She is instrumental in domain name proceedings before various administrative organizations, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization. Martini advises clients in the areas of brand development and management and designs, executes, maintains and enforces large intellectual property portfolios globally. She also regularly handles domain name, social media and online advertising strategy and enforcement. She holds a BSIE from University of Illinois at Chicago and a JD from Northwestern University.

“I am thrilled to be part of McDermott’s IP team and look forward to collaborating with my exceptionally talented colleagues. McDermott’s strong client-service orientation and its commitment to seamless service offerings across the globe is a terrific match to meet the always-evolving business and legal needs of the sophisticated multinational companies with whom I have the honor and privilege to partner,” Martini said.

Martini joins McDermott’s flourishing Intellectual Property practice, which is renowned for its broad trial, appellate, prosecution and transactional experience. The more than 140 IP professionals in the group hold degrees in a variety of technical and scientific fields and are uniquely capable of handling intellectual property matters across a wide spectrum of industries. Some 110 members of McDermott’s intellectual property team hold technical and/or scientific degrees and nearly 100 are registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). McDermott’s Intellectual Property practice includes numerous lawyers with valuable industry experience as well as former USPTO examiners and petition specialists.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery will convene senior tax and employee benefits leaders at its inaugural Tax Symposium on April 24 in the Firm’s Chicago office. The symposium will be an in-depth discussion of the critical business and legal issues involved in optimizing opportunities and navigating the risks brought about by tax reform.

The 2017 tax reform legislation introduced the most sweeping changes to the tax code in a generation, with wide-ranging implications for both US and International companies. McDermott’s exclusive, full-day Tax Symposium will address how leaders of these companies can and should plan for success under the new reality of reform.

Programming will include panel discussions on these critical issues:

• A Holistic View of Business Tax Reform – The Major Changes and Their Impact
• Integrated Planning for GILTI, FDII, the BEAT and Repatriation
• State Tax After Reform
• New Considerations for Structuring M&A Transactions
• Ethical Considerations and Guidance

The symposium will also feature in-depth discussions of tax reform’s impact on the following areas:

• Intellectual Property: IP and Supply Chain Planning Post Tax Reform
  • This session will illustrate several of the current common IP and supply chain structures, and changes companies might consider to achieve a more beneficial tax structure in light of the new rules.
• Foreign Based Companies: Key Implications for Foreign Based Companies and Reaction of the European Union
  • This session will focus on designing cutting-edge planning strategies, taking into account potential responses by foreign governments.
• Benefit or Burden? Impact of Tax Reform on Compensation Structures and Popular Fringe Benefits
  • This session will focus on developing strategies in response to the changes in deductibility of executive compensation and employee fringe benefits.

Keynote and Featured Speakers
David Lewis, Vice President (Retired) of Global Taxes at Eli Lilly and Company will give the keynote address at the event. David is one of the luminaries of the in-house tax world, and is known as a leader in tax policy after spending significant time in Washington, DC pushing through some major tax legislation, including the reform in 2017.

Featured McDermott speakers include:

• Lowell Yoder, partner and global head of McDermott’s Tax Practice
• David Noren, partner and former legislation counsel to the Joint Committee on Taxation in the US Congress
• Jane May, partner and head of McDermott’s State & Local Tax Practice
• Andrew Liazos, partner and head of McDermott’s Executive Compensation Practice
• David Fuller, partner previously with the IRS National Office in the former Office of the Associate Chief Counsel – Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations
• Sandra McGill, partner and head of McDermott’s Chicago US and International Tax Practice
• Timothy Shuman, partner and head of McDermott’s US and International Tax Practice
• Todd Welty, partner and head of McDermott’s Tax Controversy Practice

To register for the symposium or to schedule a consultation with a McDermott attorney onsite, contact our Business Development team.

For additional information please visit McDermott’s Tax Reform Resource Center, launched to help clients navigate the most impactful changes to the tax code in a generation. The center (www.mwe.com/taxreform) hosts in-depth video interviews with McDermott’s multidisciplinary team of lawyers along with interactive tools and actionable strategies to help prepare clients for important next steps.

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.

CHICAGO (April 3, 2018)—International law firm McDermott Will & Emery is launching a stand-alone Employment Practice with the addition of 10 new partners and one counsel. The group will be led by partner Michael Sheehan and will bolster McDermott’s capabilities by positioning the Firm as an industry leader with a focus on high-stakes employment litigation and overall protection of brand reputation through compliance.

Michael will serve as global head of the newly-formed Employment Practice after years of experience serving as Chair of the US Employment group at DLA Piper. A nationally recognized litigator, Michael has extensive courtroom experience, having tried dozens of cases to verdict across the United States. He has acted as lead counsel and successfully defended private and public companies against age, gender, race, retaliation, sexual harassment and trade secret/raiding cases. He has also litigated numerous large-scale wage and hour class actions in state and federal court. He and his team will join a deep McDermott bench including preeminent employment litigator Kerry Scanlon in Washington, DC, and first-chair labor lawyer Kristin Michaels in Chicago.

“We are excited to join forces with the Firm’s talented team of labor lawyers and litigators to solve the most important employment issues facing clients, day-in and day-out,” said Michael Sheehan. “We are ready to begin at full speed and address today’s most complex employment issues from conducting investigations and advising Boards on #MeToo to defending high-risk wage and hour class actions. We have the breadth and depth of experience to counsel on a variety of existential employment issues, and we look forward to bringing our resources to bear for clients on McDermott’s global platform.”

Michael will be based in McDermott’s Chicago office and will be joined by partner Rachel Cowen, who is known as an extraordinary employment litigator with a particular focus in pay equity and other systemic discrimination claims. Joining them in Chicago will be senior partner Marilyn Pearson and counsel Kevin Connelly, who both regularly advise and represent clients on a broad range of traditional labor matters.

The new Employment Practice will also have a strong West Coast presence with the arrival of partners Ron Holland and Ellen Bronchetti in San Francisco and San Diego respectively. Premier labor lawyers, Ron and Ellen are well-known for their prowess as class action litigators with extensive experience representing employers in a variety of labor and employment matters all across the country. They represent clients in a wide variety of industries including health care, aviation, trucking, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, environmental waste collection and gig economy employers. Ron will be joined in San Francisco by partners David Durham, Pankit Doshi and Christopher Foster. Pankit Doshi is the current President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

McDermott’s enhanced West Coast employment capabilities will also extend to Southern California with the arrival of Maria Rodriguez and her team in Los Angeles, including partner Michelle Strowhiro. Maria was the Employment group, Western Regional Head from DLA’s Los Angeles office. Maria and the LA team have decades of experience in the entertainment, media, sports and technology sectors, including representing major Hollywood studios, television networks, production companies, sports agencies, minor and major league sports teams, as well as food service and transportation industry expertise. The team counsels domestic and foreign corporations with regard to employment law compliance and mergers and acquisitions, as well as defending high-stakes wage and hour class actions, and employment cases.

“This group is a meaningful addition to McDermott,” said Firm Chair, Ira Coleman. “Michael and his team will not only extend our employment offerings but also bolster our West Coast presence. We are incredibly excited about what this means for our Firm and for our clients—existing and new—who will benefit from an even deeper bench of talent here at McDermott.”

McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.