Schulte represented ArrowMark Partners in a definitive agreement to acquire the platform and assets of StoneCastle Asset Management LLC, through its subsidiary, StoneCastle-ArrowMark Asset Management LLC. The acquisition will maximize the strengths of ArrowMark’s credit investment management business and StoneCastle’s bank sector investment platform. The deal was announced on Dec. 9, 2019 and closed on Feb. 12, 2020.

The Schulte team advising ArrowMark Partners is led by M&A and securities special counsel Lawrence Natke. The team also includes tax partner Shlomo Twerski; finance of counsel Ronald Risdon; intellectual property, sourcing & technology special counsel Scott Kareff; litigation associate Robert Griffin; investment management associates Noah Aschen, Yehuda Ness and Christopher Avellaneda; and former Schulte lawyers John Garces and Karen Spiegel.

Schulte Roth & Zabel (SRZ) is hosting its 29th Annual Private Investment Funds Seminar today in New York. Renowned for its market-leading funds practice, SRZ is the most sought-after law firm for the world’s leading private investment funds. At the conference, SRZ lawyers will share their insights on emerging trends and provide an outlook for 2020 and beyond. The event is by invitation only.

Specific topics include: Regulatory; Regulatory Compliance 2020; Activism; Common Brokerage and Trading Issues; Credit; Developments in Private Equity Funds; ESG; Litigation and Enforcement; Private Investments; Real Estate Funds, Deals and Financing; Regulated Funds; Sanctions; Secondary Tender Offers; Tax; and Terms and Trends. Guest speaker Dr. Paul Farmer will discuss his work as the chief strategist and co-founder of Partners In Health, a global organization bringing quality health care to the most vulnerable around the world.

“We are excited to present today’s program, which covers many interesting developments. Among them, we will discuss the issues faced when traditionally liquid-focused firms expand their offerings to include private investments. We will discuss the different approaches taken to address this expansion, including use of side pockets, creation of hybrid funds and launch of standalone private equity funds,” commented Stephanie Breslow, SRZ partner and co-head of the Investment Management Group. “Regulators have been taking an ever-deeper dive into the businesses and operations of private investment fund managers. We will go over recent guidance, interpretations and proposed rulemakings issued by the SEC and CFTC, as well as the latest in privacy and data security regulations,” said Marc Elovitz, SRZ co-managing partner and chair of the Investment Management Regulatory & Compliance Group.

“Another notable development is the growing number of investors focusing on ESG. We will cover the range of ESG strategies, from socially responsible investing to impact investing,” said Jason Kaplan, SRZ partner in the Investment Management Group. “Our conference is an annual gathering of recognized leaders in the asset management space. We are very pleased to present our 29th Annual Private Investment Funds Seminar,” commented Alan Waldenberg, chair of SRZ’s Executive Committee.

Representing a wide range of practice areas, SRZ lawyers featured at the event include: William Barbera, Philippe Benedict, Stephanie Breslow, Emily Brown, Brad Caswell, Charles Clark, David Cohen, Aneliya Crawford, Brian Daly, Jennifer Dunn, David Efron, Marc Elovitz, Andrew Fadale, Marc Friess, Melissa Goldstein, David Griffel, Christine Harlow, Christopher Hilditch, Daniel Hunter, Taleah Jennings, Jason Kaplan, Eleazer Klein, Kelly Koscuiszka, Derek Lacarrubba, Ian Levin, Anna Maleva-Otto, Peter Naismith, David Nissenbaum, Jennifer Opheim, Paul Roth, Edward Sadtler, Adriana Schwartz, Phyllis Schwartz, Joseph Smith, Gary Stein, Michael Swartz, Shlomo Twerski, Craig Warkol, David Wermuth, Peter White, Michele Williams, Julian Wise, Heather Wyckoff, Boris Ziser and Elie Zolty.

With a great depth of practice, SRZ advises on the formation and operation of a wide array of funds with varying investment strategies, including hedge funds, private equity funds, credit funds, distressed funds, real estate funds, activist funds and hybrid funds, among others. SRZ is consistently placed in the top tiers in rankings, including in Chambers and The Legal 500. In 2019, SRZ was named one of the “Asset Management Practice Groups of the Year” by Law360. SRZ lawyers provide advice on U.S. and U.K. law to a wide variety of funds and managers located worldwide. Notably, SRZ is one of only a few law firms with a dedicated regulatory and compliance practice within its private funds practice. The lawyers have specialized expertise on the issues private fund managers face in setting up, running and growing their businesses. 

McDermott Will & Emery, a leading international law firm, today announced the promotion of 7 German based lawyers to partner and counsel effective January 1, 2020.

“Our new partners and counsel understand that clients today are looking for more than great lawyers. They want legal experts who understand their businesses and work every day to be their indispensable partners. This group is ready to help leaders see around corners to solve problems, mitigate risk and seize potential opportunities,” said Ira Coleman, Chairman of McDermott Will & Emery.

“Our new partners really reflect the growth of our offices in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich,” said Norbert Schulte, head of McDermott’s German practice. “We congratulate them and look forward to working with them as we will continue to serve our global clients, while building our practice here in Germany,” added Norbert.

McDermott has appointed a total of 39 new partners and 4 counsels worldwide at the beginning of 2020.

New Partners & Counsel

Jessica Hanke, Düsseldorf – advises on all aspects of real estate law. Her focus is on the structuring of real estate transactions (single asset and portfolio deals) and the support of project developments. In addition, she assists clients in all aspects of commercial tenancy law and asset management.

Marc Oberhardt, Düsseldorf – specializes in insolvency law and corporate restructuring and develops non-insolvency and insolvency-related restructuring solutions. His transaction experience covers distressed M&A, but also corporate acquisitions (M&A) and joint ventures.

Maximilian Clostermeyer, Frankfurt – advises companies and investors on real estate law, in particular on large real estate portfolio transactions as well as transactions in connection with major individual properties in the form of share deals, asset deals and joint venture structures. In addition, he supports clients in project developments and commercial landlord and tenant law.

Heiko Kermer, Frankfurt – specializes in national and cross-border tax issues, particularly in connection with real estate and M&A transactions. His expertise includes in particular internal investigations, compliance and private equity.

Nadine Hartung, Munich – advises clients in the areas of corporate law, M&A, joint ventures, corporate governance and compliance, private equity and capital markets. She has special expertise in the healthcare and life sciences, publishing and logistics sectors.

Nils Christian Wighardt, Munich – advises (family-owned) companies, family offices, foundations, shareholders and owners on national and international tax law. His main topics are corporate succession, structuring of domestic and foreign private and business assets, international tax planning and foundation solutions.

Antje Weiss, Düsseldorf – advises clients in public law, including administrative, regulatory and constitutional law, tax law and public commercial and budgetary law. One of her special competences is advising private and public companies on German gambling law.

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. With 20 locations on three continents, our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and geographies to deliver highly effective – and often unexpected – solutions that propel success. More than 1,100 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

McDermott Will & Emery, a leading international law firm, today announced the promotion of 39 lawyers to partner and four to counsel, effective January 1, 2020.

“Our new partners and counsel understand that clients today are looking for more than great lawyers. They want legal experts who understand their businesses and work every day to be their indispensable partners. This group is ready to help leaders see around corners to solve problems, mitigate risk and seize potential opportunities,” said Ira Coleman, Chairman of McDermott Will & Emery.

“We are also pleased that our newest class is 30% diverse, underscoring the continued importance we place on ensuring that our Firm reflects our clients and the communities where we live and work. We have more to do, but we know that this new cohort will help us to continue to build a culture that celebrates excellence, authenticity and happiness,” added Ira. “Overall, we’re on a great trajectory across all metrics, and this group is a testament to that success; we are so proud of them.”

The 2020 partner and counsel class includes lawyers from Firm offices in Boston, Chicago, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York and Washington, DC. More than half work in the Firm’s premiere practices—healthcare, tax, private client, litigation and transactions.

Health
Nicholas Alarif (Washington, DC)
Matthew Friendly (Miami)
Larry Guess (Chicago)
Marshall Jackson (Washington, DC)
Tomer Konowiecki (Los Angeles)
Joseph Parise (Boston)
Matthew Perreault (Boston)

Litigation
Jennifer Aronoff (Chicago)
Shamis Beckley (Boston)
Daniel Campbell (Chicago)
Audrey Pumariega (Miami)
Jennifer Routh (Washington, DC)
Kamal Sleiman (Miami)
Michael Stanek (Washington, DC)

Private Client
Abigail Nott (London)*
Thomas Olson (Chicago)

Regulatory
Antje Weiss (Düsseldorf)*

Tax
Michael Bruno (Miami)
Kevin Hall (Washington, DC)
Heiko Kermer (Frankfurt)
Bradford LaBonte (New York)
Joshua Lerner (New York)
John Robert (Washington, DC)
Kathleen Quinn (New York)
Samantha Souza (Washington, DC)
Nils Wighardt (Munich)

Transactions
Pierandrea Bonali (Milan)
Maximilian Clostermeyer (Frankfurt)
Margaret Cremin (Chicago)*
Michael Hacker (Miami)
Jessica Hanke (Düsseldorf)
Nadine Hartung (Munich)
Christine Kretkowski (Washington, DC)
Shashank Krishna (London)
David Nestler (New York)
Marc Oberhardt (Düsseldorf)
Megan Preusker (Chicago)
Enrico Raso (Milan)
Francesco Romeo (Milan)
Christopher Stacker (Chicago)
Calum Thom (London)*
Agata Todarello (Milan)
Gabriel Valdés (Miami)

*Denotes Counsel

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. With 20 locations on three continents, our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and geographies to deliver highly effective – and often unexpected – solutions that propel success. More than 1,100 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

McDermott Will & Emery has advised Austrian SIGNA Group on the acquisition of 106 Thomas Cook travel agencies with more than 500 employees for its own Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof travel offers. Signa will also take over the Thomas Cook e-commerce platform “Golden Gate”.

The transaction results from successful negotiations with the preliminary insolvency administrators of Thomas Cook GmbH, Thomas Cook Touristik GmbH, Thomas Cook Vertriebs GmbH and Neckermann Urlaubswelt GmbH. Closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of the creditors’ committees and the antitrust authorities.

With the acquisition, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof doubles the number of sales points in Germany.

The McDermott team advising SIGNA was led by Matthias Kampshoff and Marc Oberhardt in Düsseldorf, and included Sandra Urban-Crell, Ulrich Flege, Jessica Hanke, Christian Krohs and Claus Färber, as well as associates Ulrike Witt, Joana Ney, Catharina Dickhäuser, Sakai Shabo, Johanna Leitzke-Schmid, Heiner Feldhaus, Philipp Schrage, Mara Sonnenberg, Tina Zeller, Josepha Hettich, Colin Winterberg, Carina Kant and Vera Hoff.

McDermott Will & Emery partners with leaders around the world to fuel missions, knock down barriers and shape markets. With 20 locations on three continents, our team works seamlessly across practices, industries and geographies to deliver highly effective – and often unexpected – solutions that propel success. More than 1,100 lawyers strong, we bring our personal passion and legal prowess to bear in every matter for our clients and the people they serve.

Schulte advised Keane Group Inc. on its combination with C&J Energy Services in an all-stock merger of equals. The merger results in the establishment of NexTier Oilfield Solutions, an enterprise with approximately $4.2 billion in net revenue, with Keane and C&J shareholders each owning 50 percent of the total equity. Houston-based Keane is one of the largest pure-play providers of integrated well completion services in the United States. The combined company, NexTier, is positioned to be a leading oilfield services provider and has a pro-forma enterprise value of approximately $1.8 billion. The deal was announced on June 17, 2019 and closed on Oct. 31, 2019.

The Schulte team representing Keane Group Inc. was led by M&A and securities partner Stuart Freedman, associate Evan Berger and former Schulte lawyer Michael Gilligan. The team also included tax partner Alan Waldenberg; employment & employee benefits partner Ian Levin and associate Adam Gartner; environmental partner Howard Epstein and special counsel Theodore Keyes; litigation partner Michael Swartz, special counsel Michael Cutini and Gregory Kinzelman; real estate partner Julian Wise; and former Schulte lawyers Kirby Chin, Antonio Diaz-Albertini, Andrew Fadale, David Passey, Edward Sadtler, Caitlin Cornell, Megan Gedeon, John Garces, Nathanial Norman and William Tevlin.