CMS ‘Mid-Market Legal Advisor of the Year’ in the 2009 European M&A Awards

The Financial Times and market intelligence service mergermarket have named CMS ‘Mid-Market Legal Advisor of the Year’ in the 2009 European M&A Awards. The award was presented on 9 December at the third annual event, held in London, and recognises CMS for its strong track record advising on successful, innovative mid-market M&A transactions.

Cornelius Brandi, Chairman of CMS and Managing Partner of CMS Hasche Sigle said: "This is a superb achievement. We're proud of our Corporate practice group and proud to provide our clients with such outstanding, innovative advice. Our teams are outstanding in the market, a fact which is reflected in rankings and league tables, resulting in prestigious international awards like this one. We are delighted with this recognition and look forward to the New Year with confidence and optimism.”

Specifically, the submission highlighted a 2009 deal requiring expertise in Germany and The Netherlands. CMS advised Holtzbrinck Networks GmbH and Verlagsgruppe Weltbild GmbH on the sale of their 50% stake in bol.com, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HTW Medienhandel Holding GmbH to Flevo Deelnemingen I B.V., a Cyrte Investments company. bol.com is the leading online retailer for media and entertainment in the Netherlands which produced a turnover of nearly EUR 225 million in 2008. This deal saw a transaction value of over EUR 200 million, a German/Dutch CMS cross-border advisory team, a highly competitive auction process, and a Private Equity company as the acquirer, which was quite rare at the time.

Head of the CMS Corporate practice group Dr. Thomas Meyding led the cross-border team advising on the deal, which included partners Barbara Wössner (Stuttgart) and Roman Tarlavski (Amsterdam).

During 2009, CMS has experienced a steady climb up mid-market M&A league tables reflecting our success on this and similar deals. Earlier in 2009, CMS published the groundbreaking European M&A Study, which looked at more than 300 M&A transactions and identified trends.

Said Dr. Meyding: “Our dual focus on deep local expertise and superior cross-border coordination means clients benefit from a team working closely together – each member a recognised expert in their own jurisdiction.”