Dr. Falk Lichtenstein

Corporate, M&A

• A German leading automotive supplier on its shareholder disputes with the Chinese party related to six joint venture companies in China. This included a comprehensive review of the corporate governance and shareholders' rights in the relevant companies and development of a dispute resolution strategy.
• A German based composite material producer on establishing a joint venture with a Chinese company in Beijing, including drafting and negotiating the joint venture contract, articles of association, technology licence agreement, and other corporate documents and assistance in the approval process with the Chinese authorities.
• A major wind power plant equipment manufacturer headquartered in Denmark and Germany on its intended sale of a global business unit. This included vendor legal due diligence, drafting the legal fact book and China related transaction documents. On various capital decrease transactions and corporate restructurings over the previous years, including the related corporate and foreign exchange control requirements.
• A globally leading construction equipment manufacturer on the acquisition of a Chinese State-owned machinery company, value EUR 480 million. This included legal due diligence, drafting and negotiating all acquisition documents (share deal) and assistance in the approval process.
• A leading German based technology group on establishing a qualified holding company in China.
  on more than ten separate investments in Chinese target companies over the previous years. This included drafting the investment agreements, joint venture contracts and articles of association as well as the acquisition contracts.
  on carving out a global business unit and restricting its Chinese investments for the carve out.
• A leading Austrian coating manufacturer on its China market entry, including drafting and negotiating the investment agreement and built-to-lease agreement and corporate documents for establishing and investing into the wholly foreign-owned enterprise of the client in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province.
• A German based manufacturer of measurement equipment its China market entry, including drafting the corporate documents for establishing wholly foreign-owned enterprise of the client in Beijing, assistance in the approval process, and relocation between different districts.
• A German manufacturer of semiconductor presses on its relocation of production from Shanghai to Jiangsu Province, including reviewing the investment agreement, built-to-lease agreement and corporate documents for the NewCo.
  on various corporate restructuring and financing projects during the previous years.
• A German dental equipment manufacturer on the sale of shares in its Beijing joint venture company during a group internal restructuring, including renegotiating the shareholders' agreement and alignment of the articles of association with most recent Chinese corporate law requirements.
• The Chinese subsidiary of an Austrian railway safety equipment on their corporate governance and alignment of the articles of association with most recent Chinese corporate law requirements.
• A leading German based automotive supplier on vendor due diligence for preparation of carving out and selling one of its major global business units and, in a separate project, on the Chinese law implications of its global refinancing.
• An Austrian animal feed manufacturer on the establishment of a joint venture company in Xuzhou, China with a Chinese private enterprise. This included drafting and negotiating the entire contracts and application documents as well as liaising with the authorities on the approval and registration procedures.
• A leading German sanitary and heating system manufacturer on the acquisition of two Chinese domestic privately owned companies, value RMB 250 million. This included legal due diligence, drafting and negotiating all acquisition documents (asset deal) and assistance in the approval process.
• A German based company on its loan granted by their Chinese affiliate to the headquarters, including drafting the finance documents and advice on the foreign loan registration procedure with the Chinese bank and foreign exchange control authority.
• An Austrian railway equipment manufacturer on a capital increase to their Chinese joint venture granted by the Austrian shareholder and its Hong Kong based joint venture partner, including drafting and negotiating the corporate documents and application documents for the Chinese authorities.
  on its shareholder loan granted to their Chinese joint venture, including drafting the finance documents and advice on the foreign loan registration procedure with the Chinese bank and foreign exchange control authority.
• A European investment fund on the pledge of shares in a Chinese limited liability company as part of security for credit facilities of EUR 335 million. This included drafting and negotiating all share pledge documents and assistance in the approval process.
• A well-known manufacturer in the industrial coatings sector on the acquisition of the two entities located in mainland China. Our work involved navigating complex legal issues spanning corporate law, employment, and data protection, etc. This piece of work was crucial to the success of the global transaction, as it ensured a smooth transition and legal compliance in a jurisdiction that presents unique regulatory challenges.
• A global leader in the development and marketing of innovative drug-coated balloon (DCB) technologies on the corporate and regulatory aspects of a multi-jurisdictional carve-out of its Interventional Vascular Therapy (IVT) business, including structuring a hybrid asset and share deal, assessing legal implications across Germany, Poland, China, and the U.S., and mapping out the legal landscape for the client’s Chinese manufacturing entity in preparation for a potential divestment.
• A Japanese multinational and its German headquartered business unit on corporate restructuring of its Chinese subsidiaries, including drafting the entire corporate documentation for foreign-owned enterprises and sale of granted state owned land use rights.
• A Swiss leading technology company for high-pressure valves for gaseous media on the corporate governance and update of corporate documents if its Chinese subsidiary.
• A German based expert for advanced hermetic compressor technologies and cooling solutions in commercial refrigeration on implementing its planned carve-out of a global business unit by spin-off it its Tianjin production entity.
• A leading German automotive supplier on establishing a subsidiary Shenyang, Liaoning Province and restructuring of the investment schemes of its other subsidiaries in Langfang, Hebei Province and Shanghai.

Data Protection

• A reputable German research institution on data cross-border data transfer requirements and cybersecurity compliance for their new CRM system.
• A global pioneer in mRNA therapeutics and COVID-19 vaccines on a comprehensive review and localisation of its global compliance policies for its operations in China.
• A leading provider of automated B2B communication solutions, specialised in delivering fully managed Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and e-invoicing services to optimize supply chain efficiency on providing an analysis to the requirements of the its e-invoicing operations model in China and address legal requirements on cross-border data transfers for its proposed business in China.
• The Chinese subsidiary of an Austrian railway safety equipment on China’s regulation on cross-border transfer of non-personal data, in particular any restrictions on the transfer, the mechanism and scattered legislation on identifying important data etc., as well as the requirements for cross-border transfer of personal data, including drafting the consent forms, preparing for the protection impact assessment.
• A Swiss-based globally operating process and laboratory instrumentation and automation supplier on a Swiss-based globally operating process and laboratory instrumentation and automation supplier.
• A Swiss multinational plant equipment manufacturer on their IT operations in China, including cybersecurity law and telecommunication law assessments of their current set-up under Chinese law.
• An international supplier of products for computer vision applications on conducting risk analysis of several scenarios that may arise from their operations in China, and personal information protection impact assessment for their data transfer.
• An internationally operating group of companies in the construction equipment industry on various data compliance projects, including the overall requirements for the client’s telematics system on its road construction machines, analysing impacts and implication on processing employee data via different vendor systems, as well as all the organisational policy requirements for the client’s overall data protection compliance.
• An international technology group as a leading supplier of products made of high-tech materials - such as carbon, technical ceramics and sintered metal on the processing of the employees’ data and the data security requirement for industrial data and industrial-control system, in particular the general requirements for personal data protection, cross-border transfer of personal data, important data identification, industrial-data grading and categorisation, and security protection requirements for personal data and industrial data, as well as the specifical requirement for security of industrial-control system.
• A major wind power plant equipment manufacturer headquartered in Denmark and Germany on a comprehensive review and update of their data policies in China to reflect the evolving legal and regulatory landscape surrounding data and cybersecurity, ensuring their operations remain compliant within China.
• A leader in global FinTech who provides to-B financial services to companies on the regulatory requirements from the telecom operation and cybersecurity protection perspectives, as well as the extraterritorial effects of the relevant requirements under Chinese law, in particular the difference that exists between the telecom and cybersecurity regimes.

Dispute Resolution

• A German company providing R&D, design, manufacturing services for heat exchange systems on shareholder disputes and shareholder right to information disputes.
• A global manufacturer of high-quality cast polypropylene (CPP) and polyethylene (PE) films on suspected trade secret infringement of two previous staff members and one competitor company.
• A German manufacturer of high-precision CNC machine tools, specialising in lathes, milling machines, and automation solutions for global industrial applications on registering a trademark in China and monitoring trademark application of a Chinese counterparty.
• An Austrian company specialising in firefighting equipment, with expertise in the production of various fire rescue vehicles and firefighting components on protecting their intellectual property rights in China, as well as support with copyright infringement and unfair competition issues in China.
• An international energy company owned by the Federal Government of Germany and has become one of the most important suppliers to industrial customers in Europe on its file trademark applications and protection their IP rights by monitoring suspicious applications and infringements in China.