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Portrait ofMatthias Kuß

Dr. Matthias Kuß

Partner
Rechtsanwalt, Notary Public

CMS Hasche Sigle
Lennéstraße 7
10785 Berlin
Germany
Languages German, English

Matthias Kuss advises German and international investors on the structuring of real estate transactions (asset and share deals) as well as on real estate portfolio development and optimisation in different asset classes, such as office, retail, hotel or residential. He also assists his clients with real estate development and all relevant real estate, planning and environmental law issues, as well as with asset management, including commercial leases. Furthermore, Matthias has long-standing experience in advising on public commercial law and procurement law matters, including public-private partnerships.

Matthias is also a certified lawyer for administrative law and a registered notary in Berlin. He joined CMS in 1998 and became a partner in 2004. Alongside his advisory practice, he regularly teaches at, amongst others, the International Real Estate Business School (IRE/BS).

Matthias Kuss has been listed for years in the Best Lawyers ranking of the Handelsblatt in the category "Germany's Best Lawyers for Real Estate".

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„Oft empfohlen“ für Immobilien- und Baurecht

JUVE Handbuch, 2023/2024

Listed for Real Estate

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2023 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers

"reliable, dedicated, conciliatory and solution-oriented", "comprehensive understanding of the law, high level of economic expertise", clients; "pragmatic and solution-oriented", competitor

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2022 (GCLF)

"Recommended" for Real Estate

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2022 (GCLF)

"very good and reliable advisor", client; "pragmatic, reliable and solution-oriented negotiator", competitor

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2021 (GCLF)

"Recommended" for Real Estate and Construction

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2021 (GCLF)

"very good, competent and in-depth handling of large transactions, strong personal commitment, always adequate and appropriate approach, very reliable", client

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2018 (GCLF)

"very professional, in-depth knowledge, pragmatic and organized approach, very recommendable", client

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2015 (GCLF)

"the ‘reliable, excellent’ Matthias Kuss"

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2015

"professional competence coupled with entrepreneurial thinking" (clients)

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2009 (GCLF)

"no doubt one of the best negotiators in Germany" (clients)

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2009 (GCLF)

Relevant experience

Real estate transactions

  • Advising Berlinovo on the sale of more than 15,000 residential units
  • Assisting Topdanmark/PKA with the development and sale of a real estate portfolio consisting of more than 3500 residential and commercial units
  • Advising Outlet Centres International on the development, optimisation and sale of designer outlet centres in Zweibrücken and Wolfsburg
  • Assisting Austrian S IMMO AG with the development and optimisation of its entire German real estate portfolio
  • Advising LFPI on developing and running a hotel portfolio in Germany
  • Advising Union Investment on the acquisition of a large number of portfolio properties and project developments
  • Advising LLB Kapitalanlagegesellschaft on the acquisition and optimisation of a large number of portfolio properties and project developments, including employment agencies, hotels, nursing homes, office buildings and shopping centres
  • Advising the federal state of Brandenburg on real estate and public law matters in relation to the construction of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin

Procurement Law

  • Advising Alliander in the context of the tender for the installation and operation of electric car charging stations in Berlin
  • Advising the federal state of Brandenburg on public-private partnership projects to plan, construct, finance and operate buildings for the Ministry of Finance and two more ministries
  • Advising BER Berlin Brandenburg Airport on procurement law and compliance matters in relation to cases of corruption
  • Advising IBM in the context of the awarding of contracts for supercomputer systems
  • Advising the Ministry for Economic and European Affairs of the federal state of Brandenburg in the context of evaluating the state’s public procurement law

Public Commercial Law

  • Assisting ArcelorMittal in the context of water abstraction licences at the group’s Eisenhüttenstadt site
  • Advising Süd BG on public law and funding law issues in the context of its investment in HAP, a manufacturer of robot systems
  • Advising CMP on environmental and funding law issues in the context of the acquisition of UKM Group
  • Assisting DIH/BRE with the project development and conclusion of urban development contracts for Alexanderplatz in Berlin
  • Assisting online retailer with planning and building law issues related to the company’s logistics centre in Leipzig

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Memberships & Roles

  • German Council of Shopping Centers e.V.
  • gif e.V.
  • Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verwaltungsrecht Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
  • Bundesvereinigung Öffentliches Recht (BÖR e.V.)
  • forum vergabe e.V.
  • Ernst-Reuter-Gesellschaft e.V.
  • ULI
  • ImmoEbs
  • Berlin Chamber of Notaries
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Publications

  • Procurement Law – Comprehensive Commentary on the Law of Public Contract Awarding (editor with Dr. Klaus Heuvels, Dr. Stefan Hoess, Dr. Volkmar Wagner and co-author) in second, expanded and updated edition, Verlag Kohlhammer 2021
  • Lindner-Figura / Oprée / Stellmann, Geschäftsraummiete, 2. Kap. "Vertragsparteien", author together with Dr Gerd Leutner, C.H.BECK-Verlag, 2017
  • Procurement Law – Comprehensive Commentary on the Law of Public Contract Awarding (editor with Dr. Klaus Heuvels, Dr. Stefan Hoess, Dr. Volkmar Wagner and co-author), Verlag Kohlhammer 2012
  • Viering, Liebchen, Kochendörfer, "Management Services in the Life Cycle of Real Estate, Urban Planning Agreements" 2007, p. 5 et seqq.
  • Schulte/Schäfers/Pöll/Amon, Real Estate Manual of the Public Sector, "Legal Framework Conditions for Public Private Partnership", Rudolf Müller Verlag 2006, p. 347 et seqq.
  • "Factory Outlet Center – Legal Framework Conditions for the Implementation in Germany", Der Immobilienbewerter - Informationsdienst für Sachverständige 2006, 6 et seqq.
  • "Petition for a Declaratory Judgment; Duty to Object; Authority to Submit Applications; Required Make; Proof of Equality; Lack of Declarations", Vergaberecht 2005, pp. 130 et seqq.
  • "Award procedures: Leaner Awarding Thanks to Prequalification?", Immobilien Zeitung 2004
  • "Principle of Competition and Equal Treatment Precept in Negotiated Procedure", Vergaberecht 2002, pp. 299 et seqq.
  • "Delayed Decision of Awards Chamber; Signature of Tender; Subsequent Submission of Documents; Disproportionately Low Cost Tender", Vergaberecht 2002, pp. 95 et seqq.
  • "Ad-hoc Notifications Collide with Personality Right", Handelsblatt 2000
  • "Guiding Principle That Court Proceedings Must be Public", Wissenschaftlicher Verlag – WVB 1999
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Lectures list

  • "Legal & Tax Due Diligence" - Kontaktstudium Immobilienökonomie (129. Studienjahrgang); IRE/BS Immobilienakademie Universität Regensburg, Berlin am 10.07.2023
  • "Legal & Tax Due Diligence“ – Kontaktstudium Immobilienökonomie (125. Studienjahrgang); IRE/BS Immobilienakademie Universität Regensburg, Berlin am 05.07.2022
  • „Legal & Tax Due Diligence“ – Kontaktstudium Immobilienökonomie (121. Studienjahrgang); IRE/BS Immobilienakademie Universität Regensburg, Berlin am 05.07.2021
  • „Legal & Tax Due Diligence“ – Kontaktstudium Immobilienökonomie (117. Studienjahrgang); IRE/BS Immobilienakademie Universität Regensburg, Berlin am 08.07.2020
  • „Legal & Tax Due Diligence“ – Kontaktstudium Immobilienökonomie (28. Studienjahrgang); IRE/BS Immobilienakademie Universität Regensburg, Berlin am 03.07.2019
  • "Berlin zwischen Wohnungsnot, Gentrifizierungsangst und Bürgerwillen – Wer schützt eigentlich die Immobilienwirtschaft?", participation in the panel headed by Berlin Senator of Justice Thomas Heilmann at 1. Berliner Immobilienkongress on 24 May 2016
  • "Legal Due Diligence" - refresher course on real estate economics (13th study program Rhein/Ruhr); IRE/BS Immobilenakademie University Regensburg, 9 September 2015
  • "Laws on Real Estate Purchase Agreements and Heritable Building Rights" – Refresher course on real estate economics (24th study program Berlin), Berlin, 11 April 2015
  • "Ways out of Procurement Law and Simplification of Procedure", Berlin, 3 June 2015, Leipzig, 11 June 2015
  • "Structuring and Conducting Negotiated Procedures with Legal Certainty", Leipzig, 5 June 2014, Berlin, 19 June 2014
  • "The New EU Award Directives: Substance and Current Discussion", Berlin, 6 June 2013, Leipzig, 13 June 2013
  • "Bidding Strategies for Successful Tendering for Public Contracts", Berlin, 7 June 2012, Leipzig, 14 June 2012
  • "Termination and Cancelation of Award Procedures", Leipzig, 31 May 2011, Berlin, 9 June 2011
  • "Information, Communication and Documentation in the Award Procedure", Berlin, 2 June 2010, Leipzig, 9 June 2010
  • "Dealing with Objections", Leipzig, 10 June 2009, Berlin, 18 June 2009
  • "The New Procurement Law in Germany and in the European Union – Chances and Need for Action" for the "Economy, Management and Law" workshop of the Berliner Wirtschaftsgespräche e.V., 27 March 2007
  • "Procurement – a flexible approach", conference "Wirtschaft im Fluss", Berlin, July 2004
  • "Planned award of contracts for services according to the so-called A-Model", European symposium on procurement law, Vienna, November 2003
  • Various in-house seminars on public law topics since 2002
  • "The Appraisal Process in Procurement Procedures", seminars in a number of German cities in 2002
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Education

  • 2002: Qualified as a certified lawyer for administrative law
  • 1998: Admitted as a lawyer
  • PhD on constitutional law topic
  • 1995 - 1996: Research assistant at Freie Universität Berlin
  • Law studies at Freie Universität Berlin and trainee lawyer at Higher Regional Court Berlin
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Feed

09/01/2023
CMS advises S IMMO on the sale of a business park in the Munich area
Berlin – Ikaruspark GmbH, part of the Austrian S IMMO Group, has sold the Ikaruspark business park in Puchheim near Munich in an asset deal. The buyer is IntReal International Real Estate Kapit­al­ver­wal­tungs­gesell­schaft...
30/12/2022
CMS advises Berlinovo on the acquisition of a medical center in Berlin...
Berlin – Berlinovo Immobilien Gesellschaft mbH has completed its acquisition of all the shares in Hauptstadt Ruschestraße 103 GmbH. Hauptstadt Ruschestraße 103 GmbH is the owner and operator of a...
26/08/2022
Public procurement regulation in Germany
October 2018 The procurement directives 2014/23/EU, 2014/24/EU, and 2014/25/EU were transposed into German law on 18 April 2016. 1. Where can one find public procurement notifications for Germany? Besides...
01/02/2022
Your notaries at CMS Germany
Your notaries Many legal transactions involving corporate law and real property law require certification by a German notary. The purpose of notarisation is to ensure that these par­tic­u­larly im­port­ant...
29/07/2021
All entities required to register – TraFinG enters into force on 1 August...
The Transparency Register and Financial Information Act (TraFinG) entered into force on 1 August 2021. Its aim is to make further progress on combating money laundering and terrorist financing and, in addition to delivering greater transparency into legal entities and their beneficial owners, to create the basis for linking all the relevant registers throughout Europe. In particular, the TraFinG does away with the notional notifications that previously applied to listed companies and all legal entities for which information on the (notional) beneficial owners could be obtained from the commercial register, partnership register, cooperative society register, register of associations or company register. Specifically, this means that in future all these corporate bodies will also have to report their beneficial owners separately to the transparency register, even if the beneficial owners are already evident from the commercial register or other re­gisters. Spe­cial regulations only apply to registered associations (eingetragene Vereine). There are no changes with regard to foundations (Stiftungen), for which no notional registration has been possible anyway. When the Act to Modernise Partnership Law (MoPeG) comes into effect on 1 January 2024, companies under civil law (GbR) will likewise be subject to the requirement to be registered in the transparency register, if they choose to be entered in the company register. In addition, the cases in which foreign purchasers of German real estate must report information on their beneficial owners to the German transparency register have been considerably extended. Transition periods Transition periods that depend on the specific legal form apply to associations which still benefit from notional notification under section 20 (2) of the GwG on 31 July 2021. Registration in these cases must be submitted to the transparency register forAG, SE and KGaA by 31 March 2022,GmbH, eG, SCE, PartG by 30 June 2022,All other associations subject to transparency requirements (including OHG and KG) by 31 December 2022. In these cases, failure to register will also not be considered an administrative offence for one year after expiry of the applicable transition period. Companies that previously wrongly assumed notional notification in accordance with section 20 (2) of the GwG, or did not register their beneficial owners for other reasons, do not benefit from the transitional arrangements and are required to register as usual without delay. Transactions involving real estate located in Germany Foreign as­so­ci­ations/trusts that have not already submitted information on their beneficial owners to another register operated by an EU Member State will in future be obliged to report this information to the German transparency register if they acquire a property located in Germany, in the following cases:Ac­quis­i­tion by way of an asset deal,Acquisition by way of a share deal within the scope of section 1 (3) of the GrEStG, i.e. at least 90% of the shares in a company that owns a German property are merged by the foreign association or are transferred to it,Legal transaction within the meaning of section 1 (3) a of the GrEStG, i.e. the legal transaction results in the foreign association holding an ownership interest of at least 90% in a company that owns a German property. In this context, it should be noted that notaries are prohibited from notarising transactions of this type if the foreign association has not complied with its notification obligation (section 10 (9) sentence 4 of the GwG). There are no transition periods in this respect. Action needed Action is required for all new entities established or registered from 1 August 2021 onward. The information on beneficial owners must be reported to the transparency register without delay; the transition periods do not apply to newly established entities. In general, the amendment to the law provides an opportunity to submit missing reports; registrations that have already been submitted should be reviewed for accuracy and to see whether further information is required (e.g. additional nationalities). If notional notification still applies on 31 July 2021, the transition period should be used to prepare for registration in the transparency register. Registered as­so­ci­ations (ein­getra­gene Vereine) should review the automatic entries in the transparency register with regard to their accuracy. In addition, associations subject to transparency requirements must in future check and, if necessary, update their registration in the transparency register if there are any changes involving their (notional) beneficial owners (for example, change of shareholders or man­age­ment). Lastly, in the case of transactions with foreign purchasers, it is important to check in good time whether this involves a property located in Germany, with the result that the relevant information would need to be registered in the transparency register. Given that notaries are prohibited from notarising transactions if the relevant information is not registered, this point should also be clarified with the notary in advance. We would be happy to assist you in identifying beneficial owners and registering the relevant information with the transparency register. Please feel free to get in touch at any time.
30/01/2020
Brandenburg advised by CMS on sale of land to Tesla for gigafactory
Berlin – Following intensive negotiations between the Federal State of Brandenburg and Tesla, the purchase agreement for the around 300-hectare site in Grünheide, near Berlin, was notarised on 27 January...
18/11/2019
CMS Public Procurement Toolbox of Remedies
Public procurement is the largest single global marketplace, accounting for around one-fifth of worldwide GDP. In this increasingly international marketplace, companies need to have confidence that public...
30/08/2018
US entertainment group Advance Publications advised by international CMS...
Berlin – US entertainment group Advance Publications, Inc. (Advance) has acquired 100% of the shares in musical group Stage Entertainment from private equity investor CVC Capital Partners (CVC) and...
13/03/2018
CMS advises Deutsche Asset One on acquisition of development comprising...
Berlin – Berlin-based Deutsche Asset One GmbH, an asset and investment management service provider for residential property, has acquired a development comprising around 190 apartments, including underground...
15/03/2017
CMS MIPIM Lunch 2017
Each year, MIPIM brings an opportunity for engaging discussions on industry issues, trends and the challenges for investors, developers and fund and asset managers. We are looking forward to seeing you...
06/03/2017
CMS advises Semper Constantia on acquisition of 4-star hotel and health...
Berlin – Semper Constantia Immo Invest GmbH has acquired the four-star Mercure Hotel Leipzig, which has 174 rooms and nine meeting rooms, and the Medicum health centre in Leipzig from Art-Invest Real...
19/01/2017
CMS advises investment fund LFPI on sale and leaseback of ten hotels
Berlin – French investment fund LFPI Hotels FPCI has sold ten hotels in German cities to the Swiss Life Group and a French co-investor as part of a cross-border share deal and leased them back on a...