Partner

Dr. Sebastian Orthmann, EMBA (M&A)

Rechtsanwalt | Co-Head of the Real Estate Group

Languages

German
English
Spanish

Social media

Sebastian Orthmann provides advice to national and international investors and project developers on the acquisition and sale of companies as well as real estate and real estate portfolios (domestic and cross-border), both in the form of asset deals and share deals. He also focuses on advising on joint ventures, corporate structuring measures, project developments, commercial lease law and financing.

His clients include institutional investors, banks, asset managers, family companies and public authorities as well as corporates from the automation, chemical, cosmetic, electrotechnical, logistics, retail, IT and manufacturing sectors.

Sebastian joined CMS in 2004 and has been a partner since 2011. He has a postgraduate diploma in Real Estate Economics (ADI) and long-standing experiencing lecturing at IRE|BS.

Awards & Recognitions

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Listed for Real Estate

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2025 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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Listed for Corporate

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2025 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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Listed for Mergers and Acquisitions

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2025 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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Listed as notable practitioner

Chambers Germany, 2025
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„Oft empfohlen“ für Immobilien- und Baurecht

JUVE Handbuch, 2024/2025
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„erstklassige Beratung u. sichere lösungsorientierte Verhandlungsführung“, Mandant

JUVE Handbuch, 2024/2025
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Listed for Real Estate

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2024 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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Listed as notable practitioner

Chambers Europe, 2024
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‘Sebastian Orthmann has impressive knowledge. He is very fast and always responds promptly.‘, client

Chambers Europe, 2024
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‘He is very professional, provides clear recommendations and possesses strong negotiation skills.‘, client

Chambers Europe, 2024
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„sehr guter, erfahrener Transaktionsanwalt“, Mandant

JUVE Handbuch, 2023/2024
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„Oft empfohlen“ für Immobilien- und Baurecht

JUVE Handbuch, 2023/2024
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Listed as notable practitioner

Chambers Europe, 2023
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Listed as leading individual

Chambers Europe, 2023
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Listed for Real Estate

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2023 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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Listed for Corporate

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2023 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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Listed for Mergers and Acquisitions

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2023 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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"Sebastian Orthmann comes 'warmly recommended' by a client who notes that he 'supported us extremely well'."

Chambers Europe, 2021
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Listed as notable practitioner

Chambers Europe, 2021
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"excellent support in examining complex real estate issues, solution-oriented", client

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2021 (GCLF)
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"very competent", client

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2019 (GCLF)
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"Hamburg-based Sebastian Orthmann, who is singled out for his ‘in-depth knowledge’ and ‘thorough work’ […]."

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2018
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„Zuletzt stemmten auch die Energie- u. Immobilienpraxen (Dr. Sebastian Orthmann) große Transaktionen […].“.

JUVE Handbuch, 2017/2018
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"Clients speak highly of Sebastian Orthmann due to his ability to "concentrate on the main topics and give good feedback on minor points that can be skipped," adding: "He knows how to make the process efficient."

Chambers Europe, 2018
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"Sebastian Orthmann has a strong focus on transactions involving shopping centres. He regularly advises on both share and asset deals. "

Chambers Europe, 2017
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"Sebastian Orthmann focuses on real estate M&A deals, and is especially visible in the retail sector."

Chambers Europe, 2016
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"Up-and-coming Sebastian Orthmann focuses on transactions in the real estate sector, in particular to do with acquisitions of retail and residential properties."

Chambers Europe, 2015
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"Sebastian Orthmann handles corporate law issues and transactions for real estate investors. His clients say: ‘He looks for a solution that is useful rather than just theoretical.’"

Chambers Europe, 2014
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"deal-oriented and yet precise", competitor

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2014 (GCLF)
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"Recommended" for Real Estate

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2022 (GCLF)
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"Sebastian Orthmann delegates to members of his team as far as they are able to fulfill the corresponding task. This is in the interest of everyone involved. At the same time, he remains informed about the matter and can be contacted directly. That’s how it should be.", client

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2022
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"Sebastian Orthmann’s CMS team is extremely conscientious, but at the same time accessible to practical solutions. The consultancy is obviously driven by performance in terms of content and not by maximizing profits.", client

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2022
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„Oft empfohlen“ für Immobilien- und Baurecht

JUVE Handbuch, 2022/2023
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"he has a very good overview on the whole transaction process and it is easy to work with him.", client

Chambers Europe, 2022
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Listed as Leading Individual

Chambers Europe, 2022
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Notable practitioners

Chambers Europe, 2022

Relevant experience

ECE | On acquisition and sale of various shopping centres in Germany and other European countries (asset and share deal).
GRR | On acquisition of 42 discounters, specialist retailers and shopping centres in Germany.
Hermann Friedrich Bruhn | Long-standing comprehensive advice on the acquisition and sale of various properties in all asset classes, including project development and maintenance of Marktplatzgalerie Bramfeld, project development and sale of the Welcome hotel in Frankfurt and regeneration of Hamburger Meile in a joint venture with ECE and subsequent sale to Real I.S.
IVG Immobilien | On sale of TRIUVA shares in PATRIZIA.
Gator | On sale of three office properties and one residential property in Hamburg in a structured bidding process (asset and share deal with leaseback).
Panattoni | On acquisition and development as well as sale of various logistics properties.
Phoenix Contact | On acquisition of various companies.
Ramboll | On acquisition of various companies and structuring of German group companies.
Unilever | Change of location: termination of Unilever-Haus lease agreement and new lease in Hamburg.
Union Investment | Advice in takeover of investment companies of Austrian Volksbanken.
Union Investment Real Estate | On acquisition of three shopping centres in Germany and Italy (asset deal and share deal) in a structured bidding process.
Universal-Investment | On acquisition (share deal) of a high street portfolio consisting of 90 objects from German and Luxembourgish companies.
Warburg-HIH | On acquisition of various office and retail properties.

Publications

Haftung und Insolvenz im GmbH-Recht, Kapitel B.IV. zum Kapitalersatz gemeinsam mit Dr. Nancy Gruschinske, Hrsg. Holzborn/v. Vietinghoff, München 2013, S. 82ff
Leitfaden für die Bestellung von Sicherheiten im Rahmen von Bankdarlehen gemeinsam mit Philipp Weber, BB 2012, S. 1039ff
Forum Mergers & Acquisitions 2011, Nachvertragliche Wettbewerbsverbote im Unternehmenskaufvertrag zu Lasten eines Gesellschafter-Geschäftsführers gemeinsam mit Dr. Till Soyka, Hrsg. Wollersheim/Barthel, Wiesbaden 2011, S. 95ff
Bewertung von Bestandsimmobilien durch Immobilieninvestoren nach HGB und IFRS im Lichte der Finanzkrise, Bewertung von Bestandsimmobilien durch Immobilieninvestoren nach HGB und IFRS im Lichte der Finanzkrise, Hrsg. Birk/Bruse/Saenger 2010, p. 131 ff
Fair-Value-Ermittlung bescherte bisher Gewinne, Immobilienzeitung vom 1. Oktober 2009, p. 39
Sri Lanka (k)ein Steuerparadies für ausländische Investoren?, RIW 2004, p. 682 ff
Betriebliche Altersversorgung im Jahresabschluss nach HGB,US-GAAP und IAS, Tenea Verlag 2003
Buchbesprechung zum "Praktiker-Handbuch zur Umsetzung der betrieblichen Altersversorgung" von Dr. Axel Schack, Karsten Tacke, Dr. Jens T. Thau, Betriebs-Berater 2003, p. 43

Lectures list

Panelist bei PropertyEU am 12.11.2020 zum Thema: Resetting Real Estate: Covid-19 and the rise of ESG and social purpose
Feldhoff Real Estate Forum Hamburg 2020 am 24.09.2020, Interview zum Thema "Quartiersmanagement der Zukunft: Vom Marketing zum Community Building"
Chair zum Thema Build To Rent Resi – Cradle to grave, goldmine or mid market pocket? bei der GRI in Paris (September 2019)
Feldhoff Real Estate Forum Hamburg 2019 am 18.06.2019, Podiumsdiskussion zum Thema "Commercial Real Estate"
Moderator zur Veranstaltung Künstliche Intelligenz, smart Date und Digitalisierung in der Immobilienwirtschaft 2019 (Mai 2019)
Conferencier der Veranstaltung PropTech – Die Zukunft der Immobilienbranche ist digital in Berlin (März 2019)
Vortrag Rechtliche Trends auf dem europäischen Immobilien-Investmentmarkt 2018 (CMS European Real Estate Deal Point Study 2018) (November 2018)
Moderator eines Panels zu ICOs bei der Future PropTech in Berlin (September 2018)
Feldhoff Real Estate Forum Hamburg 2018, Podiumsdiskussion zum Thema "Der Projektentwicklungsmarkt Hamburg"
Feldhoff Real Estate Forums Hamburg 2017 am 11.07.2017, Podiumsdiskussion zum Thema "Der Hamburger Investmentmarkt"
Conferencier der Veranstaltung PropTech in Berlin (November 2016)
Moderator des Real Estate Forums 2016 in Hamburg (Juli 2016)
Moderator des Seminars Akzeptanz schaffen - Bürgerbeteiligung bei Bauprojekten (Juni 2016)
Moderator der CMS Real-Estate-Investorenkonferenz in Frankfurt (März 2016)
LawUpdate für Investmentberater: Trends in der Vertragspraxis bei Immobilientransaktionen (Februar 2016)
Vorstellung der CMS European M&A Study 2015 - Neueste Ergebnisse (April 2015)
Moderator der CMS Real-Estate-Investorenkonferenz in Frankfurt (Februar 2015)
Vorstellung der CMS European M&A Study 2014 - Neueste Ergebnisse (April 2014)
Marktentwicklungen im Immobilientransaktionsmarkt in Deutschland, Kopenhagen, November 2012
Vorstellung der CMS Real Estate Deal Point Study 2011, Gestärkter Immobilienmarkt - aktuelle Entwicklungen, November 2011
Strukturierung von Joint Ventures und deren Fallstricke, Regionaltreffen der RICS und ADI Alumni, Mai 2011
Vorstellung der CMS Real Estate Deal Point Study 2010, Oktober 2010
Asset Deal oder Share Deal bei Immobilientransaktionen, Regionaltreffen der ADI Alumni, Juni 2010
Geheimhaltungsvereinbarungen: Zahnlose Tiger? Fallstricke und effektive Rechtsverfolgung, Mandantenseminar, November 2009

Education

Diploma in Real Estate Economies (ADI)
Executive MBA Mergers & Acquisitions (EMBA)
Trainee lawyer in Mainz, including placements at a major law firm in Frankfurt and a commercial law firm in Colombo (Sri Lanka)
PhD; thesis on accounting law
Law studies in Mannheim, Alicante and Mainz

Practice Areas

Real Estate & Public Real estate transactions and financing Legal asset management Mergers & Acquisitions Climate Change, EEG and the Environment Corporate / M&A

Insights

Global Reach

Karriere