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In a world filled with new challenges, Germany faces the task of remaining competitive in an in-ternational comparison. An attractive capital market is a key factor for facilitating investment in innovative developments and technological progress. Access to the capital market is therefore being simplified, particularly for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, companies will benefit from new tax regulations governing employee participation schemes in the competition for international skilled labour. Last Friday, the Bundestag passed the draft bill on the "Financing of Investments to Secure the Future" (so-called Financing for the Future Act [Zukunftsfinanzierungsgesetz, ZuFinG]). Alexandra Groth, Hanjo Prondzinski and Robert Fischer-Sonnberg explain the innovations and opportunities arising from the Financing for the Future Act:

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Oppenhoff has taken first place in the iurratio Awards 2024 as "Best Employer for Career Entry in the Area of Health & Work-Life Balance".

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Oppenhoff has advised RE.LION.BAT. Circular GmbH, a joint venture between the DEPPE Group and Fahrzeug-Werke LUEG AG, on the construction of the largest European battery recycling plant in Meppen, Emsland.

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Oppenhoff has advised portfolio companies of the Munich-based private equity firm Family Trust Investor on two buy & build acquisitions.

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Oppenhoff has advised ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG on the acquisition of Go-Ahead Verkehrsgesellschaft Deutschland GmbH and all of its German subsidiaries from the British Go-Ahead Group.

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Oppenhoff has advised John Cloppenburg, a co-partner of Peek & Cloppenburg KG, Düsseldorf, on its insolvency in self-administration. P&C had been in self-administration since 1 June 2023.

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Find out more about our IT law & data protection practice group - now regularly summarised for you at a glance! Enjoy reading!

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Oppenhoff advised US based StatLab Medical Products group on the acquisition of all shares in Waldemar Knittel Glasbearbeitungs GmbH. With this acquisition, StatLab is continuing its global expansion strategy to support the goal of providing the most stable supply chain of high-quality products for laboratories around the world.

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Oppenhoff has advised listed Hawesko Group on the acquisition of a 50% stake in the Baltic Dunker Group. Hawesko is thus intensifying its international business activities by entering the Baltic market.

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Impressive innovations are anticipated in the metaverse and are thus causing an extraordinary stir in a multitude of areas of life. In the meantime, hardly any other field of law has to deal with various realities of life as comprehensively and in depth as tax law. It is only logical that this gives rise to diverse challenges for companies that are present in the metaverse.

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We last provided an overview of the current status of the diesel scandal back in September 2021 and showed that the legal process is still ongoing even years after public disclosure of the allegations. Several things have happened since then, but the "Dieselgate" chapter is still far from closed. The courts have recently issued landmark decisions on both consumer law issues and capital market law claims.

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Professional e-sports players are usually employees - but what protection do they have? Do forms of ordinary and extraordinary dismissals also exist in e-sports? What rules apply here? In our fourth and last article in our series on gaming and e-sports, Dr. Alexander Willemsen takes a look at the peculiarities of dismissals in the e-sports sector.

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From 1 October 2023, importers of CO2-intensive goods will be required to submit a quarterly report to the European Commission on the CO2 emissions caused by the production of the imported goods. Companies will have to submit their first report by 31 January 2024 at the latest.

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Oppenhoff has comprehensively advised the building technology installations specialist Christ & Wirth Haustechnik GmbH on the acquisition of Möller Klima-Kälte GmbH. It is the first add-on for Christ & Wirth Haustechnik.

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In order to optimise players' performance and game behaviour, it is already common practice in physical sports to process performance data generated during training. This phenomenon is also evident in the field of e-sports, where it is particularly easy to collect and process extensive per-formance data as the performance is rendered digitally. We explain below whether the processing of this performance data is legally permissible and why there are different permissions for differ-ent types of processed data.

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In view of the constantly growing variety of games and tournaments in e-sports, the number of new e-sports players is also increasing rapidly. Each e-sports player has their own specific idea of what position they would like to take in the world of e-sports. These ideas can be realised in the best possible way with the right choice of legal form. With this in mind, we are providing a guide to distinguishing between unsuitable and more useful legal forms, which is tailored to the individual goals and needs of e-sports.

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As already announced, our series of articles on e-sports and gaming starts this week. In this connection, we will be answering legal questions from the areas of competition, corporate, data protection and labour law. Dr. Patric Mau is kicking off the event. He will explain the legal situation and the claims under trademark law arising from trading in payment methods. If a distortion of competition is to be prevented and fair competition guaranteed, the question arises as to whether game developers are entitled to claim the abatement of and injunctive relief against the sale of soft currencies via third-party trading platforms.

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In our third issue, we are once again giving you an insight into the most recent important legislative developments as well as further important rulings of the labour courts. We report on the ECJ’s decisions on the topics #mass dismissals, the #Bureaucracy Relief Act passed in August and its relevance to labour law, as well as the new Further Education Act.

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Oppenhoff has once again advised the EIC Fund extensively on its investments in Germany. This time, the EIC Fund has invested in the tech start-up STABL Energy GmbH. The investment was made as an equity investment as part of a Series A financing round under the "Horizon Europe Programme".

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Oppenhoff has advised Michael Weinig AG on forming a strategic alliance with Italian Essetre s.r.l. The transaction included the acquisition of 50 % of Essetre's shares by Weinig and a comprehensive sales and services cooperation between the two companies.

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In our previous articles on digital compliance, we explained the functionality and various uses of software-based compliance tools. Since the use of these tools also involves the processing of extensive personal data of a company’s own employees and customers, it is imperative that the use of such tools complies with data protection requirements.

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On 18 April 2023, the German Federal Ministry of Justice [Bundesministerium der Justiz, BMJ] published the key issues paper on the modernisation of German arbitration law. The planned reform aims to adapt arbitration law to current needs and thereby strengthen the attractiveness of Germany as an arbitration location. To implement this goal, the BMJ proposes twelve concrete reform projects.

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Oppenhoff has advised the US company DISA Global Solutions, a leading provider of services in the employee-screening and compliance sectors, on the acquisition of all shares in SIGNUM Consulting. With this first international acquisition, DISA Global Solutions is pursuing its international growth strategy. DISA now offers background checks in 145 countries.

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Oppenhoff has advised the world’s largest cable manufacturer Prysmian S.p.A. on its new EUR one billion revolving credit facility . The facility is being made available by an international banking consortium including the seven bookrunners Banco BPM, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Crédit Agricole CIB, ING, Intesa Sanpaolo and Mediobanca. ING acted as documentation agent, Intesa Sanpaolo as ESG advisor and Mediobanca as facility agent.

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Trademarks, copyrights, patents, know-how - "IP rights" of all kinds are important economic assets. If they are not only to be used by the company itself, but also to be exploited profita-bly by third parties, legal protection through a corresponding licence agreement is virtually indispensable.

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