News-Archive

Are SPAC transactions conquering the German market? And how does the brand new restructuring law StaRUG affect M&A practice? There have also been important changes in the area of merger control: In the future, fewer transactions will have to be notified to the German Federal Cartel Office. We also report on a high-quality discussion on distressed M&A at the German Corporate M&A Congress and on new rulings by the Federal Court of Justice on the redemption of GmbH shares and on squeeze-outs.

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In 2019, Germany and France undertook in the "Treaty of Aachen" to improve their cooperation in the field of research and digital transformation, including artificial intelligence (AI) and breakthrough innovations. On this basis, a joint call for the funding of innovative AI projects was launched on 3 February 2021, coordinated by the French Bpifrance (Banque Publique d'Investissement) and the DLR project management organisation. "France and Germany want to be a driving force for artificial intelligence in Europe," affirmed German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier in this connection. The total funding budget is EUR 10 million in Germany and EUR 10 million in France.

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The new German electronic Competition Register: long planned and now ready for use. Before the Competition Register can finally go live, however, there are still final steps to be taken. Nevertheless, we are venturing a glimpse into the future and summarise the most important changes.

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The approval of several rapid antigen tests as well as the expected future approval of further rapid test methods provide new opportunities in the working world, but also raise some questions. By way of a government-supported appeal, the leading associations of German industry have called on companies to offer their employees weekly self-tests or rapid tests. An obligation to do so, however, currently still does not exist.

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About a year ago, the European Commission published its factsheet for a new industrial strategy for a globally competitive, environmentally friendly and digital Europe. At that time, the corona pandemic had already demonstrated that new industrial value chains are essential if Europe is to remain strategically independent and competitive.

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It was to be expected that, due to the increased use of home offices during the pandemic, the courts would also increasingly have to deal with this form of work. Not only are issues arising directly from the use of the home office, such as employees’ reimbursement claims or employers’ recall options, the home office is also increasingly finding its way into legal assessments of unfair dismissal actions, as a decision of the Labour Court [Arbeitsgericht, ArbG] of Berlin shows. However, in our first "Labour Law Focus" of 2021 we also present other interesting decisions, such as those of the Federal Labour Court [Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG] on "blank" dismissals or of the Regional Labour Court [Landesarbeitsgericht, LAG] of Düsseldorf on the reduction of holiday entitlement during short-time work. Of course, we also inform you as ever of important legal developments.

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Oppenhoff has advised Dietmar Axt, the former CEO and shareholder of Mustang, on his withdrawal from the Baden-Württemberg textile company.

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The effects of the corona pandemic are also being felt on the recruitment mar-ket. Although it appears easy to obtain personnel at first glance, unexpected hurdles seem to have become stumbling blocks for companies. Our partner Jörn Kuhn talks to Thomas Hartenfels, Director at Robert Walters, a leading international executive personnel consultant.

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Oppenhoff has advised the Canadian Hydro66 Group on the sale of a data centre complex in northern Sweden to Northern Data AG. As part of the sale, all shares in an English holding company of the Hydro66 Group were transferred, including its Swedish subsidiaries.

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Non-US companies must also be aware of US export control regulations and - to the extent permitted under EU law - comply with them. The US authorities have recently demonstrated again that, when it comes to prosecuting violations, they do not stop at national borders: The US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has sanctioned a medium-sized German aerospace company for alleged violations of Iran sanctions between September 2011 and July 2012 – in addition to imposing a fine, it also imposed a three-year export ban.

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