German Private Equity Forum, 24 May 2017

We are delighted that our Firm's Partners Insa Müller, Dr. Jack Schiffer and Dr. Axel von Walter were speakers at the 12th edition of the unquote" German Private Equity Forum at Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, Munich, on 24 May 2017. Our speakers joined the approximately 150 senior private equity professionals and this year's key note speaker Mark Florman, Principal at the Florman Family Trust and Chairman of Time Partners, discussing the current trends and market developments in the private equity sector in Germany and greater Europe. Below please find a summary of our speakers' contributions:

On Stage Q&A: Chinese buyers investing into Germany

As a member of our Firm's China Practice Insa together with Wolfgang Seibold, AGIC Capital and Catherine Ford, Mergermarket, discussed her investment experience on sourcing and executing deals with Chinese buyers investing into Germany. Insa shared her first-hand experience of Chinese capital restrictions in this short video and pointed out during the discussion that

besides the classic industries as automotive and mechanical engineering we see an increasing interest of Chinese investors in renewables and healthcare;
after many negative press releases about Chinese investments into German companies, which do not reflect the valuation by the staff and management, we would like to point out the positive press reports in connection with Ningbo Jifeng's participation in Grammer AG;
the Aixtron acquisition failed due to the intervention of the US authorities, we currently do not see that German legislation will restrict the opportunities for foreign investors in Germany.

Presentation: Digitalisation - How do you become Digital leaders?

As a member of the practice group IP/IT/Media Axel analysed the following points with Olof Hernell, EQT:

How to do you create value through enhancing your digitalisation?
Why is it so difficult for organisations to evolve into the digital era – what strategies are the most effective?
How will the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), coming into effect in May 2018, impact companies and portfolios?
What can companies do to navigate through the highly protected legal environment?
Analysis and outlook of the recent trend in internet companies bought and sold for mega high prices

Panel: Insurance solutions for dealing with risks

As a member of the Corporate / M&A practice group, Jack joined Robert Engels (Aon Risk Resolutions), Niki Demirbilek (DUAL Specialty M&A), Matthias Wilcken (Gilde Buyout Partners), Marius Schmitt (Ufenau Capital Partners AG) and Catherine Ford (Mergermarket) discussing the following:

Current innovations in the German insurance market - how does this differ to the rest of Europe
Tax, cyber and environmental risk considerations
The rise of Chinese and US bidders looking into European and German targets
What time length for deals are underwriters currently working to with the increased competition?
Packaged insurance deals – why has this become a growing trend in Germany and what deals are these used for?
The future of insurance for German deal processes

From Jack´s point of view W&I insurance is a helpful tool to "bridge the gap" between a seller who - for various reasons - is reluctant to stand behind his warranties and indemnities and a purchaser who wants to be adequately compensated if such warranties are breached or indemnities become relevant. Jack pointed out that W&I insurance is used in the majority of cases where private equity investors are on the sell side and, quite recently, also in major real estate transactions. He confirmed that his firm´s experience in introducing such insurances in transactions had been very positive.