Noerr increases turnover in Germany to €318m through advising on group transformations and corporate crises

Noerr is continuing to grow and in 2023 increased its turnover in Germany by 6.4 per cent to €317.8 million (2022: €298.6 million). The law firm as a whole achieved a turnover of €333.1 million (+5.7 per cent), of which €15.3 million was attributable to the offices located in Central and Eastern Europe (previous year: €16.6 million).

“Germany’s economy continues to experience a significant transformation across all sectors, primarily fuelled by digitalisation, diversification, decarbonisation and disruptive innovation. Corporate groups, investors and lenders require a great deal of legal advice in this regard,” said co-managing partner Torsten Fett while adding: “As a result, corporate matters concerning group reorganisations and M&A matters concerning investments, group demergers and carve-outs contributed significantly to our growth. We were able to leverage our traditional strengths in both corporate and regulatory transactions in sectors such as energy and telecommunications as well as in projects involving digitalisation, artificial intelligence and ESG.” In addition, Noerr’s involvement in crisis consulting in connection with restructuring and insolvencies also notably boosted its growth.

Noerr also expects to substantially expand its business and generate corresponding growth figures in the current year.

In the realm of Corporate/M&A, Noerr advised, among others, IBM on acquiring business units from Software AG for €2.1 billion, Nippon Steel on the European aspects of the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel and the Schwarz Group on investing in the German AI startup Aleph Alpha. Fresenius Medical Care sought Noerr’s advice on changing its legal form to that of a German public limited company (AG) and deconsolidating from Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA.

In connection with the energy transformation, Noerr is advising the battery manufacturer Northvolt on constructing a German gigafactory for electric vehicle battery cells and the British infrastructure fund Foresight on another major project that is aimed at producing green hydrogen in Germany and worth billions.

Noerr’s expertise in restructuring was once again highly sought after as well. The most notable matters included advising the guarantors in the far-reaching restructuring of the STEAG energy group and its subsequent sale to the Spanish financial investor Asterion Industrial Partners. The firm advised the US investor MGG Investment Group on the complete takeover of Spark Networks SE in a procedure under the new German Act on the Stabilisation and Restructuring Framework for Businesses (Gesetz über den Stabilisierungs- und Restrukturierungsrahmen für Unternehmen, StaRUG). As far as is known, this is the first procedure under the new restructuring legislation that has been recognised in the United States under Chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Noerr once again reaffirmed its status as one of the premier independent law firms in Europe in the litigation sector. Noerr successfully represented the Federal Republic of Germany in proceedings before the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) on the admissibility of international investment arbitration proceedings and also defended the lorry manufacturer Scania in proceedings before the European Court of Justice which considered the question of whether vehicle manufacturers also have to make vehicle data available to third parties via a database interface.

The demand for expertise in foreign trade law remains high, particularly for matters related to Russia. Noerr has advised numerous Western corporate groups, including DAX companies, on exiting the Russian market and is currently defending Western companies against claims by former Russian business partners before Russian courts and international arbitration tribunals.

At the end of 2023, Noerr employed 522 lawyers, tax advisors, auditors and paralegals in Germany (previous year: 521) and 616 worldwide (previous year: 620).

Noerr has succeeded in increasing the proportion of women among its advisors over the last two years through a variety of activities, particularly in recruitment and as part of its “Her Initiative”. Female lawyers now make up a good 35 per cent of all lawyers and the figure among younger lawyers (associates) is 44 per cent.

To further enhance the support for and career prospects of female advisors, the firm has expanded its “Her Initiative” to include a further component specifically designed for female associated partners and senior associates called the “Her Success” mentoring scheme. Noerr has also recently introduced an alternative career path, the “Family Track”, which makes it easier to combine a career and a family. The “Family Track” policy allows lawyers to continue to receive 50% of their salary during a six-month parental leave period. Following this, they will gradually return to work, initially on a subsidised part-time basis for up to six months, free from fee-earning pressure and with unlimited opportunities to work from home.

In total, the law firm employed 1,028 people in Germany (previous year: 1,033) and 1,180 worldwide (previous year: 1,193) at the end of 2023.