Gerhard Schmidt is the managing partner of the German offices and one of the leading private equity and M&A lawyers in Germany. He is one of the few German lawyers to combine competencies in corporate and tax law. He has worked on numerous landmark cross-border transactions in recent years, including advising:
- TDF Group, a portfolio company of TPG Capital and Axa Private Equity, on the acquisition of T-Systems Media & Broadcast GmbH from Deutsche Telekom AG
- German Media Partners (investment company of Saban Capital Group and its partner private equity investors Providence Equity, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners, Hellman & Friedman and others) on the sale of its shares in ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG to KKR/Permira and previously on a €1.25 billion sponsor recapitalization
- Institutional investors advised by J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC on the acquisition of a 26.6% share in HSH Nordbank AG, marking the first time that a foreign investor holds a stake in one of Germany's state-owned "Landesbanken"
- Texas Pacific Group and TPG-Axon Capital on the acquisition of a 27.3% share in mobilcom AG from France Télécom and subsequent exit through sale to private investment firm Vatas
- Cerberus on the acquisition of automotive supplier Peguform out of insolvency
Mr. Schmidt is a graduate of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (law degree 1982, Dr. jur. 1984) and also attended the Universities of Lausanne and Strasbourg. He completed his business administration studies at INSEAD in France (MBA 1984) and was admitted to practice in Germany in 1986. In addition, Mr. Schmidt became licensed as a tax advisor in 1988.