German independent Noerr has posted a record turnover of €190.8m for 2013. The Munich-headquartered firm’s revenue grew by 12.3% from €170m in 2012, although turnover in its Central and Eastern European offices fell by around 3% to €26.3m, the firm said today (26 March).
Noerr, which won international law firm of the year at The Legal Business Awards 2014, saw its global headcount rise slightly by 1.2% to 488 from 482, growing 4.1% in Germany to a total of 376 heads, up from 361 in 2012.
The results follow the firm’s recent launch into Brussels earlier this month (13 March) to focus on advising on antitrust and state aid law, distribution law and the regulated industries. Dominik Wendel relocated from the firm’s Frankfurt office to head the new base.
The firm said its cross-border work along with the development of key strategic business, particularly corporate/M&A, litigation, media IP & IT, were the main drivers for its growth. Regulated industries such as banks, energy, insurance and telecommunication companies, were also robust areas.
Some recent examples of key deals include advising Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on the €8.7bn merger of its thermal power stations divisions with Hitachi; acting for Deutsche Telekom on the takeover of the eastern European broadband provider GTS; representing ABN Amro on the acquisition of the German private banking business of Credit Suisse; and acting for Deutsche Annington in the takeover of a total of 41,000 residential units of the Vitus group worth €1.4bn and DeWAG worth €970m.
Noerr corporate partner Tobias Bürgers says: ‘In recent years, we invested particularly strongly in our strategic business areas. The great demand of clients confirms our strategy. Cross-border business, in particular, continues to expand.’
Jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk
For more on the German market see How the dust settles – Germany’s profession is forever changed but singular still
