Hengeler Mueller advises on demerger and sale of Berliner Bank

23. June 2006

The Landesbank Berlin has sold its private and business client unit, known under the Berliner Bank brand, to Deutsche Bank. Within this transaction, Berliner Bank, with some 330,000 customers and a balance sheet of around 5 billion euros, will be contributed by the Landesbank Berlin to the newly established Berliner Bank AG & Co. KG, providing for the largest asset transfer in the retail banking sector in Germany. Berliner Bank AG & Co. KG will then be transferred to Deutsche Bank at the end of the year. This sale will allow the Landesbank Berlin to comply with EC Commission requirements.

Hengeler Mueller advised the Landesbank Berlin. Advice was provided by partners Ulrich Blech, John Flüh (both Corporate/M&A), Thomas Paul (Banking and Finance), Hans-Joachim Liebers (Labour), Hans-Jörg Niemeyer (Competition), Hermann Josef Tries (Tax) and Kai-Steffen Scholz (M&A) as well as associates Nicolaus Ascherfeld, Moritz Gröning and Sandro Blanke.

In 2005, Hengeler Mueller developed the structure for the Landesbank Berlin to be transformed from a public law institution into a stock corporation. The Berlin state parliament passed a new Savings Bank Act to this effect.

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