Mirko von Bieberstein’s practice focuses on domestic and cross-border M&A, joint ventures and general corporate law.

He advises domestic and foreign financial and strategic investors as well as sovereign wealth funds across all sectors.

Mirko also advises on German foreign direct investment control, representing clients from a variety of sectors (including in particular defense, IT and cybersecurity) before the German authorities and provides related strategic advice.

Mirko joined the firm in 2016, became a senior attorney in 2020, and became partner in 2023. From 2010 through 2016, he worked for other international law firms in Frankfurt.

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Notable Experience

M&A

  • Mubadala co-investment in connection with the public takeover of German va-Q-tec.

  • Warburg Pincus in the FDI filings for its acquisition of a Germany-based Biotech business from Baxter.

  • DCC Healthcare on the acquisition of Medi-Globe Group from Duke Street.

  • DCC Healthcare on the acquisition of Wörner Medizinprodukte group from Chequers Capital.

  • DCC on its acquisition of TEGA - Technische Gase und Gasetechnik GmbH from Linde.

  • Mercer International on its acquisition of HIT Group from Deutsche Bank and Orchard Global Asset Management.

  • Mercer International in its acquisition of a German saw mill business and related properties from Klausner Group.

  • Hanon Systems on the acquisition of the Global Fluid Pressure & Controls business of Magna International Inc.

  • GM on the sale of its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary and GM Financial’s European Operations to PSA Group.

  • Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on its €400 million acquisition of Detlev Louis Motorrad-Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH, one of the leading European specialists for motorcycle clothing and equipment.

  • Hillhouse Capital Group on several proposed acquisitions in the healthcare sector.

  • A leading UAE sovereign wealth fund on its investment in the largest ever private equity buyout deal in Germany.

  • Latour Capital in its acquisition of Solvay‘s Barium and Strontium and Sodium Percarbonate Businesses.

  • A leading UAE sovereign wealth fund in several German venture capital investments.

  • A leading Asian sovereign wealth fund in a venture capital investment.

  • Merck KGaA in divestment of Allergopharma to Dermapharm Holding SE and on the sale of their worldwide allergy business.

  • An international defense group on its attempted acquisition of a stake in German defense company Hensoldt.

  • ArcelorMittal in its acquisition of Italian steelworks company Ilva from Marcegaglia.

  • OC Oerlikon in the €486 million sale of its vacuum business Leybold to Atlas Copco.

  • Furukawa Electric in its European Joint Venture with Essex Magnet Wire.

  • Edenred in its acquisition of a major shareholding in Union Tank Eckstein (UTA). 

  • ArcelorMittal in its acquisition of Italian steelworks company Ilva from Marcegaglia.

  • Tata Steel in its attempted disposal of one of its businesses.

  • Codelco in its sale of a 40% participation in Deutsche Giessdraht GmbH to Aurubis.

  • Casa Tarradellas in its acquisition of a 60% stake in the Herta charcuterie and dough business from Nestlé.

  • Media-Saturn-Holding GmbH in the sale of its B2B media streaming to 7 digital Group.

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Foreign Direct Investment Control

  • Thales in the FDI filing of the sale of its IoT business to Telit.

  • OpenText in the FDI filing for its acquisition of Micro Focus.

  • Broadcom in the FDI filing for its acquisition of VMware.

  • Google in the FDI filing for its acquisition of Mandiant.

  • NVHL in the FDI filing for the sale of Novasep’s Pharma Solutions and Process Solutions businesses to PharmaZell, a portfolio company of Bridgepoint.

  • Apollo in the FDI filing for its acquisition of the Ingenico Business from Worldline.

  • UTC in the FDI filing in its merger with Raytheon to form Raytheon Technologies.

  • Hanon Systems in the FDI filing for its acquisition of the Global Fluid Pressure & Controls business of Magna International Inc.

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Selected Activities

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Member of Forum Investitionsprüfung e.V., an association of German FDI lawyers

Publications

“Proposed New EU FDI Screening Regulation — 10 Things to Know,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo, March 12, 2024

“Supply Chain Due Diligence Obligations in Germany, France and the EU: An Overview,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo, March 5, 2024

   

“Overall number of German FDI screenings slightly dropped in 2023, but review follows the trends of prior years,” Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch blog, February 22, 2024

“The German FDI Review of Minority Co-Investments,” Financier Worldwide, February 2024

“EU Takes Time to Ready Outbound Investment Control Toolkit,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo, February 1, 2024

“The evaluation of the German FDI Regime – Cornerstones of potential revisions revealed,” Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch blog (republished in The Global Trade Law Journal), September 6, 2023

“German FDI Reviews of Chinese Investments in 2022 Confirm the Current Trend – Strict Scrutiny and Political Dimension in Decision Making,” Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch blog, January 9, 2023 

“Der Ablauf der Evaluierungsperiode zur deutschen außenwirtschaftsrechtlichen Investitionskontrolle – Hoffen auf mehr Klarheit und Erleichterungen für die Praxis,” Betriebs-Berater, August 26, 2022

“Germany Prohibits Acquisition of Heyer Medical by Chinese Investor,” Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch blog, April 2022

“Germany Takes Over Control of German Gazprom Subsidiary by Using Unprecedented Measures Under Germany’s FDI Regime,” Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch blog, April 2022

“Developments in U.S. Sanctions and Foreign Investment Regulatory Regimes,” Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2021, January 2021, co-author with Paul Marquardt, Chase D. Kaniecki, Aurèle Delors, John Messent, Samuel H. Chang and Hani Isam Bashour

“Changes to the German Foreign Direct Investment Control Regime Take Shape Amid the COVID-19 Crisis,” Cleary Gottlieb Alert Memo, June 2020, co-author with Michael J. Ulmer

“Upcoming Changes to the German Foreign Direct Investment Control Regime,” Cleary Foreign Investment and International Trade Watch blog, March 2020 

“Secondary Buyouts Dominate PE Exits,” Financier Worldwide, September 2017, co-author with Michael J. Ulmer