IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

Salans is ranked primarily for its strength representing Russian clients for European commission merger notifications and in cartel investigations. In 2011, the firm added a high profile member to its team when it hired David O'Keeffe as senior counsel from Squire Sanders Hammonds. O'Keeffe is a well-known professor and state aid and public procurement expert.

The team, led by Brussels-based Edward Borovikov, is according to one client "very [thorough] and with the deepest level of knowledge. They now what problems they would have in advance and take the time to research before making suggestions."

In significant matters, the firm was advising Russian clients, and some non-Russian clients, on anti-monopoly, state aid, merger control, market sharing and dumping matters. The clients by and large come from a heavy industry background, technology and cosmetics.

The firm's competition practice is spread through offices in Paris, London, Berlin Madrid and Warsaw, among other European jurisdictions. One of its strengths is handling EU competition rules in terms of trade regulations.

A hire from Beiten Burkhardt, Bernhad Gemmel, expanded Salans' capital markets partnership in January 2011.

The firm focuses on advising clients in Asia and the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). In May 2010 the firm closed the €7 million IPO of Euro Asia Premier Real Estate, which was the first by a Chinese developer on the Frankfurt exchange. More recently, in December 2010, the firm finalised the €11 million IPO of another Chinese business: Madison Property.

Poached from German independent Beiten Burkhardt in January 2011, Bernhard Gemmel now heads the banking and finance practice at Salans.

Prior to Gemmels' arrival, the firm had been advising Whiteshire Debt Solutions on the restructuring of its portfolios.

Salans' private equity team consists of three counsels, one senior associate and two associates led by partner Holger Scheer.

Scheer was at the front on all the firm's most notable transactions which were all management buyouts on the side of the acquirer. One transaction saw a team act for EQT Expansion Capital on the non-sponsored management buy-out of the Roeser Group which closed in August 2010. In another matter the firm acted for AXA private equity on the purchase of Strack/Phönix Group. Most recently, in December 2010, the firm finalised the buyout of a company operating in the convenience food sector for its client BayernLB Private Equity.

Head of Restructuring and Insolvency Salans, Andreas Ziegenhagen took the lead role on all the firm's notable deals.

In July 2010 the practice head closed a mandate advising law firm Freitag & Co, which had been appointed by the management of PrimaCom to devise a restructuring plan for the company.

On the side of the lenders, Ziegenhagen was active in the €40 million insolvency proceedings of AKT Altmärker Kunststoff-Techniks. The firm was also appointed administrator of the banks' securities pool.