Raue advises on private equity transactions and venture capital. Our attorneys are counted among the leading Venture Capital experts in Germany. They provide advice through all phases of an investment up to the exit, are familiar with a wide range of financing tools and have in-depth experience in structuring and negotiating employee participations. The clients we serve on the investor side include strategic investors, private equity funds, family offices and business angels. Furthermore, we advise founders and growth companies in the digital economy on the legal aspects of their business models and relations to customers, suppliers, and supervisory authorities. Like our other practices, Private Equity reflects the industry focus of our law firm, with many of the transactions we look after playing out in the media industry or in regulated industries such as financial services, energy, and healthcare.
We also support our clients in litigation resulting from disputes among shareholders or arising in the context of transactions. Our clients benefit from the experience we have gained in this regard, as it complements the transactional advice we provide.
Focus areas
Venture Capital and Startups
- Formation and financing of companies, convertible loans, seed financing and later stage (A series etc.) financing rounds
- Employee profit sharing plans
- Restructuring measures (mergers, divisions into several enterprises, changes of legal form, hive-downs)
- Sales of ownership interest / exit
- Specific expertise in the media and telecommunications sectors, financial services (FinTech) and energy (in particular CleanTech) as well as energy services
Buyouts
- Leveraged buy-out, management buy-out, and management buy-in transactions
- Acquisition financing, refinancing
- Co-investments, equity syndication
- Secondary direct transactions
- Ownership interest programs for corporate management
- Restructuring measures (mergers, divisions into several enterprises, changes of legal form, hive-downs)
- Sale of ownership interest / exit
- Extensive transactional experience, in particular in the mid-cap segment
Rankings
- Recommended for Private Equity (Mid-Cap) and Venture Capital, JUVE Handbook 2023/2024
- “Always think entrepreneurially. I just have to explain what I want, never how.” Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2023
- “Even as a small client, we feel that we are treated on an absolutely equal footing with other clients. Always quick consultations at partner level possible.” Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2023
- “Great collaboration between the different departments, easy accessibility.” Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2023
- Recommended for Private Equity/ Venture Capital, Legal 500 EMEA 2023
- “They are efficient, down to earth, and by being relaxed and exuding this positive mindset of getting the deal done with no egos involved, you usually get a strong buy-in from the other side as well.” Private Equity/ Venture Capital, client, Chambers Europe 2023
- Recommended for Private Equity/ Venture Capital in Germany, Chambers Europe 2023
- Recommended for Private Equity (Mid-Cap) and Venture Capital, JUVE Handbook 2022/2023
- Recommended for Private Equity/ Venture Capital, Legal 500 EMEA 2022
- Recommended for Private Equity/ Venture Capital in Germany, Chambers Europe 2022
- Recommended for Private Equity (Mid-Cap) and Venture Capital, JUVE Handbook 2021/2022
- “Prominent Berlin-based firm with a solid venture capital offering and a presence on mid-cap private equity deals, advising on financing rounds, buyouts and exits.“ Chambers Europe 2021
- Recommended for Private Equity (Mid-Cap) and Venture Capital, JUVE Handbook 2020/2021
- Recommended for Private Equity/Venture Capital, Legal 500 EMEA 2021
- “Overall, the level of advice was very good. The competencies are broad.” Legal 500 EMEA 2021
- “Solid venture capital offering and a notable presence on mid-cap private equity deals across a number of sectors.“ Chambers Europe 2020
- “Wide industry coverage.“ Chambers Europe 2020
- “Clear-thinking, very smart and solution-oriented.“ Client/Competitor, Chambers Europe 2020
- Recommended for Private Equity/Venture Capital, Legal 500 Deutschland 2020
- Recommended for Private Equity (Mid-Cap) and Venture Capital, JUVE Handbook 2019/2020
- “Prominent Berlin-based firm with a solid venture capital offering and a notable presence on mid-cap private equity deals across a number of sectors.“ Chambers Europe 2019
- “Increasingly active for clients in the fintech sector, as well as on blockchain and cryptocurrency.“ Chambers Europe 2019
- “They have the depth and breadth to bring everything together, which is very valuable. They know what to leave behind, how to cut to the chase, and what is important.“ Client/Competitor, Chambers Europe 2019
- “There is almost no topic they can’t deal with personally.“ Client/Competitor, Chambers Europe 2019
- “The strength of the department is the fast overview of complex contractual obligations.“ Client/Competitor, Chambers Europe 2019
- Ranked for Venture Capital in Germany, Chambers Europe 2018
- “Prominent Berlin-based firm with a solid venture capital offering and a notable presence on mid-cap private equity deals.“ Chambers Europe 2018
- “They are very pragmatic and fast and also very good in negotiations. They give you clear and commercial advice on how to achive what you want.“ Client, Chambers Europe 2018
- “They’re always available and helpful. The partner was involved all the way through.“ Client, Chambers Europe 2018
- Recommended for Private Equity: Venture Capital, Legal 500 EMEA 2018
- “Very satisfactory price-performance ratio.“ Clients/Competitors, Legal 500 EMEA 2018
- “Experienced in both domestic and cross-border transactions.“ Chambers Europe 2017
- “The lawyers offer high-quality specialist knowledge, outstanding commitment and fast execution.“ Client, Chambers Europe 2017
- “Excellent team, housing considerable experience.“ Client, Chambers Europe 2017
- Frequently recommended law firm for Venture Capital. JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2017 (tier 2)
- “This firm is highly recommended for VC and respected for PE and is one of the few outfits in Berlin that can call on employment, IT/IP and tax lawyers as well as a solid M&A practice as part of its advice to start-ups.” JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2017
- “Very short response time.“ Clients/Competitors, Legal 500 EMEA 2017
- Ranked for Private Equity/Venture Capital in Germany, Legal 500 EMEA 2017
- “The lawyers were exact and meticulous, and the perfect partners to negotiate with. They were reliable and always delivered excellence in the agreed time.” Clients/Competitors, Chambers Europe 2016
- “The lawyers were reliable, fast and efficient. They do the work properly so that you get the result you need.” Clients/Competitors, Chambers Europe 2016
- “Well regarded in the venture capital sector.” Clients/Competitors, Legal 500 EMEA 2016
- “Renowned Berlin venture capital team with a growing reputation in the market, where it is sought after by technology start-ups and Angel Investors.” Chambers Europe 2015
- “The Raue team is really quick and works hard.” Client/competitor, Chambers Europe 2015
- “We would definitely use the same team again. If everything was that easy, it would all be fun!” Chambers Europe 2015
References
Private Equity Transactions
- Advising the private equity fund The Paragon Fund I GmbH & Co KG in acquiring dtms converting communications GmbH, a company providing telecommunications solutions for customer service providers
- Advising the international e-commerce company Chal-Tec GmbH
- Advising the private equity fund The Paragon Fund I GmbH & Co KG, as lead investor, in acquiring ZGS Bildungs-GmbH, the private tutoring enterprise “Schülerhilfe,” and in the subsequent divestment to Deutsche Beteiligungs AG
- Advising the Italian corporation CIR International S.A. in acquiring a minority shareholding in Swiss Education Group
- Advising the private equity fund The Paragon Fund I in acquiring the Wer liefert Was? group (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) by way of a leveraged buy-out
- Advising the funds managed by AUCTUS Capital Partners AG in selling ACOMON AG, a leading manufacturer of optical monomers as the base material for eyeglass lenses, to the Japanese corporation Mitsui Chemicals Inc
- Advising the music technology enterprise Native Instruments GmbH in a management buy-out transaction
- Advising Paragon Secondary Partners LP in selling a portfolio of three companies (Swisshaus AG, Metallwarenfabrik Gemmingen GmbH, ABL Technik-Gruppe) to Vision Capital (UK)
Assistance with exits from / sales of growth companies in the digital economy
- Advising the Sixt family in connection with their investment in Quandoo GmbH and the subsequent sale of Quandoo GmbH to Recruit Holdings Co.,Ltd., a Japanese company listed on the stock exchange (total exit, approximately 200 million Euros)
- Advising Schober Investment Group in selling the geo-marketing agency Nexiga GmbH
- Advising the management of Flaconi GmbH in the sale of the company to SevenVentures GmbH (the venture capital arm of ProSiebenSat.1)
- Advising the founders of mediapeers GmbH in the divestiture of the company to Deluxe Entertainment Services Group (Burbank, California)
- Advising sixt e-Ventures GmbH in selling shares in preis24.de to SevenVentures GmbH (the venture capital arm of ProSiebenSat.1)
- Advising the founders of myToys in selling their minority shareholding to the majority shareholder Otto Group
Advising investors in financing rounds
- Advising US investor Turn/River Capital in a series A financing round for the Berlin crowd-testing startup Test IO (previously doing business as Testcloud)
- Advising Earlybird Venture Capital when new partners invested into FinTech startup NUMBER26
- Advising sixt e-ventures GmbH, inter alia when it took out an ownership interest in Scondoo and Incent GmbH and in subsequent financing rounds
- Advising a family office regarding its investments, inter alia in Soundtrack your Brand AB, OptioPay GmbH, Spoon Guru Ltd., tausendkind GmbH
- Advising KRW Schindler Investments when it invested into Azimo Ltd. komoot GmbH, Trait Perception Inc., Reelio Inc.
- Business angel, inter alia for investments in JBM Just Book Mobile GmbH, Myra Security GmbH, kirondo GmbH
Advising startups regarding financing rounds
- Advising Thermondo when Rocket Internet and Holtzbrinck Ventures became investors
- Advising the online handicrafts platform makerist in its cooperation with the OZ-Verlag publishing house
- Advising the Adtech service provider AdSpert in all of its financing rounds
- Advising ByeBuy Global Operations GmbH for a seed financing round
- Advising labfolder GmbH in its seven-digit growth financing for the further development of the software platform and the expansion of marketing and international sales
- Advising Sumup, a provider of Mobile Payment Solutions in its series A financing round
- Advising the social games pioneer Wooga in all of its financing rounds