Dirk Oberbracht is the partner in charge of the Frankfurt office of Gibson Dunn and a leading Private Equity and M&A lawyer.
Dirk advises private equity investors, management teams, corporate clients and families, and has extensive expertise in complex mid- and large-cap transactions.
Chambers and Partners ranked Dirk in Band 2 for Private Equity and Band 4 in Corporate/M&A: High-end Capability (Chambers Europe 2024) and Chambers Global 2024 also ranked him in Germany for Corporate/M&A: High-end Capability. His clients hold him in high esteem: “[Dirk] is fantastic in leading the discussions and structuring transactions which are super complex”. “[He] thinks ahead of the commercial issues and not just the legal implications, gives good impulses and goes beyond the purely legal dimension”. “Dirk Oberbracht was wonderful throughout the transaction. […] He was flexible in terms of availability and legal expertise and really went the extra mile to facilitate a difficult deal.” Dirk is a member of The Legal 500 Hall of Fame as a recognition for his continued excellence and praise from clients in Private Equity over several years and he was named as Lawyer of the Year 2022 for Private Equity by Handelsblatt / The Best Lawyers™. In 2023, he was recognized by WirtschaftsWoche as one of the Top Lawyers in M&A. He is also recommended by The Legal 500, Best Lawyers™ in Germany, Who’s Who Legal – Germany and IFLR1000. JUVE Handbook 2024/2025 listed him as "frequently recommended" for Private Equity and M&A.
Selected private equity deals:
- Astorg on the acquisition of hg medical from Nord Holding
- Blue Earth Capital and Future Energy Ventures in connection with their co-lead investment in reev, a leading software provider for electric vehicle charging stations
- EMK Capital in connection with several acquisitions comprising Freihoff Group, Gleich Group, Schmid-Alarm GmbH, and vi2vi Group as part of a platform in the security technology sector
- EQT in connection with the acquisition of ju:niz Energy GmbH
- KKR on its growth investment in smaXtec, a leading provider of AI-powered agri-tech solutions for the global dairy industry
- MBCC management team on sale of MBCC to Sika and the sale of the Admix business to Cinven
- Motive Partners on the acquisition of embedded/capital GmbH, a European fintech venture capital platform
- One Equity Partners on its investments in Alltub Group, SGB-SMIT, and various other deals
- PJT Partners on Silver Lake's takeover offer for Software AG
- Platinum Equity Advisors on its US$5.25B acquisition of Solenis from BASF SE and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
- Stone Canyon Industries on the US$2.3B acquisition of Mauser from CD&R and the acquisition of Morton Salt from K+S
- Triton on its acquisition of Lamina Technologies SA as well as on its investment in Meine Radiologie Holding and its sale to EQT Infrastruture
- U.S. private equity investor on several mid and large cap transactions in Europe
- Various management teams in connection with Management Equity Programs
- Veritas Capital on various acquisitions
- Xella International S.A., a holding company of funds advised by Goldman Sachs and PAI Partners, on the sale of Xella to Lone Star.
Selected corporate deals:
- Atlas Copco in connection with the €1.1B tender offer for ISRA VISION AG (value €1.1B)
- CANAL+ on the €1B acquisition of M7 Group, a European pay-TV operator, from Astorg, a private equity firm (value €1B)
- Celanese on the acquisition of Nouryon’s Elotex® brand redispersible polymer powders business
- Clariant and Ashland on the €257M sale of ASK Chemicals, a leading manufacturer of foundry chemicals with facilities in 25 countries, to Rhône Capital
- Edwards Lifesciences, provider of medical innovations for structural heart disease, on its US$945M acquisition of JenaValve Technology, developer of a transcatheter treatment of aortic regurgitation
- Gilead Sciences, Inc. on its acquisition of MYR GmbH (approx. €1.15B plus up to €300M milestone payment, named Deal of the Month by JUVE, February 2021)
- Heska Corporation, a manufacturer and supplier of diagnostic and specialty solutions for veterinary practitioners, in its acquisition by Mars, Inc. for US$1.5B
- HJM Investment GmbH & Co. KG on the sale of a stake in RENOLIT SE and the acquisition of RKW SE
- Muehlhan AG on the sale of its European and U.S. business to One Equity Partners
- PJT Partners in connection with the Porsche IPO
- Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. on the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Südkabel GmbH from Wilms Group
Dirk studied law at the Goethe University Frankfurt, from where he also earned his Dr. jur. degree and is admitted as a German lawyer (Rechtsanwalt). Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Dirk was a corporate partner in the Frankfurt office of a renowned U.S. law firm and headed that office for several years. He speaks German and English.
Capabilities
Credentials
Education:
- Goethe University Frankfurt - 1992 Dr. jur.
- Goethe University Frankfurt - 1990 Law Degree
Admissions:
- Germany - Rechtsanwalt