Dirk Oberbracht is a partner in the Frankfurt office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He is a member of the firm’s Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups and Partner-in-Charge of the Frankfurt office.

Mr. Oberbracht is a leading Private Equity and M&A lawyer. He advises private equity investors, corporate clients, families and management teams. He has extensive expertise in cross-border and domestic deals, including carve-outs, joint ventures, minority investments, corporate restructurings and management equity programs.

Mr. Oberbracht is “frequently recommended” for Private Equity and M&A (JUVE Handbook 2022/2023). Chambers Europe 2022 ranks him in Band 2 for Private Equity – Germany. “‘He is amazingly good at negotiating,’ enthused one interviewee” (Chambers Europe 2019). Others describe him as “very thoughtful, smart and a strategic thinker” (Chambers Europe 2022). Chambers Global 2022 and Chambers Europe 2022 rank him in Germany for Corporate/M&A: High-end Capability. One client highlights: “Dirk Oberbracht was wonderful throughout the transaction,” explaining: “He was flexible in terms of availability and legal expertise and really went the extra mile to facilitate a difficult deal.” (Chambers Global 2022). Other clients described him as “very strategic, smart and great in getting complex deals done” (Chambers Europe 2019). The Legal 500 Deutschland 2022 and The Legal 500 EMEA 2022 recommend him for Corporate, M&A and Private Equity citing a reference who emphasizes his “highest M&A expertise, excellent negotiating skills, excellent implementation of the negotiation result in legal documents” as well as his “great accuracy even in stressful situations.” Other references highlight his “high level of commitment to transactions until completion”, and emphasize that he is “very capable of large transactions, well organized and commercial”. He is a member of The Legal 500 Hall of Fame, recognized for his continued excellence and constant praise from clients in the area of Private Equity – Transactions. Handelsblatt / The Best Lawyers™ in Germany, Who’s Who Legal – Germany and IFLR1000 regularly list him as a leading lawyer for Private Equity, M&A and Corporate . He “is ‘a prominent lawyer in the field’ who excels in domestic and international transactions, including joint ventures and minority investments (market commentators for Who’s Who Legal Germany 2022). Handelsblatt / The Best Lawyers™ also recognized him as a Lawyer of the Year 2022 for Private Equity. WirtschaftsWoche names him one of the Top Lawyers in M&A (2022). He is recommended by Kanzleimonitor 2022/2023, a study of the German Institute for Legal Departments and Corporate Lawyers (diruj), for M&A. Expert Guides 2020 recognized him as top legal practitioner for Private Equity in Germany. Clients commented: “When we have a transaction north of €100 million, he’s the guy I call”, “superb negotiator with significant amount of experience and a clear focus on client satisfaction”, “excellent market reputation for M&A work,” and “strong experience in public and private deals. He has a good sense of what the client wants.”

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Dirk Oberbracht was a corporate partner in the Frankfurt office of a renowned US law firm and headed such office for several years.

Mr. Oberbracht is fluent in German and English.

Experience

Representative transactions* include advising:

• Atlas Copco in connection with the €1.1 billion tender offer for ISRA VISION AG.
• Atlas Copco on the €486 million acquisition of Oerlikon Leybold, the vacuum segment of the Swiss Oerlikon group.
• CANAL+ on the €1 billion acquisition of M7 Group, a European pay-TV Operator, from Astorg, a private equity firm.
• Celanese on the acquisition of Nouryon’s Elotex® brand redispersible polymer powders business.
• Clariant and Ashland on the €257 million sale of ASK Chemicals, a leading manufacturer of foundry chemicals with facilities in 25 countries, to Rhône Capital.
• Dubai International Capital on the US$1.7 billion sale of Mauser, a leading industrial packaging company, to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
• Gilead Sciences, Inc. on its acquisition of MYR GmbH (approx. €1.15 billion plus up to €300 million milestone payment, named Deal of the Month by JUVE, February 2021).
• Heska Corporation on the acquisition of scil animal care GmbH, a veterinary point of care laboratory and imaging diagnostics leader, from Covetrus, Inc.
• Heska Corporation on the acquisition of VetZ GmbH, a leading provider of veterinary practice management software in Europe
• 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 Gerüstbau Muehlhan GmbH to Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services GmbH.
• Nordic Capital on the intended acquisition of a global hydraulic business (above €500 million).
• One Equity Partners on the acquisition of Alltub Group, a market leader in aluminum and Laminate specialty packaging for the cosmetics industry and other markets.
• One Equity Partners on the acquisition of transformer manufacturer SGB-SMIT from private equity investor BC Partners.
• One Equity Partners on the acquisition of Mauser, an international leading industrial manufacturing company, and the €850 million sale of Mauser to Dubai International Capital.
• One Equity Partners on the acquisition of Vacuumschmelze, a manufacturer of advanced magnetic materials, from The Morgan Crucible Company and the US$1 billion sale of Vacuumschmelze to OM Group.
• Platinum Equity Advisors on its acquisition of Solenis from BASF SE and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
• Stone Canyon Industries and its subsidiary BWAY on the US$2.3 billion acquisition of Mauser Group, a leading industrial packaging company, from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
• Stone Canyon Industries in connection with the US$3.2 billion acquisition of K+S Aktiengesellschaft’s Americas salt business, including Morton Salt.
• Triton on its investment in Meine Radiologie Holding and on the sale of Meine Radiologie Holding to EQT Infrastruture.
• Triton on its acquisition of Lamina Technologies SA.
• Xella International S.A., a Holding company of funds advised by Goldman Sachs and PAI Partners, on the sale of Xella to Lone Star.
  
  *Includes experience prior to joining Gibson Dunn