Wilhelm Reinhardt is a partner in the Frankfurt office of Gibson Dunn. He is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Group.
Wilhelm advises financial and strategic investors across a wide range of industries on German and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, including leverage buy-outs, auctions, joint ventures and minority investments. He has in-depth experience in public M&A deals and subsequent structural measures.
He is regularly recommended for corporate law, M&A and private equity by leading publications including JUVE Handbook 2024/2025, Chambers Global 2024 and Chambers Europe 2024, The Legal 500 Deutschland 2024 and The Legal 500 EMEA 2024, Handelsblatt / The Best Lawyers™ in Germany 2024/2025 and IFLR1000. Clients confirmed that he “is a very smart corporate lawyer who is also experienced in M&A”, offering “broad capabilities for private equity clients and on public M&A deals.” (Chambers 2023) According to references, Wilhelm “is great on P2Ps. Lots of experience navigating the subtle nuances that are so relevant in Germany.” And “Wilhelm Reinhardt is first class. True leader and business partner. Extremely effective and efficient.” (The Legal 500 Deutschland 2024) JUVE named him one of 11 “leading partners for Corporate Law under 50” in Germany in its 2018/2019 edition.
His recent experience includes advising:
- Advent International and Centerbridge on the €2B public tender offer for Aareal Bank AG.
- Atlas Copco on the €1.1B public tender offer for ISRA VISION AG and the subsequent squeeze-out.
- Credit Suisse as financial advisor to Bain Capital and Carlyle in connection with the tender offer for OSRAM.
- EMK Capital on various M&A transactions.
- Gilead Sciences, Inc. on the acquisition of MYR GmbH (approx. €1.15 billion plus up to €300 million milestone payment).
- HJM Investment GmbH & Co. KG on the sale of a stake in RENOLIT SE and the acquisition of RKW SE.
- KKR on various M&A transactions.
- Kubota Corporation on the acquisition of Brabender Technologie GmbH & Co. KG
- Lazard as financial advisor to the board of directors of RIB Software SE in connection with the tender offer for RIB Software SE by Schneider Electric SE; the supervisory board in connection with the tender offer for Axel Springer SE by KKR; and the supervisory board of Innogy in the tender offer for Innogy by E.ON.
- Lotto24 on corporate matters and in connection with its delisting.
- Oaktree on the €1.4 billion public tender offer for Deutsche Euro Shop AG.
- One Equity Partners on the acquisition of:
- transformer manufacturer SGB-SMIT from private equity investor BC Partners;
- Powertech Transformers Group and of BCV Technologies S.A.S. by its portfolio company SGB-SMIT Group;
- Alltub Group, a market leader aluminum and laminate specialty packaging for the cosmetics industry and other markets.
- 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 various transactions, including:
- on its investment in Meine Radiologie Holding and on the sale of Meine Radiologie Holding to EQT Infrastructure;
- on its acquisition of a majority stake of Inwerk GmbH;
- on the sale of Norres Group.
- Xella, a leading building materials company headquartered in Germany, and the Management Team on the sale of Xella to Lone Star.
Wilhelm studied law at the University of Trier, from where he also obtained his doctor’s degree in 1997. He has been admitted as a German lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) since 1999.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Wilhelm was a corporate partner in the Frankfurt office of a renowned US law firm.
Wilhelm speaks German, English and Japanese.
Capabilities
- Private Equity
- Aerospace and Defense
- Artificial Intelligence
- Consumer and Retail
- FDA and Health Care
- Mergers and Acquisitions
Credentials
Education:
- University of Trier - 1997 Dr. jur.
- University of Trier - 1995 Law Degree
Admissions:
- Germany - Rechtsanwalt