Confident about opportunity from global economic recovery

PRESS RELEASE:

Confident about opportunity from global economic recovery

Frankfurt, 5th June 2014.  CMS, the top 10 international law firm, today announces its financial results for the year ended 31st December 2013.
• Total annual revenues of €842.1 m compared with 2012 revenues of €837.7 m
• Net profit up 3.3% compared with 2012
• Expansion in the UK, Turkey, Switzerland and Mexico
• 344 M&A transactions carried out during 2013.  Ranked number one in M&A deal volume in Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, France and Germany 
• Strategic focus on Energy, Lifesciences, TMT, Financial Services and Dispute Resolution
• 31 new partners, including eight lateral hires.  Ranked 6th globally by number of lawyers and 23rd by turnover in the AmLaw 2013 Global 100.

Cornelius Brandi, Executive Chairman of CMS, commented, "2013 was a particularly good year for CMS.  Despite the global economic situation, we managed to increase our revenue and our profitability.  We established an office in Istanbul which has in its first six months of existence proved successful and we signed a co-operation agreement with energy specialists Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow in Mexico.  At the end of last year, Dundas & Wilson of Scotland, a premier firm with over 250 years of history and ZPG Avocats SA, a top-tier firm in French-speaking Switzerland, agreed to merge with CMS.

"All of these are constructive developments that show CMS as an attractive partnering option within the legal industry.  We are proud that in 15 years we have built the largest legal footprint in Europe and are consistently ranked number one for M&A deal volume in the region.

“CMS is in a very strong competitive position in our key sectors of energy, financial services, lifesciences and TMT, where we executed some highly complex cross-border matters in 2013.  We feel confident that there are opportunities ahead as we move towards a more positive eco-nomic outlook across the world.”

CMS added 31 new partners in 2013, including eight lateral hires, taking the total to over 800.

Geographic expansion
• New office opened in Istanbul
• Co-operation agreement with Woodhouse Lorente Ludlow in Mexico
• Dundas & Wilson, Scotland’s oldest law firm, merged into CMS, enhancing capability in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow and the UK’s energy capital, Aberdeen
• ZPG Avocats SA, a top-tier firm in Geneva, merged into CMS in Switzerland. 

International client mandates included:

Technology, Media and Telecommunications
• Advised Telefónica Deutschland on its acquisition of E-Plus, a mobile service provider, for €3.7bn and an initial share of 24.9% of the merged company, subject to regulatory authority approval
• Advised Kohlberg Kravis Roberts on its first deal in South Eastern Europe, the acquisition of SBB/Telemach Group from Mid Europe Partners, which involved partners from seven coun-tries in the region
• Advised eBay on European expansion, including e-commerce, e-payment, data protection and market entrance advice.

Energy and Utilities
• Advised Statoil on one of the biggest North Sea transactions of the last decade, the divest-ment of UK and Norwegian Continental Shelf assets to OMV for $2.65bn
• Advised Channel Islands Electricity Grid, a joint venture between Jersey and Guernsey Elec-tricity, on adapting their framework arrangements for the procurement of electricity inter-connectors with France, together with a new inter-island link
• Advised a consortium led by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (CKI) on the HK$9.7bn (€940m) acquisition of AVR Afvalalverwerking, the largest waste processing company in the Netherlands.

Finance and Insurance
• Advised Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG (PBB) and  Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) on the financing of a portfolio of logistics centres across Europe
• Advised SCOR Global Life Reinsurance on the 50% quota share reinsurance of €1.4bn of longevity/mortality risk hedged by the Dutch insurance group, Aegon; the remaining 50% of the risk was transferred to a capital markets investor
• Advised Metlife on the largest and most complex insurance sector reorganisation ever to take place in Europe.

Lifesciences
• Adviser to a global pharmaceutical company on commercial activities across Asia-Pacific. Led from Beijing, the deal followed the creation of a Lifesciences Asia-Pacfic Network (LAN), a 700 lawyer, 15-office network across China, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam
• Advised PGT Healthcare LLP (PGT) on its partnership with Swisse Wellness, a global Aus-tralian health brand, to market and distribute its products across the world.  

Dispute resolution
• Representing Nestlé in High Court litigation against Cadbury and Kraft Foods UK concerning the infringement of trade marks for the appearance of ROLO chocolates
• Advised the leading Austrian baking company, Backaldrin Kornspitz, in relation to a high profile trademark dispute at the European Court of Justice
• German team became the first tenant from Continental Europe to join Arbitration Chambers in Hong Kong.  This is the first project of its kind in China and the Chambers bring together experts in international arbitration.


Contact:
Isabel Scholes, CMS Head of Communications
+49 69 71701 512
isabel.scholes@cmslegal.com


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www.news-cms-hs.com/2014/06/CMS_Hasche_Sigle_CMS_2013_Results-EURO_VERSION-FINAL_04_06_2014.pdf
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