OLNS#13 – M&A in German Tech: A Playbook for Buyers and Sellers

Orrick Legal Ninja Series
4 hour read | January.16.2025

German version 

The German tech ecosystem matures and achieving exits is arguably one of the last missing ingredients to supercharge the German tech ecosystem. In a stubbornly difficult IPO market, mergers and acquisitions often offer the only practical route to liquidity for high-growth companies and its investors. 

OLNS#13 – M&A in German Tech: A Playbook for Buyers and SellersWith special attention on the sale of venture-backed tech companies, this playbook provides buyers and sellers a guide to approaching M&A transactions involving German tech companies.

Based on our experience with countless exit transactions in Germany and beyond, OLNS#13:

  • walks you through the stages of preparing and executing an exit;
  • takes a closer look at the economic aspects of exit deals;
  • guides you through exit processes (including one-on-one transactions, auction processes and dual tracks) and deal structures (including share and asset deals);
  • presents hotly contested acquisition agreement issues and potential compromises;
  • explains the particular challenges of distressed M&A deals;
  • offers a deep dive on IP, privacy & cybersecurity as well as regulatory considerations; and
  • addresses some of the emerging consequences of AI for M&A deal-making.

In preparing OLNS#13, our cross-functional Orrick team again drew on experience representing more than 4,500 venture-backed companies and 100+ unicorns as well as the most active funds, corporate venture investors and public tech companies worldwide. Founded in the Bay Area, Orrick is one of the world’s leading technology law firms and advises on more venture transactions in Europe than any other law firm for more than eight years (PitchBook, Q3/2024).