News

On October 23, the EU adopted its 19th package of sanctions against Russia. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has repeatedly expanded its sanctions regime against Russia, aiming to weaken the economic base of its war-economy and curtail Russia’s access to technologies, financial systems and global markets.

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Oppenhoff advised German Underwriting GmbH, which manages MRH Trowe's insurance brokerage activities, on the acquisition of a majority stake in Pantheon Underwriters GmbH. The parties have agreed not to disclose details of the transaction.

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In early 2024, the European Commission conducted unannounced searches of several tyre manufacturers on suspicion of cartel agreements, basing its initial suspicion largely on publicly available information – in particular transcripts of analyst calls, press releases and presentations. The European Commission systematically evaluated this information, in part with the aid of AI, in order to identify indications of anti-competitive coordination.

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Oppenhoff advised the shareholders of Re.Lion.Bat. Circular GmbH on its sale to PreZero. The legal and economic transfer to PreZero took place in October.

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The regulatory landscape remains highly dynamic: In this issue, we provide a concise overview of current developments in IT law and data protection—from the implementation of NIS 2 and the new AI Regulation to guidelines on the interaction between the DSA and GDPR to the latest ECJ ruling on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Find out what companies need to know and consider now.

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Oppenhoff advised VHV Holding SE on the sale of its majority stake in the Eucon Group to Infopro Digital Holding GmbH, in particular on the carve-out of the insurance-related digital service provider Eucon Digital GmbH.

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In its ruling of 30 September 2025, the Second Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) (docket No. II ZR 154/23) declared the resolution of the Volkswagen AG general meeting approving a coverage settlement with D&O insurers in connection with the “diesel scandal” to be null and void. At the same time, the FCJ referred the question of the contestability of approval resolutions for liability settlements with former members of the management board back to the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) of Celle.

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Content creators are increasingly coming under scrutiny by the tax authorities. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the tax authorities recently set up a separate division for criminal tax law. A side effect of this increased attention is that also cooperation partners of content creators will come under greater scrutiny from the authorities. Our tax experts at Oppenhoff provide you with an overview of how businesses might be affected by the increased attention from the tax authorities and what challenges with regard to tax and social security contribution exist.

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As summer draws to a close, it is now time for our third edition of Focus on Labour Law 2025, which features a current overview of the important labour court rulings from recent months and an update on new legislation. There are two rulings of particular practical relevance: a ruling by the Düsseldorf Regional Labour Court on the obligations of companies to record the working hours of works council members who have been released from their work duties, and a ruling by the Federal Labour Court on damage claims arising from the unlawful transfer of data in the con-text of a test operation of the software Workday. Finally, in our "Rethinking HR" section, we focus on the year-end rush for HR departments and the items that need to be ticked off your to-do lists before the end of the year.

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Oppenhoff advised Rensa Filtration, Inc. on the acquisition of IREMA-Filter GmbH and its US subsidiary Aeolus Filter Corporation from Pinova Capital. With this latest investment, Rensa is reaffirming its commitment to quality and innovation and providing targeted support for technological development, expansion of production capacities, and sustainable growth of the company.

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Oppenhoff has provided comprehensive advice on stock corporation and capital market law to Raiffeisen Agrar Invest AG, one of the main anchor shareholders of BayWa Aktiengesellschaft, and its direct and indirect shareholders in connection with the restructuring of BayWa AG. The company is being restructured in proceedings pursuant to the German Act on the Stabilisation and Restructuring Framework for Businesses (StaRUG) and this includes, among other things, an obligation on the part of the anchor shareholders to participate in a capital increase in two tranches.

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Oppenhoff advised StatLab Medical Products on the acquisition of the remaining stake in Histoserve GmbH. Together with the acquisition of the remaining stake in DiaPath France, StatLab completes the integration of both companies into Diapath as part of the StatLab brand presence in Italy and Northern Europe, and expands its direct sales presence in the four largest European markets: Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

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Companies often implement company pension (betriebliche Altersversorgung, “bAV”) indirectly via a direct insurance company as an external pension provider. The relative familiarity of this mode of implementation does not necessarily reduce the susceptibility to legal errors within the scope of the German Company Pensions Act (Betriebsrentengesetz, "BetrAVG") in practice. From the company’s perspective, the following aspects should be taken into account (under labour law) before and during the implementation of a company pension scheme via direct insurance.

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Job architecture is the basis for many areas of human resources. In particular, it provides the basis for the remuneration system. Job architecture entails the structuring of jobs and their organisation within the hierarchy. Its introduction therefore has a decisive impact. In Germany, extensive co-determination rights of the works council must also be considered.

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Oppenhoff has advised the global investor Bridgepoint on acquiring a majority stake in the Hanseatic Broking Center Group (HBC) from Preservation Capital Partners. Oppenhoff's role included legal due diligence, in collaboration with Kirkland & Ellis.

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No-poach agreements have come under scrutiny by the antitrust authorities: For the first time, the European Commission has imposed fines for cartel agreements in the labour market. With its decision of 2 June 2025, it clarifies that the "war for talent" must not be slowed down by a mutual no-poach agreement. Just one week later, the French antitrust authority followed suit and also sanctioned no-poach agreements with heavy fines.

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The 18th package of restrictive measures came into force on July 20, 2025. The focus lies on the energy, transport and financial sectors. 55 additional listings (14 individuals, 41 organizations) bring the total number of sanctioned persons to over 2,500.

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We have compiled some important and exciting new developments and case law from IT law and data protection for you. We hope you enjoy reading it!

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The German government is focussing on rapidly equipping the Bundeswehr, for which the easing of the so-called “debt brake” has already paved the way. As a next step, it is now tackling the procurement regulations (again). The draft bill of the BwPBBG brings with it extensive simplifications and acceleration effects, but also disadvantages, for example when dealing with unsecured financing and reduced legal protection.

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Oppenhoff is entering into a strategic partnership with the Corporate Law Clinic e.V. (CLC). The collaboration will be supervised by Dr. Günter Seulen and Dr. Philipp Heinrichs, both partners in the field of corporate law/M&A. Dr. Philipp Heinrichs also represents the law firm as a member of the CLC's advisory board.

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Oppenhoff has advised Compagnie de Saint-Gobain on the sale of its Münsterland-based subsidiary, Saint-Gobain Brüggemann Holzbau GmbH including all business properties to Köster Holding SE.

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As the first half of the year draws to a close, we are sending you our second issue of Focus on Labour Law, which provides you with an up-to-date overview of the most important labour court decisions of recent months as well as new legislation. Of particular practical relevance are the much-noticed decisions of the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) on the expiry of virtual option rights after termination of the employ-ment relationship and on the multiple voting right of matrix managers in works council elections. Finally, in the "Rethinking HR!" section, we take look at the AI Act and examine the possibilities and limits of using AI systems in the HR sector.

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In its judgement of 8 May 2025 (ECJ, judgement of 8 May 2025, C-581/23), the European Court of Justice specified key requirements for the admissibility under antitrust law of sales bans in the context of exclusive distribution systems. A supplier may prohibit its distributors from actively selling in a territory exclusively allocated to another distributor if it has previously informed its other distributors sufficiently about the existence and protection of the exclusive territories and the distributors have agreed to the restriction expressly or by implied behaviour.

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Oppenhoff has advised Alfred Landecker Foundation on the long-term funding of the Adenauer School of Government (ASG) newly founded by the University of Cologne and has supported the contract negotiations.

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Internal investigations are an essential tool for uncovering potential misconduct in companies, averting damage and initiating the necessary measures. With increasing digitisation and the ex-ponential growth in the volume of data, digital e-discovery tools have become an integral part of any internal investigation. Providers of such tools promise not only increased efficiency through the use of artificial intelligence ("AI"), but also deeper insights and more precise results.

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