Global law firm Freshfields has advised TRATON SE on the reorganisation of its group-wide research and development function. The transformative transaction involved establishing a new Group R&D organisation that integrates around 9,000 employees from the R&D departments of the TRATON brands Scania, MAN, International and Volkswagen Truck & Bus into one cross-border research and development function. The reorganisation will accelerate the use and innovation of the TRATON Modular System under which modular components and interfaces used for commercial vehicles of all TRATON Brands are developed.

TRATON SE, headquartered in Munich and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is one of the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers and a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG.

Freshfields advised comprehensively on all legal aspects of the reorganisation, including corporate, commercial agreements, intellectual property, employment, tax, product compliance, public regulatory, energy, export control, and foreign direct investment matters.

The Freshfields team was led by partners Rick van Aerssen, Elizabeth Oberholzer and Philipp Dohnke. They team further comprised:

Partners: Ulrich Sittard (Munich), Thomas Granetzny (Düsseldorf, both Employment Law), Sabrina Kulenkamp (Frankfurt, Corporate Law), Christian Sistermann (Munich) and Philipp Redeker (Düsseldorf, both Tax)

Counsel: Martin Rehberg (Munich, Tax), Stefan Bajohr (Düsseldorf, Corporate law), Philipp Roos (Düsseldorf, Data Protection), Gernot Fritz (Vienna, Commercial/IP), Lukas Pomaroli (Vienna, Product Compliance/Export Control) and Uwe Salaschek (Berlin, Foreign Direct Investment)

Principal Associates: Elisabeth Wulf, Aljosha Barath (Hamburg, both Commercial/IP), Nils Pelzer (Frankfurt, Corporate law), Caspar Sachs, Marcel Michaelis (Berlin, both Product Compliance) and Hubertus Reinbach (Hamburg, Employment Law)

Associates: Lisa-Marie Woschniak, Philipp Schneider, Jan Postweiler (Munich, all Corporate Law), Tobias Kalb (Munich, Employment Law), William Björklund (Berlin), Julius Röck (Vienna, both Corporate Law), Ilko Trenn (Munich, Tax), Lena Minkenberg (Düsseldorf), Philipp Mroz (Hamburg, both Commercial/IP) and Marcel Reuter (Frankfurt, Real Estate).

Inhouse: The transaction was managed by a large project team, within the legal departments under the overall lead of Dr. Eike Bleckwenn (General Counsel, TRATON SE), Dr. Kyriaki Maurer (General Counsel, MAN), Cecilia von Heijne (General Counsel, Scania), Eleanor Cabrere (General Counsel, International Motors), Adilson Marostica (General Counsel, VWTB), Martin Thielecke (Associate General Counsel, TRATON SE), Michael Winkler (Associate General Counsel, TRATON SE).

The Legal Project Lead was with Julia Hausser, née Haas (Senior Legal Counsel, TRATON SE) together with Chad Clark (Associate General Counsel, International Motors), Mari Hansson and Ana Carolina Remorino (both Legal Counsel, Scania), Katrin Schreiber (Senior Legal Counsel, MAN), Severin Stelzer (Legal Counsel, MAN), Maria Clara Nairismagi Alves (Legal Supervisor, VWTB) supported by Alina Nowosjolowa (Senior Legal Counsel for TRATON SE) and Anja Lützelberger (Senior Legal Counsel, TRATON SE) and a wide range of legal team members in all jurisdictions.