Freshfields advises DHL Group on the modernisation of its group structure

Global law firm Freshfields has advised the DHL Group on the modernisation of its corporate structure. The listed parent company, Deutsche Post AG, is operating under the name DHL AG with effect from today. At the same time, the division Post & Paket Deutschland (Post & Parcel Germany) has been spun off into an independent public limited company wholly owned by DHL AG which is now operating under the name Deutsche Post AG.

Over the past decades, the company has evolved from the former Deutsche Bundespost (German Federal Post Office) into a leading global logistics group. Today, it operates in more than 220 countries with around 584,000 employees. Despite this dynamic development, its legal structure has remained largely unchanged. The aim is to align this historically evolved legal structure with the existing management structure and to strengthen the company’s leading position in global logistics.

Further information on the new group structure can be found here.

The project was led in-house by Hilka Schneider (EVP Legal Services & Chief Compliance Officer, DHL), Carsten Beck (Head of M&A, Competition Law and Corporate Transactions, DHL) and Andreas Tiedge (Regulatory, Deutsche Post).

The Freshfields team provided comprehensive advice on regulatory, corporate, employment and real estate law. The team is led by Partners Rick van Aerssen (Frankfurt/Düsseldorf), Sabrina Kulenkamp (Frankfurt), Nicholas Günther (Düsseldorf) and Counsel Stefan Bajohr (both Düsseldorf, all Corporate) and further comprised:

Partners: Ulrich Sittard (Employment Law), Thomas Granetzny (Pensions, both Düsseldorf), Gerrit Beckhaus (Real Estate/Lab, Hamburg/Berlin), Michael Ramb (Public Law, Düsseldorf/Berlin), Christoph Werkmeister (IT/Data Protection, Düsseldorf)

Counsel: Hagen Krüger (Regulatory, Berlin)

Principal Associates: Michael Schmitz (Düsseldorf), Thomas Kelm (Frankfurt, Both Corporate), Manuel Jäger, Kornelius Fuchs (both Employment Law, Düsseldorf), Nina Gissinger (Real Estate, Hamburg), Marius Li-Yang Stein (IP/IT, Frankfurt), Julian Boatin (IT/Data Protection, Düsseldorf)

Associates: Rebecca Hettich (Corporate, Frankfurt), Oliver Neuner (Hamburg), Ornella Trost (Düsseldorf, both Regulatory), Sarah Fröhlingsdorf (Düsseldorf), Tobias Kalb (München), Bartosz Kiwka (Düsseldorf, all Employment Law), Eike Christian Jani (Real Estate, Hamburg), Benjamin Blum (IT/Data Protection, Frankfurt), Leonhard Ackermann (Real Estate/Lab, Hamburg)

Senior Transaction Lawyer: Pipitsa Kousoula (Hamburg)
Lead Legal Solutions Engineer: Blagoy Penchev (Lab; Berlin)