Dr. Thomas Nießen

Thomas is widely acknowledged for his expertise advising banks and major corporates on their strategic mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and restructurings. He works in close collaboration with the firm’s leading practitioners in Corporate, Financial Regulatory, EU and Tax law to offer clients comprehensive, seamless advice.

Clients appreciate Thomas’ advice as being “highly competent, always up to date, totally reliable” (JUVE Handbook 2020/2021, Corporate).

Work highlights

Thomas has led on the market’s most significant restructuring and M&A transactions. These include advising:

• Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA) on the restructuring and winding-up of WestLB as part of a financial market stabilisation and the sale of Westdeutsche ImmobilienBank to AAREAL Bank
  
• NORD/LB on the full acquisition of, and merger with, Bremer Landesbank
  
• WGZ BANK on its merger with DZ BANK
  
• hsh finanzfonds and hsh portfoliomanagement and thereby the federal German states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein on the stabilisation and restructuring of HSH Nordbank
  
• WestLB on the planned public takeover of Landesbank Berlin
  
• Acerinox on the acquisition of nickel alloy manufacturer VDM Metals
  
• GKN on a global joint venture with Dana Corporation
  
• Federal-Mogul on multiple transactions, inter alia on the acquisition of the BERU spark plug business of BorgWarner
  

Thomas assisted the German Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation (FMSA) on the Restructuring Act (Restrukturierungsgesetz), including the drafting of a manual and template documents for implementation of the legislation.

Thomas is an advisory board member of Lebenshilfe, an independent and charitable association for people with mental disabilities, their families, experts and friends.

Thomas studied law at the University of Cologne.

He speaks English and German.