Chambers Review
Provided by Chambers
Banking & Finance - Germany
What the Team is Known For
Astera Legal has established a reputable banking and finance practice that caters to a range of German and international debt funds, private equity firms and banks. The law firm specialises in borrower-side acquisition finance as well as growth finance.
Strengths
Astera Legal offers excellent drafting skills, a profound knowledge of the market standards as well as high standards of quality for the delivered work and a very pleasant working relationship.
Astera Legal stands out through its rare combination of deep legal expertise and strategic, entrepreneurial thinking.
The Astera Legal lawyers are very solution-oriented. They don't negotiate needlessly and are good at picking battles.
Astera Legal offers great attention to detail and has very commercially minded partners.
The team stands out for its technical skills, responsiveness and friendliness.
Work Highlights
Astera Legal advised Archimed on a cross-border refinancing.
Notable practitioners
Bernd Egbers is a well-known practitioner who is an experienced adviser to borrowers and sponsors, including leading banks, debt funds and startups. His expertise includes LBOs and acquisition financing, refinancings and corporate loans.
He is very proactive; he doesn't just point out problems but finds solutions and suggests those in the best interest of the client that also reflect the reality of the market.
Bernd Egbers knows the market and is well connected in the industry.
I would highlight Bernd Egbers' incredible technical skills and ability to translate this to practical advice.
He is a really good negotiator, finds good compromises and prioritises well.
He offers a very good mixture between legal expertise and understanding what is commercially important - he is really well rounded.
Isabell Hitzer advises banks, direct lenders and sponsors, and is particularly active on acquisition finance transactions.
She manages expectations very well and has a really good grasp of the industry and market reality.
She is very smart, sophisticated and an excellent lawyer.
Isabell Hitzer has the market know-how. She gets the best out of negotiations, gets the points across that we want and gets us the outcomes we want.