Kai is a partner and heads our Corporate Strategy & Finance practice in Berlin office. He is also the Jurisdiction Head of Hammonds in Germany. His particular expertise covers Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Joint Ventures, Privatisations and Restructurings.

Kai has published several articles in various magazines and is highly recommended by JUVE-legal magazine.

Recent experience includes:

• € 400m sale of Berlin's largest commercial property corporation.
• Sale of a care/nursing home business (largest transaction in German market 2008).
• € 40m sale of an outsourced IT-business in a tender.
• € 35m acquisition and financing of an historical office building in Berlin.
• US-private equity fund on various real estate related joint ventures (€ 25-300m).
• € 75m purchase of a partnership operating shopping center.
• € 70m sale of chinaware manufacturer in a tender.
• Financial restructuring of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Publications:

• Die Zinsschranke umgehen, Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung, 18 January 2008 (Dr Kai Mertens, Dr Christian Bleschke)
• Die kommunalen Privatisierungen werden weitergehen, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 23 February 2007
• Politik und Corporate Governance, Börsen Zeitung, 21 December 2006
• Neue europäische Aktionärsdemokratie lässt Fragen offen, Börsen Zeitung, 1 March 2006
• Aktuelle Fragen zur Verschmelzung von Mutter- auf Tochtergesellschaften - Down Stream Merger, Die Aktiengesellschaft, Heft 21/2005, S. 785, 2005
• D&O-Versicherung: Richtiger Maßstab?, Börsen-Zeitung, 6 November 2003
• Europarichter verwerfen Steuerregel für Konzerne., Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 18 December 2003 (Dr Kai Mertens, Dr Volker Heidbüchel LLM)
• Probleme bei der Privatisierung öffentlicher Aufgaben, Die Welt, 2 July 2003
• Der Auskauf von Minderheitsaktionären in gemeinschaftlich beherrschten Unternehmen, Die Aktiengesellschaft, 2002, Heft 7
• Town haul, Utility Europe, August 2002 (Dr Kai Mertens, Dr Volker Heidbüchel LLM)

Quotes:

• "strong negotiator, excellent lawyer" in JUVE - Legal Directory 2008
• "extremely pleased with his work on M&A and corporate problems" in JUVE - Legal Directory 2007

Languages:

• German
• English

Career:

• Assistant with the Institute for German and International Economic, Competition and Energy Law until 1994
• Admitted to the German bar in 1994
• Solicitor (1994) and Partner (1998), Knauthe Paul Schmitt
• Partner, Hammonds LLP 2001 to date

Education:

• Universities of Kiel and Surrey
• Referendar with the President of Schleswig-Holsteins High Court of Justice

Interesting facts:

• For more than eight years Kai Mertens is ranked by JUVE-legal magazine as a highly recommended corporate lawyer in Berlin.
• Member with Deutscher Anwaltverein (DAV).

"Partner" refers to a member of Hammonds LLP or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualification.