Gregor P. Klenk LL.M.

Partner

Germany

Gregor is a corporate partner and based in Frankfurt. His practice spans private equity, venture capital, growth equity, and M&A (public and private).

He has worked for top-tier private equity and VC firms and has extensive experience in cross-border transactions, particularly those involving U.S. and French clients and targets. Gregor advises frequently on deals in the tech and life science industries. Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills, he was a partner at Goodwin Procter and before for 10 years a partner at Latham & Watkins.

Gregor is "highly regarded" for Private Equity and M&A by IFLR1000 (2020-2022), "frequently recommended" for Private Equity and Venture Capital by JUVE (2015/2016-2023/2024 and Best Lawyers/Handelsblatt ranks him as one of "Germany's Best Lawyers" for Venture Capital, Private Equity, M&A and Corporate Law (2016-2023).

Background

Gregor's academic qualifications include an LL.M. from Columbia University School of Law in 2003, where he earned the distinction of Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Preceding this, he completed his Second State Exam at the Higher Regional Court in Berlin in 2001. Gregor also attained a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies en droit des affaires from Université de Paris I, Sorbonne, in 2000, and a Diplôme d'Études Specialisées en droit économique from Université Catholique de Louvain in the same year. Prior to this, he obtained his CEP in 1996 and PIER in 1999 from Sciences Po Paris (Institut d'Etudes Politiques). In 1998, Gregor completed his First State Exam at the University of Freiburg.

Experience & expertise

Selected matters

M&A/Private Equity:

Ampersand regarding its acquisition of Protagen Protein Services and other matters*
ANSYS Inc. regarding the acquisition of a German SaaS Group*
Apollo Global Management regarding the acquisition of KBC Bank Deutschland and other matters*
Ardian regarding the acquisition of French Hypred Group (now: Kersia), the acquisition of Anti-Germ Group by its French portfolio company Kersia, bids in auction processes, and other matters*
Astorg Partners regarding bids in auction processes*
Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company regarding its investment in FAI Aviation Group and other matters*
BC Partners regarding the sale of Synlab Group to Cinven and numerous other matters*
Behrman Capital’s portfolio company Emmes regarding the acquisition of IDS Institut Dr. Schauerte*
Brave Software Inc. regarding the acquisition of Hubert Burda Media’s Tailcat search engine*
Carlyle’s French portfolio company CAMECA regarding the acquisition of FAI’s Atomika business*
Crédit Mutuel Equity (aka CIC Capital) regarding bids in auction processes and other matters*
Cognizant Technology Solutions regarding the acquisition of the German-Swiss C1 Group*
Eurazeo’s portfolio company Asmodée regarding the acquisition of Heidelberger Spieleverlag*
Foster Wheeler regarding the acquisition of Graf-Wulff, a facility engineering group*
Hellman & Friedman regarding the €2 billion acquisition of Scout24 Group*
Huma Therapeutics regarding the acquisition of Alcedis*
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) regarding the sale of Eismann-Group to Gilde Buy-Out Partners*
MatlinPatterson on the sale of SecurLog GmbH to Prosegur Group*
Mobivia Group in its acquisition of ATU Group and its formation of a partnership therein with Michelin*
Novum capital regarding bids in auction processes*
Partners Group regarding bids in auction processes*
Qell Acquisition Corp. in its $3.4 billion business combination (deSPAC) with Lilium*
Shareholders of Bioassay and Peptide Specialty Laboratories regarding the sale to Reaction Biology*
Tennessee Valley Ventures/Dukane regarding the acquisition of KVT Bielefeld*
Tiancheng International Investment regarding the sale of a controlling stake in publicly listed Biotest AG (valued at €1.6 billion) to Grifols*
Unity Media SCA regarding its €3.5 billion sale of Unitymedia Group to Liberty Global Inc.*
Värde Partners in the sale of EuroAvionics to Equistone Partners Europe*

VC/Growth Equity:

Ada Health GmbH regarding financing transactions*
Ampersand regarding German investments*
Anthos regarding its investment in Klang Games*
AV8 Ventures regarding its investment in Elucidate*
Benchmark regarding its investment in DeepL*
Bessemer Venture Partners regarding its investment in Choco Communications*
Blockchange Ventures regarding its investment in Borg Collective*
Blue Bear regarding its investment in ACCURE Battery Intelligence*
BOND regarding its investments in Flink*
Canaan Partners regarding its investment in WorkMotion*
Crédit Mutuel Equity regarding its investment in Advitos*
CRV regarding a German investment*
DN Capital regarding its investment in NUMA Group*
DST Global regarding its investment in Gorillas*
83North regarding its investment in Wandelbots*
Five Elms regarding its investments in Userlane*
FQX AG regarding financing rounds*
Gimv (lead), Panakes, Hadean, Cambridge Innovation Capital and Seroba (consortium) regarding their investment in and the cross-border flip of Complement Therapeutics*
Insempra regarding financing rounds*
Kleiner Perkins regarding its investment in Inkitt*
Left Lane Capital regarding its investments in GoStudent, Studysmarter, Choco Communications, Yokoy and HTC Heritage Type*
Luxor Capital Group regarding investments inter alios in Delivery Hero Group and Foodpanda Group*
Ooredoo (Qatar Telecom) regarding a JV with Rocket Internet for e-commerce ventures in Southeast Asia*
Optum Ventures regarding its investment in Kaia Health*
RA Capital regarding its investment in T-knife*
Renesas Electronics regarding its investment in Arduino*
RightNow regarding financing rounds*
Rose Park regarding a German investment*
Samsung Next regarding a German investment*
Spectrum Equity regarding its investment in Jimdo Group*
Storm Ventures regarding its investment in Solarisbank*
Technology Crossover Ventures regarding bids in auction processes*
Toscafund Asset Management regarding its investments in LIQID and Elinvar*
True Ventures regarding its investments in Endel Sound and Kewazo*
Unusual Ventures regarding its investment in Qdrant Solutions*
Versant regarding its investment in T-knife*