Hogan Lovells has strengthened its infrastructure and energy offering in Germany with the hire of a pair of M&A specialists and their team from Dentons.

Partners Dr Thomas Dörmer and Dr Tim Heitling have joined Hogan Lovells’ corporate and finance practice in Berlin alongside a pair of counsel and associates. 

The team’s hire replenishes Hogan Lovells’ energy and infrastructure M&A bench in Germany following the loss of partner Dr Stefan Rieger to Latham & Watkins in Frankfurt in April after more than 20 years at the firm. 

Hogan Lovells’ global corporate and finance practice group head, James Doyle, said the team’s hire “demonstrates our ambition and commitment to grow and invest in the energy and infrastructure sectors, which continue to be strategic priorities for the firm”.

Dörmer and Heitling have joined Hogan Lovells after three-and-a-half years at Dentons, and in May Heitling was named co-head of the European energy sector group. Before that they practised at Baker McKenzie and Taylor Wessing, having begun their legal careers at Linklaters. 

The duo are well known in the market and focus on M&A and related activity in the energy and infrastructure space. They advise on transactions involving fibre, EV charging, interconnectors, distribution, wind, solar and other assets in the smart infrastructure and energy transition sectors. Their clients include corporates, funds, banks and financial investors which they advise on both domestic and international transactions; at Dentons they worked with clients including German waste-management business Interzero and Spanish renewables-focused fund manager Qualitas Energy.

Philip Robb, global practice lead for the infrastructure, energy, resources, and projects practice area, said the duo and their team had joined Hogan Lovells at a time of “growing demand across all of our regions, particularly in the renewables, energy transition and digital Infrastructure markets”.

“Tim and Thomas are exciting additions to the team in areas which are increasingly important to our global client-base,” he added. 

Hogan Lovells’ existing energy and infrastructure team in Germany includes well-regarded practitioners like Hamburg-based partners Dr. Christian Knütel and Germany finance and practice head Dr Carla Luh. The firm is noted by legal directory Chambers and Partners for the strength of its renewables offering, particularly in the onshore and offshore wind sectors. The team’s other areas of focus – including digital infrastructure projects, wastewater treatment plants and acquisition finance – also dovetail nicely with Dörmer and Heitling’s practices. 

Luh said the new arrivals’ track record and experience “make them an excellent fit with our energy and infrastructure team in Germany”. 

In late 2021, the firm also bolstered its energy and infrastructure M&A offering in Frankfurt with the hire of partners Dr Torsten Rosenboom and Dr Christoph Naumann from Watson Farley & Williams along with a team of four associates and business lawyers.