Noerr boosts revenue and profitability – high-end projects fuel positive results

Noerr continued to grow during the 2025 financial year, increasing its revenue to €328.4 million (up from €322.7 million in the previous year). At the same time, the firm also managed to increase its profitability once again: efficient client work, a targeted focus on high-margin advisory fields and consistent optimisation of internal processes helped to durably strengthen the firm’s earning power.

The key factors contributing to this positive business development were international M&A deals, transactions with a high regulatory component and corporate advice for company groups and management boards. Outstanding client matters included advising Mercedes-Benz AG on the strategic realignment of its vehicle sales, WTS Group AG on the agreement of a long-term strategic partnership with global private equity investor EQT, and Generali as part of a consortium led by Allianz and BlackRock on the acquisition of Viridium, Europe’s leading life insurance portfolio specialist.

“Our positive financial results are the consequence of our consistent focus on qualitative growth,” said Alexander Ritvay, co-managing partner at Noerr. “Our expertise in structuring and managing complex projects is widely recognised both nationally and internationally. This is also reflected in the past financial year – for instance in the large number of instructions with a cross-border dimension.”

“We owe this success above all to our employees. Our dedicated team delivers on our promise of quality every day. This high degree of professionalism ensures that our advice is in constant demand,” commented co-managing partner Torsten Fett.

Other outstanding corporate/M&A matters included advising the AEQUITA industrial group on acquiring the European petrochemicals business (turnover US$3.5 billion) of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), providing legal support during the acquisition of facility management service provider Apleona by private equity investor PAI, valued at €4 billion, advising Bauer Media on behalf of an alliance of 11 publishers on establishing a joint venture with four press wholesalers to restructure their press distribution and advising Wien Energie on its acquisition of the ImWind Group – one of the year’s largest M&A transactions in the wind power sector.

Noerr’s expertise is also sought after in the defence sector. In the past financial year, Noerr teams advised clients including railway technology group Alstom on the transfer of its industrial site in Görlitz to defence company KNDS, Commerzbank on financing for the acquisition of the Sobek Group by DEUTZ AG and Helsing on the acquisition of Grob Aircraft on the seller side.

The firm’s finance and regulatory experts advised Macquarie Bank on the funding for Germany’s first AI factory: in Munich, Deutsche Telekom created the basis for a sovereign “Deutschland Stack” in the form of the “Industrial AI Cloud” alongside US chip developer Nvidia and data centre partner Polarise. Technology company FMC also relied on Noerr’s leading VC and IP practices in one of the largest funding rounds in the European semiconductor sector. The skills of the firm’s IT and data teams, which lead the way in well-known international rankings, were in demand in 2025 in a wide range of other instructions for corporations and leading technology companies. Noerr’s AI expertise was particularly important in the context of M&A transactions. The firm’s M&A and AI specialists advised Doctrine, Europe’s leading legal AI platform, on its investment in dejure.org. Prior to this, they advised companies in the Schwarz Group on a strategic partnership with Google.

The market-leading expertise of Noerr’s restructuring practice was once again demonstrated by its involvement in a series of complex restructuring transactions, both in the context of M&A deals and pre-insolvency financial restructurings. These included advising the financiers on the restructuring of VARTA AG and BayWa r.e. AG.

The firm’s representation of companies and state actors in court cases and international arbitration proceedings also made a positive contribution. For example, Deutsche Telekom AG is relying on Noerr in a shareholder lawsuit in the United States concerning the 2020 merger between its subsidiary T-Mobile US, Inc. and US mobile communications company Sprint. Similarly, major companies turn to Noerr to act for them in directors’ and officers’ liability proceedings.

Noerr’s regulatory experts advised the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) in negotiations to amend a public law contract with Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG (LEAG). Together with the German Coal-Fired Power Generation Termination Act and the European Commission’s approval, the contract forms the basis for the phase-out of lignite. The German government is contributing to this with subsidies worth up to €1.75 billion for LEAG.

At the end of 2025, Noerr employed 489 lawyers, tax advisors, auditors and paralegals (compared to 540 in the previous year). As of the reporting date (31 December 2025), the firm employed a total of 926 people (compared to 1,002 in the previous year).