Noerr advises Mercedes-Benz on the strategic re-positioning of Own Retail and the divestiture of its world's largest sales branch

A Noerr team led by Martin Neuhaus, Benedikt Vogt and Clemens Schönemann is advising Mercedes-Benz AG on the sale of its Berlin-Brandenburg branch to its long-standing partner Global Auto Holdings (GAHL), a family business founded in Canada and now headquartered in the United Kingdom. Noerr is, thus, successfully continuing to provide legal support to Mercedes-Benz as it strategically re-positions its own retail structures.

GAHL is a leading global automotive retail group with annual global revenue of eight billion US dollars. The branch Berlin-Brandenburg comprises seven locations with more than 1,100 employees and constitutes the world’s largest Mercedes-Benz sales branch operation. The parties plan to complete the transaction by the end of 2026.

With several teams led by Martin Neuhaus and fellow partners Jan-Philipp Meier, Harald Selzner, Clemens Schönemann, Benedikt Vogt and Rainer Wilke, Noerr has been advising Mercedes-Benz since the start of the M&A process for the divestiture of its sales branches and the strategic re-positioning of its own retail. The divestitures are carried out through parallel auction processes characterized by strong investor interest and involving both international and domestic bidders. Already in 2025, Mercedes-Benz, with the support of Noerr, divested its sales branches in Koblenz, Neu-Ulm, Mainz, Dortmund and Lübeck. In early 2026, agreements were signed for the divestiture of the sales branches in Aachen, Kassel, Würzburg, Wuppertal, Reutlingen and Hannover.

Advisors to Mercedes-Benz AG: Noerr

Team lead: Martin Neuhaus (partner), Benedikt Vogt (partner, both Corporate/M&A, Düsseldorf), Clemens Schönemann (partner, Real Estate Investments, Berlin)

Corporate/M&A: Hannah Besting (associated partner, Düsseldorf), Leonie Steffens (Associate, beide Düsseldorf)

Real Estate Investments: Jacob Mudrich, Johanna Becker (both Senior Associate, both Berlin)

Antitrust & Competition: Fabian Hübener (partner, Brussels), Kathrin Westermann (partner, Berlin), Hendrik Schlutt (Counsel), Jens Goblirsch (Senior Associate, both Berlin).