Dr Christoph Carstens

Christoph has many years‘ experience in the fields of corporate law and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). He advises clients inter alia on the formation, restructuring and liquidation of companies and groups of companies and on the purchase and sale of companies and shareholdings, regularly on a cross-border basis. Another key practice area is advising on compliance and corporate governance issues. His clients includes larger companies and groups based in Germany and abroad as well as medium-sized entrepreneurs and companies and their board members, primarily from the industrial, service and real estate sectors.

Christoph is Co-Head of the Commercial and Corporate Law practice group and Head of the Corporate Transactions (M&A) competence team. He speaks German and English.

What others say

Top Lawyer for Corporate Law 2027
FAZ-Ranking 2027

Recommended lawyer for company law
Legal 500 Germany 2026

highly skilled approach, a competitor, „precise and forward-thinking, has excellent M&A expertise”, „a good negotiator, always keeps a cool head”, a competitor
JUVE Handbook 2025/26

Frequently recommended for M&A and corporate law; "precise and forward-looking", "a good negotiator, always keeps a cool head", a competitor
JUVE Handbook 2023/24

Cited as "Frequently recommended" - "solution-orientated and creative, excellent M&A knowledge", a competitor
JUVE Handbook 2022/23

Leading lawyer for corporate law 2020 
WirtschaftsWoche Top-Kanzleien 2020

One of the most frequently recommended lawyers for Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice as well as Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) and real estate business law
Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers® 'Germany's Best Lawyers 2026'

Recent work

• Advising a group of companies in the construction sector on a dispute with the heirs of a shareholder
• Advising a hotel operator on the sale of several hotels
• Advising a chemical park operator on the auditing and reorganisation of the group-wide compliance management system
• Advising a project developer in the shopping centre sector on a cross-border shareholder dispute
• Advising a nursing home operator on the sale of an operating company
• Advising a leading retail chain in the textile sector on the purchase of several branches belonging to a competitor
• Advising a listed company in the railway technology sector on a strategic acquisition in the Netherlands
• Advising the management of a company on the acquisition (MBO) of an international communications agency
• Advising a fine art printing company from the UK on its acquisitions and restructuring in  Germany
• Advising a global real estate service provider from the US on restructuring and corporate governance issues
• Advising various project developers on the purchase and sale of real estate projects and portfolio properties (share deals) in the residential, commercial and hotel sectors
• Advising a fintech company on the sale of its core business
• Advising a medical device manufacturer from the US on company acquisitions and restructuring in Germany
• Advising an SDAX-listed group on the revision of its group-wide compliance management system
• Advising an investment fund from the US on the sale of biomass power plants in Germany
• Advising a German animal feed manufacturer on an acquisition in Canada
• Advising an MDAX-listed group on strategic joint ventures in Asia and Africa

Curriculum vitae 

• Studied law at the University of Hamburg, 1999 to 2003
• Legal clerkship in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and London, 2005 to 2008
• PhD at the Free University of Berlin, 2009
• Lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, 2008 to 2011
• Lawyer at Kapellmann since 2011
• Lecturer in M&A at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences, 2018 to 2022

Further qualifications and membership

• Regularly lectures and provides training, in particular in the areas of  M&A, directors’ liability and compliance
• Contributor to JURIS AnwaltZertifikatOnline
• Member of the International Bar Association (IBA)
• Member of the Academic Association for Corporate and Business Law (Wissenschaftliche Vereinigung für Unternehmens- and Gesellschaftsrecht (VGR))
• Member of the German Association of Small and Medium-sized Businesses (Deutsche Mittelstands-Bund (DMB) e.V. )