KPMG Law advises Haufe on change of legal form into an SE

KPMG Law advises Haufe on change of legal form into an SE

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH advised the Haufe Group in connection with the change of legal form of its German holding company into a European Company (SE).

Since the holding company was previously managed in the legal form of a GmbH (limited liability company) and a direct change of legal form into an SE is only reserved for a stock corporation under national law, a double change of legal form had to be completed for the conversion into an SE. KPMG Law’s task was to implement this double change of legal form with the shortest possible duration of proceedings, which was possible by way of a so-called chain change of legal form. In addition, KPMG Law supported and advised Haufe in the negotiations with the employee representatives in the special negotiating body. In addition to delegates from Germany, there were participants from Romania and Spain, which was a particular challenge in times of the Corona crisis. Nevertheless, it was possible to conclude the negotiations within the scheduled six months.

The implementation of the conversion project started in July 2019 and was completed with the registration of the SE in July 2020.

The Haufe Group, headquartered in Freiburg im Breisgau, emerged from Haufe-Verlag, which was founded in 1934. Over the past decades, the classic core areas of the initially pure publishing business have been increasingly replaced and expanded to include offerings in the area of education and training as well as digital workplace solutions and services. The spectrum of the family-run group includes specialist information and portals, (cloud computing) applications, e-procurement solutions, online communities, specialist software as well as seminars and consulting on personnel and organizational development for companies.

Consultant Haufe Group

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH: Dr. Steffen Fortun, Partner, Constanze Hudelmaier, Senior Manager, both Lead, Corporate Law/Transformation Law, Stuttgart/Freiburg; Dr. Stefan Middendorf, Partner, Head of Employment & Benefits, Lena Czapula, Manager, both Labor Law, Düsseldorf/Freiburg

GKD Attorneys at Law: Dr. Wolf Beck, Corporate Law, Freiburg im Breisgau

Employee advisor/special negotiating body

Thomas Gn ann (Gnann, Thauer & Kollegen, Freiburg im Breisgau), Michael Eberhard (ver.di Bundesverwaltung, Berlin), Dr. Sebastian Sick (Hans Böckler Foundation, Düsseldorf)

Inhouse law

Haufe Group/ Inhouse Consultant: Oliver Hahne, LL.M. (Head of Legal/Compliance/Data Privacy), Dr. Alexander Malatidis (Senior Legal Counsel)