Dr. Franz Schaefer is a partner in the firm's Corporate practice and admitted as a German Rechtsanwalt and to the New York bar. He advises German and international corporate clients on:
- Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) with a special focus on the healthcare, construction, and new technologies sectors
- AGM-related and capital market law-related issues for listed companies
- Corporate restructurings (also cross-border), in particular in connection with IPOs or the formation of joint ventures (including carve-outs, mergers, demergers and transformations)
- Establishment of joint ventures with a particular focus on appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms.
- Setting up management participation programs
- Succession in corporate organizations (also related to family-owned businesses.
Franz also provides regular advice to various private equity, restructuring and distressed funds, both with regard to their M&A activities and on their portfolio management. JUVE Handbuch 2025/2026 recommends Franz Schaefer for Transactions–M&A, Private Equity and Venture Capital; The Best Lawyers in Germany (2027 Edition) recognizes him for Corporate Law, and Mergers and Acquisitions Law.
Franz Schaefer and his team joined K&L Gates (together with Munich corporate partner Dr. Martina Ortner and team) in December 2016 after having practiced at two other leading international law firms in their Munich offices. He has been a partner since 2014.
Franz studied at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich and at the New York University School of Law (NYU). He holds a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from the New York University School of Law and was subsequently admitted as an attorney at law in New York. From 1997 until 1998, he worked for a local law firm in Hong Kong.
- Possible Solutions of Limiting Liability in M&A Transactions, M&A Summit Dusseldorf, June 19 and 20, 2017 (German presentation)
- Guest lectures at various universities in Germany on corporate-related matters
Franz's publications include numerous articles in professional journals, with a focus on on corporate and capital markets law, as well as factual publications on mergers & acquisitions.
- § 181 BGB in legal practice with special consideration of corporate law requirements, DStR 43, 2020, S. 2379
- Imputed knowledge and conduct in M&A transactions, DStR 31, 2017, p. 1710 f., together with Dr. Martina Ortner (German article)
- Contingent Liability of Co-Shareholders in Case of Redemption of Shares, DStR 2016, 2116 (German article)
- Economic Re-Establishment in Case of a Listed Shelf Company and the Pre-Conditions for Registration with the Commercial Register, DStR 2016, 1166, together with notary Dirk Steiner and Sandra Link (German article)
- Disciplinary Action for Non-compliant Conduct of a Limited Liability Company Shareholder by means of a Call Option, DStR 2014, 2513, together with Christoph Küster (German article)
- The Termination and Establishment of Fiscal Unities in the Course of Corporate Acquisitions, DStR 2013, 2399, together with Dr. Martina Ortner and Martin Mager (German article)
- Upstream Loans by Dependent Stock Corporations (comment on court decision), DB 2010, 1371 (German article)
- New Causes of Liability for Interventions Resulting in Financial Ruin (comment on court decision), WM 2007, 2265 (German article)
- Corporate Liability for Wrongful Contributions in Kind, Der Betrieb 2006, 1040 (German article)
- Corporate Liability for Defective Shares in the Course of Capital Increases, NZG 2006, 204 (German article)
- The Admissibility of Supplementary Packages and the Practical Consequences for the Interpretation of the German Securities and Takeover Act, NZG 2004, 158 (German article)
- Book review of 5th edition of Pagenberg/Geissler, Lizenzverträge/License Agreements, published in GRUR Int. 2003, 801
- Listed Corporations’ Board Room Defense Strategies Against Hostile Takeover Situations – A Comparison of German and U.S. Law, NZG 2003, 150 (German article)
- Hong Kong’s New Copyright Law, GRUR Int. 1999, 103 (German article)
- Patent Licensing under English Law Compared to German Law, 1998, VVF-Schriftenreihe, Bd. 608 (German article)
