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Dr. Christian Ruoff

Partner

Industrials | Life sciences | Mergers and acquisitions | Restructuring and capital solutions | Tax |

One of the best tax lawyers in Germany

Competitor testimony, JUVE Handbook Tax

Profile details

About Dr. Christian Ruoff

Christian specialises in the tax structuring of acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and restructurings, private equity and real estate transactions, tax investigations as well as providing tax advice to family-owned businesses.

He is known for developing creative and innovative structures that minimise tax and tax risk, while protecting against tax authority challenges.

Clients turn to him when they have large-scale mandates requiring cutting-edge tax advice often in the context of multijurisdictional transactions.

Part of his skill is his ability to integrate tax structuring advice seamlessly – even in the most complex of transactions.

Christian speaks German and English.

Recent work

  • Providing tax advice to Tele Columbus Group regardings its 2023/4 restructuring.
  • Advising the lenders on tax structuring and other tax aspects of Takko's 2023 restructuring.
  • Advising Continental AG on complex reorganisations (inter alia, relating to the separation of the Vitesco business valued at approx. EUR 2.5 bn) from a tax perspective.
  • Advising on all tax aspects of Maersk's acquisition of Hamburg Süd. (approx. EUR 3.5 bn)
  • Providing tax advice to Merck on the sale of its consumer health business to Procter & Gamble. (approx. EUR 3.5 bn)
  • Advising on the tax structuring of various complex reorganisations of several family-owned groups of companies.
  • Leading tax investigations in relation to alleged claims of tax evasion for several groups of companies and individuals.

Qualifications

Education

  • University of Munich, Germany (Dr. jur.)
  • Duke University, US (LLM)

Professional qualifications

  • Tax advisor, Germany
  • Tax lawyer, Germany
  • Attorney-at-law, Hamburg, Germany and New York, US

Professional memberships

  • Advisory board of the Hamburg Forum for Enterprise Taxation, Germany (chairman)
  • International Fiscal Association

Additional responsibilities

  • Chair of panel on corporate/transformation tax at the annual conference of the Hamburg Forum for Enterprise Taxation at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, Germany
  • Lecturer on corporate tax law at Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, Germany

Publications

  • Law of Debentures, second edition, 2023, (eds. Hopt/Seibt) Law of Debentures, second edition, 2023, (eds. Hopt/Seibt): Part 5, Chapter 11: Tax law (including restructuring on the basis of the Debenture Act); Part 6, Chapter 14: Tax aspects relating to restructurings of debentures outside the scope of the Debenture Act ( )

  • Enterprise Stabilization and Restructuring Act, 2022 Commentary on the Enterprise Stabilization and Restructuring Act, 2022, (eds. Westpfahl/Seibt): Tax aspects of restructurings