CMS Remains on Growth Path: 8.4 % Increase in Revenue to EUR 1.01bn in 2015

FRANKFURT, Germany, June 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

CMS, the top 10 international law firm, today announces its financial results for 2015.

• Total annual revenues of EUR 1.01bn compared with 2014 revenues of EUR 934.5m, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%
• Net profit up 6.8% compared with 2014
• The CMS Corporate/M&A Group achieved top rankings in the major 2015 deals tables compiled by Bloomberg, Mergermarket and Thomson Reuters
• Ranked 2nd most global firm in the AmLaw 2015 Global Top 100
• First international law firm to open an office in Iran on 1 February 2016
• 32 new partners across CMS in 2015.

Cornelius Brandi, Executive Chairman of CMS, commented, "Last year, we achieved another set of excellent results. Our strong increase in revenue is a tangible indicator of our commitment to providing our clients with quality legal advice that has a positive impact on their business. Independently conducted surveys show that our clients are very satisfied with the service they receive from us.

"In 2015, we advised on a number of high-profile deals across a range of industry sectors worldwide. As in previous years, we have achieved top rankings in the major 2015 M&A League Tables. By deal count, we were ranked #1 in Europe by Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, #2 in Europe by
Mergermarket and #3 globally by Bloomberg (up to USD 500m).

"Already one of the largest law firms worldwide - we were ranked 2nd most global firm in American Lawyer's 2015 Global Top 100 for the second consecutive year - we have continued our expansion and now have 60 offices in 34 countries. At the beginning of this year, we became the first international law firm to open its own office in Tehran, Iran."

Duncan Weston has been appointed CMS Executive Partner for Global Development. In his new role, he will intensify or build relationships with potential CMS partner firms outside the CMS territories.

CMS added 32 new partners in 2015 across a wide range of jurisdictions, taking the total to over 850.

A selection of international client mandates included: 

Banking, Finance and Insurance 

• Advised an international banking consortium led by KfW IPEX-Bank and UniCredit on the
  EUR 1.2bn refinancing of the bank loans of VTG Aktiengesellschaft
• Advised Allianz Russia on a reinsurance indemnity claim against Infrassure. The court case led to a new legal precedent being set for the enforceability of Russian civil law judgments in Switzerland.

Corporate/M&A 

• Advised Aurelius on the acquisition of the trade operations of Swiss Valora Group and on the acquisition of the European Crafts business of Coats plc
• Advised AMP Capital and a syndicate of its managed funds on the joint acquisition of a
  GBP 365m stake in Angel Trains.

Dispute Resolution 

• Advising a number of large consumer products manufacturers on significant damages claims against three of Germany's largest sugar producers in a case of price collusion by market sharing and coordinating exports to reduce volume in 2014
• Represented an international oil company in a EUR 2bn ad hoc arbitration seated in Europe concerning rights of a long-term gas sales agreement - CMS also acted as advocates.

Energy and Utilities 

• Acted in an oil products case in the Court of Appeal on behalf of Rosneft Marine (UK). Lloyd's List has described the case as "the most spectacular shipping legal imbroglio so far this century"
• Advised CVC Capital Partners on its EUR 477m acquisition of PKP Energetyka, the energy unit of Polish National Railways.

Lifesciences 

• Advised Australian-headquartered Sonic Healthcare Ltd. on its CHF 327m acquisition of Switzerland's second largest laboratory group Medisupport
• Advised Curetis N.V., a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, on its EUR 40m IPO in Amsterdam and Brussels.

Tax 

• Advised on the tax structuring of a joint venture between Airbus and Safran to develop launchers for space vehicles and satellites
• Advised AXA on the conclusion of an agreement with OTP Bank Plc to sell its banking activities in Hungary run through the Hungarian branch of AXA Bank Europe.

Technology, Media and Communications 

• Advised Telefónica Deutschland on its debut private placement. It raised EUR 300m from institutional investors through a combined transaction involving promissory note loans and registered bonds
• Advised Viatel on the recent sale of its non-Irish fibre network and enterprise business to Zayo Group, a global provider of bandwidth infrastructure and network-neutral co-location and connectivity services.

NOTES TO EDITORS

CMS 

Founded in 1999, CMS is a full-service top 10 international law firm, based on the number of lawyers (Am Law 2015 Global 100). With 60 offices in 34 countries across the world, employing over 3,000 lawyers, CMS has longstanding expertise both at advising in its local jurisdictions and across borders. CMS acts for a large number of Fortune 500 companies and the FT European 500 and for the majority of the DAX 30. Revenues totalled EUR 1.01bn in 2015.

CMS provides a wide range of expertise across 19 expert practice and sector areas, including Corporate/M&A, Energy, Funds, Lifesciences, TMC, Tax, Banking and Finance, Commercial, Competition & EU, Dispute Resolution, Employment & Pensions, Intellectual Property and Real Estate & Construction.

For more information, please visit cms.law.

CMS offices and associated offices: Aberdeen, Algiers, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Beijing, Belgrade, Berlin, Bratislava, Bristol, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Casablanca, Cologne, Dubai, Duesseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, Glasgow, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kyiv, Leipzig, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Luxembourg, Lyon, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Montenegro, Moscow, Munich, Muscat, Paris, Podgorica, Prague, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Sarajevo, Seville, Shanghai, Sofia, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tirana, Tehran, Utrecht, Vienna, Warsaw, Zagreb and Zurich.

Contact:
Amanda Lietz, Senior Communications Manager
+49-69-71701-5109
[email protected]

SOURCE CMS Legal Services EEIG