Joseph W. Marx

Prior to joining Willkie, Joe was a partner at another international law firm where he formerly headed that firm´s Frankfurt office. Before practicing law, Joe served as a foreign policy assistant to former President Richard Nixon and as a speechwriter for President Bush’s 1992 re-election campaign.

• Notable practitioner in Chambers Global 2024
• Leading Lawyer for Capital Markets and Mergers and Acquisitions Law in Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers™ 2022 Germany
• Legal 500 EMEA 2022:  Described as “extremely client-focused”

• Advised Berenberg, Goldman Sachs and Jefferies on the €130 million private placement of shares of ATOSS Software SE by two of its largest shareholders
• Advised Baader Bank AG as listing agent in connection with the business combination of SMG Technology SE with BigRep GmbH and subsequent listing of new shares issued by SMG Technology SE (now BigRep SE) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
• Advised Baader Bank AG as listing agent in connection with the business combination of GFJ ESG Acquisition I SE with learnd Limited and subsequent listing of new shares issued by GFJ ESG Acquisition I SE (now learnd SE) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
• Advised ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Joh. Berenberg Gossler & Co. KG and Quirin Bank AG as Underwriters’ Counsel on the €53.1 million Capital Increase of The Social Chain AG
• Represented Joint Bookrunners on Capital Increase of The Social Chain AG
• Advised Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG in connection with the uplisting of The Social Chain AG, Berlin, from the unregulated market (Open Market) of the Dusseldorf Stock Exchange to the regulated market of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with simultaneous admission to the sub-segment of the regulated market with additional post-admission obligations (Prime Standard).
• Represented Jefferies GmbH and Hauck & Aufhäuser Privatbankiers Aktiengesellschaft as Underwriter Counsel in the €100 million rights offering of the Mutares SE & Co. KGaA with a listing of shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with a Rule 144A offering in the United States
• Represented Joh. Berenberg Gossler & Co. KG as Underwriter Counsel in the €85 million rights offering of the German football club, Borussia Dortmund, with a listing of shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange with a Rule 144A offering in the United States
• Represented PE sponsor Genui Partners on its successful exit from computer products manufacturer Cherry AG generating sales proceeds of approximately €100 million via an accelerated bookbuilt offering with a Rule 144A offering in the United States
• Represented SIGNA Development Selection AG on its successful debut issuance of senior unsecured bonds with an aggregate principal amount of €300 million, a 5-year maturity and a 5.5% p.a. coupon by way of an international private placement, including in the US with qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the US Securities Act.
• Advised as transaction counsel the issuer APONTIS PHARMA AG, its main shareholder, the investment company Paragon Partners, as well as the joint bookrunners Hauck & Aufhäuser and M.M.Warburg on the IPO at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
• Represented DZ Bank AG on the issue of a mandatory convertible bond by Schaltbau Holding AG
• Represented Friedrich Vorwerk Group SE on its €414 million IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
• Advised Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG as sole global coordinator and sole bookrunner on the €250 million sale by Themis Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft of its shareholdings in Dermapharm Holding SE
• Represented Joh. Berenberg, Gossler Co. & KG in a number of private placements in Europe and the United States via an accelerated bookbuilding process totalling over €1 billion.
• Represented Aumann AG on its €251 million initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and a follow-on €80 million sale of shares in a private placement via an accelerated bookbuilding process with Citibank and Joh. Berenberg, Gossler Co. & KG as underwriters.
• Represented Hauck & Aufhäuser Privatbankiers Aktiengesellschaft as underwriter counsel in the initial public offering of STS Group Holding AG on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, including a Rule 144A offering in the United States.
• Advised the bank consortium consisting of Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG and equinet Bank AG in relation with a €61 million capital increase of ProCredit Holding AG & Co KGaA
• Represented numerous life science companies in their international capital markets transactions, including Medigene AG, 4SC AG, Epigenomics AG and Heidelberg Pharma AG totalling over €500 million.
• Represented Telefónica, S.A., in the €12.1 billion acquisition of the E-Plus Group from Royal KPN N.V. and fully underwritten rights offering of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG to partially finance the acquisition of the E-Plus Group.

^{*Joe advised on these matters prior to joining Willkie in 2022.}