Hengeler Mueller advises Fidelity on the acquisition of the retail business of Metzler Fund Xchange

As of 1 January 2020 FIL Fondsbank (FFB), part of Fidelity group, will take over the retail business of Metzler Fund Exchange. The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory conditions, comprises 50,000 customer accounts with assets of around EUR 2bn, most of which are managed by independent financial advisers and portfolio managers. FFB is one of the largest German fund platforms, administering in total around 600,000 accounts with assets of EUR 21.7 bn.

Hengeler Mueller advises Fidelity on the transaction. The team includes partners Christian Schmies (Asset Management), Peter Weyland (Corporate/M&A), Christian Hoefs (Employment) (all Frankfurt) and Alf-Henrik Bischke (Antitrust, Düsseldorf) as well as associates Julia Weidner (Asset Management), Arvid Morawe (Corporate/M&A) (both Frankfurt) and Christian Dankerl (Antitrust, Düsseldorf).

Inhouse, Fidelity is represented on the transaction by Andrea van Almsick (Head of Legal, Germany) and Matthias Schirmer (Senior Legal Counsel).