Dr. Florian Harder
As co-leader of the firm’s global private equity practice and the energy industry team, Dr. Florian Harder advises on German and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity transactions, joint ventures, corporate restructurings, and venture capital transactions. His clients include private equity firms and strategic companies. Florian has also represented management and supervisory boards in all aspects of corporate law.
Throughout the course of his nearly 20-year career, Florian has developed a deep understanding of the German and European business communities, handling complex domestic and cross-border transactions across the automotive, energy, and life sciences industries, among others. He has a particular focus on middle-market M&A transactions involving private equity firms and German companies.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Florian worked at international law firms where he took on team leadership roles and handled all manner of transactions, including joint ventures, acquisitions, and carve-outs.
A native German speaker, Florian is also fluent in English.
- ANTA Sports Products Limited (China) in its $290 million acquisition of the Jack Wolfskin business—a global outdoor apparel, footwear, and equipment company headquartered in Idstein, Germany—from Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.
- Igneo Infrastructure Partners, a part of First Sentier Investors (FSI), on the acquisition of the bio plant operator DAH Group
- Igneo Infrastructure Partners on the acquisition of the energy-to waste acquisition of B+T Group
- TVM Capital Healthcare on the investment into neurocare AG
- KME Group on the De-SPAC transaction for Cunova’s Special Product Business
- KME SE on the acquisition of Sundwiger Messingwerke
- Igneo Infrastructure Partners on a joint venture with E.ON for the rollout of high-speed broadband infrastructure in Germany*
- Intek Group and KME group on the sale of the wires business to Elcowire and the acquisition of parts of Arubis’ flat rolled products (FRP) business segment*
- Intek Group on the sale of the specialty business to Paragon to form a joint venture owned 55% by Paragon and 45% by KME group*
- Cookiebot on its merger with Usercentrics*
- FSI on its public takeover of a 45.1% stake of Mannheim-based energy company MVV AG*
- Audi on the carve-out of holoride GmbH and its subsequent financing and the proposed sale of Ducati*
- Apax on the acquisition of Becton Dickinson, contemplated sale of Unilabs, and several portfolio situations in the German market*
- Deutsche Börse AG on its acquisition of 360T AG from Summit Partners, Brockhaus Capital, and management as well as on financing rounds in fintech companies CloudMargin and Origin*
- Siemens on its €14 billion public offer for Alstom’s energy business, joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and acquisition of Rolls-Royce Energy’s gas turbines business*
- IK Investment Partners on the sale of Minimax Viking Group to Kirkbi A/S and Intermediate Capital Group and the acquisition of Transnorm Group*
- KME SE, a subsidiary of Intek Group S.p.A, on the sale of its brass business in Germany and Italy and tubes business in Germany and Italy to Chinese Hailiang Group, and its acquisition of MKM Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing GmbH*
- Osram on the carve-out of its lamps business, Ladvance, and the subsequent M&A process*
- PSP on its €1 billion acquisition of Hochtief Airports*
- Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan on its investment in Zalando and the subsequent initial public offering*
- Triton on several acquisitions as well as the sale of Wittur Group and sale of Compo Expert Business*
*Indicates matters handled prior to Morgan Lewis
- Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany, 2005, Dr. Jur.
- De Montfort University Leicester, 1997, LL. Cert.
- Munich, Germany


Recognized, Financial News’ Fifty Most Influential Lawyers (2025)
Ranked, Private Equity: Mid Cap Practice Group, Chambers Germany (2025)
Recognized, M&A, Best Lawyers, Handelsblatt (2019–2026)
Recognized, Corporate Law, Best Lawyers, Handelsblatt (2022–2026)
Recognized, Private Equity, Best Lawyers, Handelsblatt (2022–2026)
Recommended, M&A, JUVE (2016–2026)
Recommended, Private Equity Transactions, JUVE (2016–2026)
Highly Regarded, Private Equity, IFLR1000 (2023)
