The jury presented the JUVE award to Bertelsmann’s corporate lawyers in recognition of their professional handling of the Group’s strategic realignment initiated by Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Thomas Rabe. For instance, they negotiated the combination of Bertelsmann’s book publishing group Random House with the Penguin Group into the new global industry leader, Penguin Random House.
The merger was negotiated in a very short time beginning at the end of 2012, guided through antitrust review in numerous countries, where it was approved without conditions, and was successfully concluded on July 1, 2013. Other major transactions requiring legal management this year included Bertelsmann’s acquisition of full ownership in the music rights company BMG, the IPO of RTL Group in Frankfurt/Main, and the acquisition of the Gothia Financial Group by Bertelsmann’s media services provider Arvato.
Bertelsmann’s Corporate Legal department has seventeen lawyers; it is led by Ulrich Koch, who is leaving Bertelsmann at the end of the year as scheduled, after 20 successful years. Thomas Götz (42), currently Co-Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at Bertelsmann, will succeed him in January.
