Freshfields advises Ottobock on Human Mobility division sale to DHCare
Freshfields is advising SDAX-listed Ottobock SE & Co. on the divestiture of its Human Mobility division to DHCare, an international medical technology company. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.
The Human Mobility division encompasses Ottobock’s wheelchair business, whose product portfolio spans manual and electric wheelchairs, pediatric wheelchairs, pediatric rehabilitation strollers, and seating and positioning solutions. Under the terms of the deal, the German Human Mobility companies and Dutch pediatric wheelchair specialist Veldink4Kids will be fully integrated into DHCare’s corporate group. DHCare was formed from the merger of Invacare Holdings and Direct Healthcare Group (DHG).
Freshfields’ scope of work covers the structuring of the transaction, including share and asset purchase agreements, the drafting and negotiation of transaction documents, post-closing service agreements, and the coordination of all local legal counsel across multiple jurisdictions.
Freshfields team
The multi-jurisdictional Freshfields team is led by partner Christoph H. Seibt (pictured), with support from principal associate Jil Rollmann (both corporate/M&A, Hamburg), counsel Philipp Lehmann (Frankfurt) and counsel Marius Scherb (Hamburg, both commercial/IP).
The broader team includes partners Philipp Dohnke (commercial/IP, Hamburg), Dominic Divivier (antitrust, Düsseldorf), Michael Ramb (regulatory, Düsseldorf/Berlin), Bob van Kasteren (tax, Amsterdam), Elodie Favre-Thellmann (employment law, Paris), Alexander Schwahn (tax, Hamburg), Stephan Denk (compliance, Vienna), Gerrit Beckhaus (real estate, Hamburg), Brechje Nollen and Satya Staes Polet (both employment law, Amsterdam and Brussels respectively).
At counsel level, the team features Björn Junior (tax, Hamburg), Etienne Létang (corporate/M&A, Paris), Lukas Pomaroli (sanctions, Vienna) and Matteo Tola (employment law, Milan).
Senior and principal associates include Tim Vohwinkel (antitrust, Düsseldorf), Hubertus Reinbach (employment law, Hamburg), Katharina Reinhardt (regulatory, Berlin), Manuel Jäger (pensions, Düsseldorf), Laura Druckenbrodt and Nina Gissinger (both real estate, Hamburg).
Associates contributing to the matter are Moritz Meyer, Johanna Karstaedt, Melanie Jacobi (all corporate/M&A, Hamburg), Lena Minkenberg (commercial/IP, Düsseldorf), Ann-Theres Hall (employment law, Hamburg), Vinzent Will (regulatory, Berlin), Anne Reungoat (employment law, Paris), Merel Van Essen (tax, Amsterdam), Benedikt Behrendt (commercial/IP, Frankfurt), Lotte Somers and Nicolò Schiavo (both employment law, Amsterdam and Milan respectively), Tensin Studer (sanctions, Vienna), Matthias Wahls (antitrust and foreign trade, Berlin), Sophie Pretscher (employment law, Vienna) and Ann-Kathrin Pletzer (restructuring & insolvency, Hamburg). Transaction lawyer support is provided by senior transaction lawyers Maik Sascha Brücher and Pia Kühlkamp, alongside transaction lawyer Sonja Kirschberger (all Düsseldorf).
Ottobock in-house team
On the client side, the transaction is being managed internally by Arne Kreitz (CFO), Alexander Gück (head of corporate, strategy and M&A) and Edgar Matyschok (legal counsel).
