Graf von Westphalen advises virtual identity AG on the acquisition of the Viennese Online Agency Knallgrau
The Viennese online agency Knallgrau New Media Solutions, which specializes in social media for businesses and operates the blogging platforms twoday.net and blogr.com now has a German majority shareholder. The German online agency virtual identity AG, which originated in Freiburg im Breisgau, has taken over the majority of the shares; the two founders, Dieter Rappold and Matthis Platzer, will remain as owners and retain their function in the agency. In future the company will be called vi knallgrau GmbH.
virtual identity AG was advised on the acquisition by Graf von Westphalen and by its Austrian cooperation partner Abel & Abel in Vienna.
Knallgrau is active in the field of social media projects for companies such as BMW, Eon or the WAZ media group, whereas virtual identity concentrated on corporate websites, including those of the Financial Times and the top 10 pages for Siemens.com and Roche.com. The combination gives rise to one of the strongest online full-service providers in the German-speaking countries. The combined agency has four offices in Vienna, Munich, Freiburg and Berlin and employs a total of approximately 100 staff with an expected annual turnover of ten million euros this year. You can find further information about the parties involved on the internet at www.virtual-identity.com and www.knallgrau.at.
Graf von Westphalen's Freiburg office has been advising virtual identity AG for many years as its external legal department - on everything from advice on contract law to dealing with issues involving stock corporation law through to acquisitions.
The following were involved in the acquisition of the majority holding in Knallgrau:
• Gerhard Manz (lawyer), lead partner (M&A, Corporate, Freiburg)
• Günter Maier (tax adviser, accountant), partner (Tax Structure, Freiburg)
• Dr. Barbara Mayer (lawyer), partner (Corporate, Freiburg)
• Eugen Kienzler (tax adviser, accountant), partner of bws GmbH, which works closely together with Graf von Westphalen Freiburg (Finances, Freiburg)
• Dr. Reinhard Perstel (lawyer) from Graf von Westphalen's Austrian cooperation partner: Abel & Abel, Vienna