About

Dr Frank Forster has been an integral part within a huge transformation of pan-European investment organisation Aurelius Group over the nine years he has been with the company. He explains that ‘in this time the company has developed from a small private equity company with a handful of portfolio companies to a €4bn turnover group with more than 20,000 employees and a €1.5bn market capitalisation. This required the team of in-house lawyers to grow along with the Group’. In order to support the company’s growth, Dr Forster has had a key role in a wide variety of high-end projects, as he explains. ‘Particular highlights’, he recalls, ‘have been consulting on the acquisition, restructuring and sale of various portfolio companies in this time in different jurisdictions and markets, which taught a broad understanding of the essentials of M&A processes. Also, serving as member in several supervisory boards and the consulting of various portfolio companies during their time with Aurelius has taught me a lot on operative issues and solutions’. Dr Forster has a wealth of experience in team management to go along with his legal expertise, given that he has ‘grown the internal legal department at holding level from three people to over 10’. As such, he is well acquainted with what characteristics set apart top in-house counsel: ‘The ability to act as the interface of legal and economic consulting; know-how to bring structure and prioritisations into complex issues, and being able to speak out sometimes inconvenient truths with an eye to providing comprehensive solutions to potential problems’.