Shearman & Sterling represented Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) in the sale of its U.S. broker/dealer, LBBW Securities, LLC, to Links Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, LLC.

LBBW is both a commercial bank and the central bank of the savings banks in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate. With total assets of EUR 448 billion (as of 31 Dec. 2008), LBBW is one of the largest banks in Germany. LBBW Securities, LLC specializes in repurchase agreements, securities lending and other financing transactions, and is widely recognized for its dealings in U.S. government bonds, U.S. agency debentures and mortgage related securities. Guggenheim Partners, LLC is a diversified financial services firm with more than $100 billion in assets under supervision. Headquartered in Chicago and New York with a global network of offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, the firm’s businesses include investment management, investment advisory, insurance, investment banking and capital markets services.

The Shearman & Sterling team was led by New York mergers and acquisitions partner John A. Marzulli Jr. and included partners Samuel A. Waxman (New York-Intellectual Property Transactions), Bradley K. Sabel (New York-Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory), Russell D. Sacks (New York-Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory) and Don J. Lonczak (Washington, DC-Tax); counsel Charles Gittleman (New York-Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory); and associates Sara Haskamp (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Rodrick E. Shepard (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), John Hahn (New York-Mergers & Acquisitions), Elizabeth Roseman (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Adam Kaminsky (New York-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits), Gloria Jung (New York-Intellectual Property Transactions), Nathan Tasso (Washington, DC-Tax), Michael Blankenship (New York-Financial Institutions Advisory & Financial Regulatory), Christian Gloger (New York-Finance) and Kelly Karapetyan (New York-Antitrust). The legal assistant for the transaction was Maegan North.