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22 Sep 2026

Baker McKenzie Advises Cohere on Business Combination with Aleph Alpha

"Baker McKenzie advised Cohere on a business combination agreement with Aleph Alpha. The combined company will operate under the Cohere name as a transatlantic sovereign AI provider dual‑headquartered in Toronto and Berlin, with Aleph Alpha’s Heidelberg office remaining a research centre. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and includes governance safeguards for digital sovereignty in Canada and Germany."

Baker McKenzie acted as legal adviser to Cohere in connection with Cohere’s business combination agreement with Aleph Alpha. The transaction will combine Aleph Alpha’s research expertise and specialized language models with Cohere’s enterprise AI solutions, global reach and implementation capabilities. The combined company will operate globally under the Cohere name and is intended to create a transatlantic provider of sovereign AI dual‑headquartered in Toronto and Berlin. Aleph Alpha’s Heidelberg office is expected to continue operating as a research centre. The combined company will operate within the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks of Canada and Germany. The deal includes governance safeguards tied to digital sovereignty in both countries. The transaction remains subject to the required regulatory approvals. Baker McKenzie represented Cohere with a team composed by: Lead Corporate/M&A: Dr. Tino Marz (partner, Munich). Corporate/M&A team: Usman Sheikh (partner, Toronto), Julia Braun (partner, Munich), Dr. Jon Marcus Meese (senior counsel, Munich), Dr. Julia Rossie (counsel, Munich), Erik Kuhn (associate, Munich), Tobias Beck (associate, Munich), Dr. Jens Klapdor (associate, Munich). Employment: Dr. Steffen Scheuer (partner, Munich), Christian Koops (partner, Munich), Vanessa Bozic (associate, Munich), Dr. Philipp Schlotthauer (associate, Munich), Philipp Matzke (associate, Munich), Dr. Anna Eschbaumer (associate, Munich). Data Privacy: Simone Rieken (partner, Frankfurt), Sebastian Schwiddessen (counsel, Berlin). AI/Tech Regulation: Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidl (partner, Munich), Lennart Reich (senior associate, Munich), Dr. Katharina Theresia Fink (associate, Munich). Intellectual Property: Dr. Markus Hecht (counsel, Frankfurt). Tax: Thomas Gierath (partner, Munich), Ludmilla Maurer (counsel, Frankfurt). Antitrust: Jan Kresken (partner, Düsseldorf). FDI: Anahita Thoms (partner, Berlin), Valentin Wilhelm Weigel (associate, Berlin), Vanessa Wüstneck (associate, Berlin). Banking/Finance: Tim Hosgör (associate, Frankfurt).
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