Kai Lucks, a Siemens AG executive who has participated in more than 1,000 business mergers and acquisitions (M&A) during his career, and Klaus U. Thiedmann, a Chicago lawyer who has negotiated over 100 M&A transactions for European firms in the United States, will discuss how to achieve M&A success at DePaul University’s free Global Business Jam Session Nov. 2.

Sponsored by DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, the session runs from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on the 8th floor conference center of the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd. Ray Whittington, Kellstadt dean, and J.D. Bindenagel, DePaul’s vice president for community, government and international affairs, will introduce the program.

Keynote speaker Lucks will discuss global differences in culture, processes and legislative frameworks affecting M&A success; approaches by German companies to trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic mergers; and the energy market. As executive vice president, Lucks heads group strategies and M&A integration at Siemens, a $75-billion, global engineering and electronics powerhouse with products and services in the areas of information and communications, energy, transportation, medical, lighting, and automation and control. Siemens operates 12 offices in the United States, including one in Schuamburg, Ill. Lucks also is president of the German Federal M&A Association.

A discussion by Thiedmann of recent M&A deals will follow. Thiedmann, a founding partner of the law firm of Thiedmann & Edler in Chicago, represents clients in trans-Atlantic acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. The firm’s practice includes strategic alliances, licensing and distribution, corporate and commercial contracts, secured lending and finance, and product liability. Thiedmann is admitted to the bars of the State of Illinois and Frankfurt, Germany, and is a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the German Foreign Office Award. Ali Fatemi, DePaul finance chair, and Gerhard Plaschka, associate professor of management, will moderate this session.

For more information about “Succeeding in Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific Merger & Acquisitions: The German Approach” and to RSVP, call DePaul’s Department of Management at 312/362-8783.