King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has further expanded its German platform with the addition of a team of five Private Equity and M&A specialists from RoosLegal.
The team, led by Dr. Michael Roos and Markus Herz, will join KWM Europe Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH in Frankfurt on 1 November 2017 and will focus on supporting clients on domestic and cross-border private equity and M&A transactions.
Both Dr. Michael Roos and Markus Herz have strong existing relationships with the KWM Frankfurt office.
Dr. Michael Roos was the leading M&A / PE partner in the Frankfurt office of a leading international law firm before he set up his own firm RoosLegal in 2009. During this time, Michael Roos worked closely with KWM partners Rüdiger Knopf and Dr. Christian Cornett.
Markus Herz started his career at Shearman Sterling and then worked in the corporate team of Allen & Overy in Frankfurt for several years alongside KWM partner Dr. Sandra Link before joining RoosLegal in November 2013.
Michael Roos and Markus Herz are joined by an additional three lawyers from RoosLegal, including Dr. Johannes Reitzel who joins as Counsel with many years of expertise in employment law. The team with its long-standing experience from international law firms enjoys an excellent reputation in the mid-cap sector. The clients of RoosLegal include numerous well-known national and international mid-cap businesses, private-equity companies, owners and managers as well as family offices.
These appointments are further evidence of KWM’s commitment to establishing a strong German and European presence following the recent appointments of partners Hui Zhao and Daniel Ehret who join the Frankfurt office on 1 October 2017.
“KWM offers to my colleagues and me an ideal platform to expand and further develop our business for the benefit of our clients”, explains Dr. Michael Roos. “With KWM’s strong transactional focus and our longstanding experience in the German market, we aspire to build a strong, integrated law firm, which combines the legal strengths of Europe, Asia and Australia and in the best way meets the economic needs and interests of our clients in the changing world.”
Rüdiger Knopf, partner in the Frankfurt office of KWM, is pleased about the new joiners: “The joining of the team of RoosLegal is a fantastic opportunity for KWM and enables us to play a leading role in the advice on national and international private equity and M&A transactions in the German market. I am particularly pleased to welcome a former colleague to KWM. Michael and I have jointly advised many transactions and I look forward to expanding this successful collaboration in the future at KWM.”
The new team is also welcomed by the international KWM network.
Wang Junfeng, Global Chairman of KWM, comments: “We are very happy to build on our European strategy and strengthen our presence in the German market with the team of lawyers from RoosLegal and to position ourselves even better to offer local advice in Germany and at the same time to build on our European strategy. It is our intention to support intelligent growth in Europe focused on the needs of our local and global clients.”
Sue Kench, Global Managing Partner of KWM, adds: “We are thrilled to again increase our presence in the German market. In addition to the recent appointments of partners Daniel Ehret and Hui Zhao, the lawyers from RoosLegal broaden our German presence and also enable us to serve our global clients even better.”
Zhang Yi, China Chairman of KWM and a substantial driving force behind the close global co-operation, comments: “We are all very excited about this growth. Any global player needs local strengths and Michael and his team give additional strength to our already well established German team.”
Wang Rongkang, EUME Managing Partner says: “The addition of such a competent and experienced transaction team to our German office is an important step towards the expansion of the European part of KWM and is in line with our strategy not only to be the expert for the Asian market in Europe, but also to be perceived as an excellent local player.”
Xu Ping, a leading M&A partner from the Beijing office of KWM (recognized as Dealmaker of the Year in China 2016), adds: “It is of particular importance for our cross-border M&A practice to be present on the ground in Germany with a strong team in order to be able to work on big transactions. Our team in Germany is now even better positioned in this respect.”
Source: www.kwm.com
