Herbert Smith Freehills announced today that it has recruited Nico Abel as partner to its newly opened Frankfurt office.
Nico, 41, is Norton Rose’s corporate team leader in Frankfurt, where he has been since September, 2005 having joined that firm from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
He is a corporate and M&A partner whose practice predominantly consists of multi-jurisdictional transactions including, in addition to pure M&A, joint ventures, carve-outs and distressed M&A. He advises mainly strategic investors and private equity sponsors.
Nico’s recruitment follows the firm’s hire of its first partner in Germany, Ralf Thaeter, a former senior corporate partner at Gleiss Lutz. Ralf joined in April and is leading the firm’s entry and development in Germany, initially through its offices in Frankfurt and Berlin.
Patrick Mitchell, partner and co-global head of the corporate practice at Herbert Smith Freehills, commented: “We are delighted Nico is joining the firm; he is a recognised rising star in the German corporate and M&A market.
“In building our German presence, quality is the key watchword for us. Nico is very highly regarded and his joining us is a logical follow-on from the recruitment of Ralf Thaeter, one of Germany’s leading M&A lawyers.”
Ralf Thaeter added: “One of the principal goals in this first phase is to build a high-quality German corporate offering that is fully integrated into our global network, and Nico will play an important role helping us to achieve this. I am delighted to welcome him to our growing German team”.
The firm will be announcing the appointment of further partners in Germany over the coming months.
