King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has expanded its German practice 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 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 Roos was the leading M&A / PE partner in the Frankfurt office of SJ Berwin before he set up his own firm RoosLegal in 2009. This was before the failed merger of SJ Berwin and KWM in 2013. Shortly after the collapse of the Europe, UK, and Middle East arm of the firm, KWM set up a new European business. 

Mid-cap business

Dr Roos’ team includes Dr Johannes Reitzel, Markus Herz, Floris Schilling, and Dr Katrin Thoma. 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.

Economic needs

'KWM offers to my colleagues and me an ideal platform to expand and further develop our business for the benefit of our clients,' Dr Roos said. '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.'