Reed Smith has hired a six-lawyer corporate team from Dentons to boost its transactions capabilities in Germany.
The team has joined in Munich and is led by partners Thomas Strassner, Richard Fagerer and Christopher Mayston, accompanied by a counsel and two associates.
The team brings experience across M&A, private equity, venture capital, corporate restructurings and complex cross-border transactions, with a focus on clients in the transport, defence, tech and life sciences sectors.
Mike Young, EME co-chair of Reed Smith’s global corporate group, said the team’s hire was a "major step forward for our corporate practice in Europe. Together, they bring transactional strength, international experience and deep client relationships that align with our strategic priorities”.
The team’s hire follows a record 2025 for the Pittsburgh-based firm, which grew revenue nearly 6% to $1.58bn fuelled by a strong performance by its private equity and finance teams and opened offices in Atlanta, Denver and Riyadh. It also set up shop in Boston earlier this year.
The Dentons team takes the firm’s transactional bench to 16 in Germany across Munich and Frankfurt. The team is known for mid-market M&A, particularly for tech clients.
Strassner has spent the past decade at Dentons, before which he practised at Orrick. He focuses on M&A, PE and venture capital, working on deals predominantly in the tech, life sciences and defence sectors. Last year he advised German biotech TQ Therapeutics on its acquisition of Bristol Myers Squibb subsidiary Juno Therapeutics and the year before counselled Berlin healthcare start-up HiDoc Technologies on its merger with US-based Mahana Therapeutics.
Meanwhile Fagerer advises on US and cross-border corporate and M&A, venture capital, private equity and transportation transactions and projects. US-qualified, he practised at King & Wood Mallesons before joining Dentons in 2017 and counsels clients including multinationals, European fund managers and banks and German mittelstand companies.
Mayston’s practice spans venture capital, private equity, M&A, banking and capital markets transactions. He joined Dentons in 2016 from Orrick alongside Strassner, and advises international investors, start-ups and scale-ups, as well as listed and privately held companies.
The team’s move comes in a highly competitive lateral market in Germany, driven by a shortage of experienced lawyers, particularly in specialised areas, and high demand from top-tier domestic as well as international firms.
Freshfields added four new private equity and M&A partners across Germany and Austria in January to rebuild its bench after a team of senior PE partners defected to Latham & Watkins late last year, while in November Orrick hired a four-lawyer M&A and private equity team from Norton Rose Fulbright in Munich.
A Dentons spokesperson commented: “We confirm that Thomas Strassner, Christopher Mayston and Richard Fagerer intend to leave Dentons as of April 30, 2026. Our corporate/M&A practice in Germany remains well-positioned with 40 professionals. The team advises clients on all aspects of corporate law and transaction practice, including private equity and venture capital.”
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