Hogan Lovells has bolstered its German operations with senior corporate partner Matthias Jaletzke, who counts Apax Partners among his clients, joining the firm from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom alongside two other lawyers.
Described by The Legal 500 as having ‘a good transactional approach’, M&A lawyer Jaletzke advises both corporates and private equity (PE) houses. He is joined by European counsel Hanns Joerg Herwig and a corporate associate.
In particular Frankfurt-based Jaletzke has been a longstanding adviser to Apax Partners, which raised the largest European PE fund, at €11.2bn, in 2007. He advised on the PE house’s acquisition, subsequent IPO, and $420m sale of Versatel Group to KKR last year; as well as the €920m sale of a majority stake in IFCO Systems to Brambles in 2010; and its €1.6bn acquisition of the Tommy Hilfiger Group in 2005. Other key clients include Quadriga Capital, Bregal Capital and Odewald & Compagnie.
It is understood Hogan Lovells voted on the recruitment of Jaletzke this week and he is expected to start at the firm on 1 July.
Jaletzke’s exit from Skadden follows the departure of fellow private equity partners, Frankfurt-based Peter Veranneman and Munich-based Walter Henle, who last year moved to Bird & Bird and Taylor Wessing respectively.
The trio join Hogan Lovells’ German practice, which is considered particularly strong in commercial litigation, venture capital, and IP-related issues. The firm did, however, take a knock in 2013 with the departure of a 30-lawyer (nine-partner) team to Morrison & Foerster, constituting its entire partnership ranks in Berlin.
David Gibbons, global head of Hogan Lovells’ corporate practice, said: ‘Matthias is one of the leading private equity lawyers in the German market and we are delighted to welcome him to Hogan Lovells. Having Matthias as part of our team adds significant additional weight to our capabilities in Frankfurt, and is a clear indication of our drive to continue to grow our offering in the German market, which we regard as a key area of growth and investment.’
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
