DWF has made its second post-IPO international office opening, hiring a five-partner team in Germany, while CMS has added two firms in South Africa and Kenya to its network.
DWF said today (7 October) it was opening its fourth German office in Düsseldorf after recruiting the entire office of Marccus Partners, consisting of 10 staff – including five partners. Marccus – which is not listed in any of the recognised legal directories for Germany – specialises in company law, M&A, insolvency, banking and finance, real estate and tax. One of the hires, Norbert Knüppel, will be DWF’s executive partner of the new office.
The opening adds to DWF’s Berlin, Cologne and Munich offices and increases local headcount to more than 80 people. DWF Europe chair, Ulrich Jüngst, commented: ‘They are very highly regarded and will be an excellent addition to our German business, significantly strengthening our corporate practice domestically as well as our ability to advise on cross-border transactions throughout Europe. This move further builds our international footprint, demonstrating continued delivery on this key IPO objective.’
Knüppel added: ‘We were attracted to join DWF’s rapidly growing business with a strong reputation for innovation. It is investing in its national and global capabilities and we look forward to playing our part in DWF’s continued impressive expansion.’
The Düsseldorf opening is DWF’s second international office launch since the firm listed on the London Stock Exchange in March . In May, the firm expanded into Poland with a £3m acquisition of K&L Gates’ 11-partner Warsaw office.
The firm’s first full-year financial results since listing, reported in July, showed revenue rose 15% to £272m in the 2018/19 financial year, of which 12.5% was attributed to organic growth. But profit after tax fell 42% to £12.2m, impacted by the £20m cost of the IPO.
Also today, CMS added 20-lawyer RM Partners in Johannesburg and 35-strong Daly & Inamdar Advocates in Nairobi and Mombasa. The deals mean the firm has passed the 4,800-lawyer mark, counting 75 offices in 43 countries.
CMS is the second international firm to expand in Africa in the space of a few weeks. Last month, Dentons announced it was merging with five firms in Angola, Morocco, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia, adding 54 lawyers to its African footprint.
Hamish.mcnicol@legalbusiness.co.uk
