News-Kategorie: People

Hamburg — Dr. Nils Koffka (55, photo) joins Allen & Overy ’s Hamburg office to head the German private equity prac­tice. The 55-year-old has spent his entire profes­sio­nal career at Fresh­fields Bruck­haus Derin­ger, and has been a part­ner since 1997.

He is one of the leading lawy­ers for advi­sing on billion-dollar private equity tran­sac­tions: With the move of Dr. Nils Koffka to Allen & Overy LLP, the law firm conti­nues to catch up with the market leaders in Germany. Nils Koffka joins the firm’s Hamburg office as a part­ner. Previously, he worked for Fresh­fields Bruck­haus Derin­ger, whose private equity prac­tice he played a key role in shaping over the years. Most recently, Nils Koffka confirmed his repu­ta­tion in the field of large cap tran­sac­tions by assis­ting BC Part­ners, which he has been leading for years, in connec­tion with the acqui­si­tion of Ceram­Tec (€2.6 billion) from Cinven. Other well-known names on his mandate list are Apollo or RHI.

The exact start date at Allen & Overy has not yet been determined.

Berlin — Osborne Clarke expands its Berlin office with a part­ner. As of Febru­ary, Robin Eyben (39) is trans­fer­ring from Morri­son Foers­ter. He worked there for three and a half years, most recently as a senior associate.

Eyben recently regu­larly advi­sed clients from the tech­no­logy, media and tele­com­mu­ni­ca­ti­ons indus­tries, prima­rily on finan­cings and tran­sac­tions. He also assis­ted start-ups from incep­tion to exit. After gradua­ting, he initi­ally joined Gibson Dunn & Crut­cher in Benno Schwarz’s team in Munich. Eyben joined Morri­son Foerster’s Berlin office about a year after it opened there.

Osborne Clarke had announ­ced that it would signi­fi­cantly expand its Berlin office. It was staf­fed for seve­ral years by an asso­ciate who was conside­red well-connec­ted in the VC market there. After his depar­ture, howe­ver, the capi­tal office — in compa­ri­son to Colo­gne and to some extent Munich — did not make much progress in VC. Eyben will now work prima­rily with Colo­gne-based VC part­ner Nico­las Gabrysch, who also spends a lot of time in Berlin. An asso­ciate will also be added in March.