Corporate Team Joins Kirkland & Ellis in Munich

Munich, 11 April 2016 – Kirkland & Ellis International LLP is pleased to announce that Dr. Achim Herfs will join the Firm as a corporate partner in the Munich office. He joins from the Munich office of Hengeler Mueller, together with Counsel Dr. Anna Schwander and Dr. Benjamin Leyendecker-Langner, a former senior associate of Hengeler Mueller. All three join Kirkland as partners. The new partners focus on corporate transactions including private equity, stock corporation and capital markets as well as corporate governance and compliance.

“Our Munich office has for some time been at the forefront of the German private equity, M&A and restructuring markets,” said Jeffrey C. Hammes, Chairman of Kirkland’s Global Management Executive Committee. “The addition of leading corporate partners, like Achim and his team, will further strengthen and broaden our existing practice and franchise.”

“Achim Herfs is one of the most senior and well known corporate and capital markets lawyers in Germany. His clients, character and practice complement our partnership perfectly,” said Volker Kullmann, corporate partner at Kirkland’s Munich office. “Together with Anna and Benjamin, this team builds upon our strong partner bench and capabilities across capital markets and corporate transactions as well as restructurings.”

Dr. Herfs is the second prominent arrival for Kirkland’s Munich office in the last year. In July 2015, Dr. Jörg Kirchner joined from Latham & Watkins LLP, where previously he had acted as managing partner of the Munich office and global corporate vice-chair of the firm.

Dr. Herfs, 54, is a senior partner at Hengeler Mueller and was one of the founding partners of the firm’s Munich office in 2006. He regularly advises on initial public offerings, public and private acquisitions, and capital increases. He also focuses on restructurings and compliance matters as well as general corporate and capital markets advice. He started his career with Hengeler Mueller in 1993, where he was nominated partner in 1997.

Anna Schwander joined Hengeler Mueller in 2004 and was nominated as counsel in 2013. She advises clients primarily on capital markets matters. Benjamin Leyendecker-Langner started his legal career with Hengeler Mueller in Düsseldorf in 2010, and later transferred to Munich. He focuses on M&A, corporate and capital markets transactions.

About Kirkland & Ellis

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a 1,700-attorney law firm representing global clients in complex corporate, restructuring and tax, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, and intellectual property and technology matters. The Firm has offices in Munich, Beijing, Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Shanghai and Washington, D.C. The Munich office, with approximately 40 attorneys, focuses primarily on private equity and mergers and acquisitions, restructuring/insolvency, acquisition financing and tax.