Conference Chair
Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Munich

Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs advises private equity funds and German strategic players on private equity, venture capital and private and public mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining Reed Smith, he was a partner at an international law firm and headed its German private equity practice. He has also worked in investment banking and European capital markets for Merrill Lynch in London.

Co-Chair
Sydow-Law

Christian von Sydow advises clients on corporate law, M&A, private equity, restructuring, corporate conflict resolution and estate planning. He has represented a large number of international and German clients, including strategic and financial investors, in acquisitions and sales of businesses in Germany and internationally in cross-border matters. Mr. von Sydow represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including automotive supply, consumer electronics, defence, energy, internet, optics, publishing, retail, software, technology and testing technology, travel and tourism

Prof. Dr. Herfried Münkler, born in 1951 in Friedberg, Hesse, studied political science, philosophy, and German studies at Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt. He earned his doctorate in 1981 with a dissertation on Niccolò Machiavelli and completed his habilitation in 1987 with a study on the concept of "Staatsraison" (reason of state) in the early modern period. After working as an assistant and substitute professor in Frankfurt, he took up the Chair of Political Theory at Humboldt University in Berlin in 1992, where he remained despite receiving offers from other universities.
Herfried Münkler is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, where he was responsible for the continuation of the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (MEGA) from 1993 to 2019. He has held several research fellowships and visiting professorships. Münkler has received numerous awards, including the Leipzig Book Fair Prize (2009), the Meyer-Struckmann Prize from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (2009), the Friedrich Schiedel Literature Prize (2016), and was a fellow at the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Foundation in 2016/2017.
His research focuses on political theory, the history of ideas, the theory and history of war, and the analysis of political myths. Herfrid Münkler is widely recognized for his analysis of Machiavelli, the concept of empire, and the transformation of warfare in the modern era.

Herfried Münklers most recent book Macht im Umbruch. Deutschlands Rolle in Europa und die Herausforderungen des 21. Jahrhunderts (2025) focuses on Germany’s necessary leadership role within the European Union amidst profound geopolitical shifts, emphasizing that Germany must overcome its hesitant stance and actively help shape a resilient, strategically united Europe with a capable security and foreign policy framework. - Herfried Münkler is considered one of Germany’s most influential political scientists and is a regular commentator on international affairs in German-language media.

Conference Chair
Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Munich

Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs advises private equity funds and German strategic players on private equity, venture capital and private and public mergers and acquisitions.
Before joining Reed Smith, he was a partner at an international law firm and headed its German private equity practice. He has also worked in investment banking and European capital markets for Merrill Lynch in London.

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, DealCircle GmbH

Kai Hesselmann is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DealCircle, a holistic technology solution with the world's largest database of search and buy profiles. The superior matching technology makes the Hamburg-based fintech, founded in 2018, the preferred partner of hundreds of M&A advisors in buyer identification and market outreach. They get access to a Big Data-supported buyer database with over 250,000 profiles (family offices, private equity, MBI and corporates).

At DealCircle he is primarily responsible for Business Development, Product & Tech and Marketing. 

Before founding DealCircle, Kai Hesselmann was a partner of a mid-cap private equity investor with a focus on transactions in the industrials segment as well as an advisor for M&A transactions.

Partner, EMERAM Capital Partners GmbH

Sven Oleownik has extensive experience in Management Consulting and M&A Advisory as well as in the Private Equity business. In addition, he was repeatedly assigned as a supervisory board member of various family-owned businesses. As such, he also trains supervisory board member as part of the Deutsche Börse qualification program.

He already financed his studies as a shareholder in a trade fair construction company, which he founded jointly with two other partners. After graduating, he began his professional career at an investment company financed by family offices. In the context of new investments and the support of portfolio companies, he also became Managing Director of a portfolio company active in the field of manufacturing industrial goods. He then spent nine years at Dr. Wieselhuber & Partner, a leading management consultancy focused on the advisory of family-owned companies, ultimately as a partner and member of the management board. Sven mainly led projects in the field of strategic development, restructuring, buy and build projects up to the integration of new acquisitions, their financing up to IPOs as well as changes of shareholders and succession. For further twelve years he was Managing Partner of Corporate Finance Advisory at Deloitte in Munich. His sector focus was primarily on consumer goods and technology companies as well as private equity. Before joining Emeram, for seven years he headed the German office of Gimv, an international private equity firm listed on the stock exchange in Brussels, building up its team and investment business in DACH.

General Manager, Datasite Enterprise

Todd Albright is the General Manager of Datasite Enterprise, a business unit of Datasite, a leading SaaS platform used by enterprises globally to execute complex, strategic projects. In this role, Todd is responsible for leading and executing the commercial strategy, including sales, product, and customer success for Enterprise, the company’s flagship SaaS solution. Additionally, Todd is responsible for the cross-sale of all Datasite solutions through the Datasite Enterprise channel.

Prior to this, Todd led Datasite’s sales organization as Global Chief Revenue Officer, managing Datasite’s go-to-market strategy and a worldwide organization of more than 450 sales, enablement, and operational professionals supporting clients in over 180 countries.

Before joining Datasite in 2015, Todd held several international sales leadership roles at a variety of high-growth firms, including FIS Global, Intralinks (now part of SS&C), and EY.

Todd holds a BA in Public Policy from Duke University and an AAS in International Economics from Friedrich-Alexander Universität, Erlangen-Nürnberg. He has also completed executive education programs at Harvard Business School.

He lives with his wife and children in New York.

Principal, Verdane

Katja joined Verdane in 2024. She has previously been working as an Investment Director at a DACH mid-cap fund, where she sourced and closed partnerships with several companies in the German and European mid-market segment. Katja started her career at Bain & Company with a primary focus on the private equity industry. At Verdane she focuses on investments within the energy transition and resource efficiency space. Katja holds a Master’s Degree from the ESB Business School in Reutlingen and completed exchange-programs at Harvard University and Portland State University.

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Chicago

Sid focuses his practice on mergers and acquisitions and emerging company/venture capital transactions. He has experience representing public and private companies, private equity firms, and investment and hedge funds in an array of corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions (both asset and stock), divestitures, financings, fund formation and general corporate matters across multiple industries. Additionally, he regularly represents founders and investors (strategic and financial) in a variety of emerging company transactions, including angel and series investments.

Managing Director, Stifel’s Equity Capital Markets Group, Paris

Pierre Kiecolt-Wahl is Managing Director in Stifel’s Equity Capital Markets Group and based in Paris. Pierre joined Stifel through its 2025 acquisition of Bryan, Garnier & Co, where he was Partner and Co-Head of the Public and Private Capital Markets. With experience in Hong Kong, Singapore and London, having raised capital for a variety of issuers across more than 20 international exchanges.

He previously worked at Citi, Lehman Brothers and Jefferies where he helped kick-start European ECM efforts.

Pierre graduated at Macalester College and holds both American and French nationalities.

Managing Director, WAVE Equity Partners

Praveen Sahay is a co-founder and Managing Director of WAVE Equity Partners, a private equity firm in Boston that provides expansion capital to breakthrough sustainability companies solving some of our greatest environmental challenges such as clean energy, food, air, mobility, advanced materials, and carbon capture. 

Originally a Nuclear Physicist, he prospected for offshore oil and gas deposits; managed retail operations for India's largest mutual fund; and led armed battalions as a Deputy Commandant in India.  He also helped Mozambique’s democratic transition in 1994 as the United Nations Elections Coordinator. Before founding WAVE, he made venture investments at venture funds VIMAC and Updata Venture Partners for 12 years. 

Praveen has an MBA from the University of Chicago, a VC Kauffman Fellowship, a degree in Geophysics from IIT, Roorkee, an MS in Nuclear Physics, and BS in Physics Honors from St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi. He was awarded a UN Peace Medal for his services in Mozambique.

Senior Corporate Counsel, EPAM Systems

Mark Quien is senior corporate counsel at EPAM Systems, Inc. He primarily focuses on global M&A, internal restructurings and general corporate matters with some responsibility for global real estate and IP-related matters. Prior to EPAM, Mark worked at a large, international law firm in its corporate department prior to joining EPAM.

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  London

Brendan’s practice focuses on advising clients on the structuring, establishment and operation of, and investment into, alternative investment funds across all major asset classes including credit, private equity, infrastructure and real estate. He also advises in relation to spin outs, secondary transactions, GP-led restructurings, managed accounts, carried interest and other co-investment schemes.

Partner, Reed Smith LLP, Frankfurt

Oliver advises on all aspects of debt finance transactions both domestically and internationally. He focuses in particular on counseling financial institutions, private equity sponsors and other investors, credit/debt funds and corporate clients on acquisition finance (leveraged buyouts, including recapitalizations), corporate finance (corporate lending, including refinancings) and structured finance.
In addition to advising on transactions on a global scale, Oliver completed studies in Germany and the US, including the LL.M. program at Madison law school, Wisconsin and the Executive Education Program at Harvard Law School, Cambridge.

Prior to joining Reed Smith, Oliver worked for other leading international law firms with the same advisory focus.

Partner, Bright Capital

Felix is a Partner at Bright Capital and is part of the Frankfurt based Private Credit Investment Team. He joined Bright Capital in 2018 and is responsible for originating, underwriting, and executing sponsor-backed and predominantly sponsor-less investment opportunities with a strong buy-and-build angle in the DACH lower-mid-market. Felix has >10 years of industry experience and, prior to joining Bright Capital, worked in Leveraged Finance at HSBC, where he focused on structuring and executing mid and large cap sponsor-backed LBO transactions. Felix started his career in Investment Banking, holds a Master of Science in Finance and studied in Germany, the US and France.

Managing Director, Head of Leveraged Finance, Branch Manager of DUS office, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC)

Since 2016, Oliver is covering SMBC’s (Sumitomo), continental European Leverage Finance Activities mainly in DACH and Italy, responsible for origination, execution of new financing transaction and portfolio management, offering  "one stop shopping" financing solutions ranging from UW of large cap transactions, term loans, bridge to bond, stretched senior to Unitranche solutions provided by SMBC/PSC Funds and out of SMBC other debt fund vehicles, e.g. Kuon but also providing post IPO facilities. Furthermore, Oliver is credit committee member for our asset management.

Since 2024, Oliver is also Branch Head of our DUS operations.

Prior to SMBC Oliver was Managing Director at Rabobank responsible for the Corporate Finance/Leveraged Finance activities in the DACH countries and a member of the local management and credit committee. He joined the Bank in 1997 and was in charge of setting up new industry and product departments and implementing respective structures and strategies.

Before having started his banking careers, Oliver spent almost four years with KPMG as Audit Manager in the accountant and consultancy department engaged with small, mid and large cap companies.

Oliver holds a master degree in Business Administration and Economics from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, Berlin, Germany.

Head of DACH, Kartesia

Conference Chair
Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Munich

Dr. Nikolaus von Jacobs advises private equity funds and German strategic players on private equity, venture capital and private and public mergers and acquisitions.
Before joining Reed Smith, he was a partner at an international law firm and headed its German private equity practice. He has also worked in investment banking and European capital markets for Merrill Lynch in London.

Partner, MADAUS Capital Partners, Munich

Nicolas Hübner is partner at the family office MADAUS Capital Partners. Since 2016 he has been building up the appropriate structures to successfully manage his family’s wealth holistically. Herby Alternative investments and especially direct private equity investments play a major role in asset allocation.

Before joining MADAUS, Nicolas was portfolio manager at a small- to mid-cap private equity company, worked in consulting and was at a major international corporate and investment bank.

Partner, Astorius Private Equity

Oskar is a Partner at specialist small cap investment firm Astorius in Hamburg, where he is primarily focused on investor relations and fundraising.

He has worked with private pools of capital throughout his career that began in the Private Wealth Management division at Goldman Sachs. In his capacity as the family officer for a Swiss-based tech entrepreneur, Oskar co-founded ASK THE CIRCLE, a global collaboration and deal-exchange platform for Single Family Office investors. He joined Astorius in 2019.

Oskar is an Econometrician by academic training in Maastricht, Taipei and Milan, and a mediocre golfer by passion.

Founding Partner, OHM Capital

Franz Angermann is a founding partner of Ohm Capital, an Investment Office based in Munich. The firm serves a number of German families as Investment and Family Office. Ohm takes overall responsibility and control of its clients situation and assets and applies a clear governance from strategic to operational levels. In this work, Ohm Capital continuously combines investment and tax-legal considerations on all relevant decisions and processes.

Franz has over 25 years of experience in advising family offices and managing large private fortunes. He began his career as a Managing Partner in a Munich tax consulting firm, focusing for over a decade on tax consulting Family Offices, often in international context. He then served as Executive Director at Goldman Sachs Wealth Management, and as Managing Director at UBS between 2006 and 2017. At UBS Franz managed the German Ultra High Networth Client business, followed by a European product role in Private Equity and Direct Investments.

Franz Angermann completed a certificate as German tax advisor and a doctorate in international tax law at the University of Hamburg, based on a degree in business administration from the University of Munich.

Partner, Penguin Capital

Nico is a partner at Penguin Capital, heads the alternatives program and serves on the private equity investment committee. Before building Penguin Capital’s family investment platform, he co-founded one of Europe’s leading adtech players with $800m+ in annual revenues. He holds a BA in Business Administration and Management from the University of St. Gallen and a MS in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Partner, Reed Smith LLP, London

With significant experience in the life sciences sector derived from his many years in the industry, Milan is a trusted advisor to strategic and financial parties seeking counsel on mergers and acquisitions (including product acquisitions and divestments); private equity, venture capital, and other equity investment transactions; joint ventures; restructurings; and general corporate and commercial matters.

Milan is England & Wales qualified, but has significant experience leading or “quarterbacking” deals across a number of jurisdictions, including New York and Delaware. This enables him to translate the deal structures, market practices and terminology peculiar to both markets to clients on either side of the ‘pond’ with confidence.

Prior to joining Reed Smith, Milan spent more than seven years in-house at the Swiss headquarters of Novartis, managing many of the pharma giant’s most notable strategic transactions during that period. His time in-house, both at Novartis and at a London based venture capital firm, have instilled in him a particularly commercial and pragmatic approach to client service. Leveraging this experience, Milan’s practice also includes serving as a remote general counsel to emerging and middle-market companies, particularly in circumstances where they are yet to establish a formal in-house legal function.

VP Sales EMEA Advanced Therapies, Siemens Healthineers, Forchheim

Patrick’s career to date covers the spectrum from clinical , academia and commercial management within the Medtech imaging space. Having been with Siemens Healthineers for 14 years across a variety of roles, his focus and speciality is on strategic market expansion in this highly competitive market.

Managing Director, Raymond James, Munich

Tobias co-heads the European Healthcare Coverage at Raymond James, with particular focus on the Healthcare Services and Health-Tech segments. Prior to joining Raymond James, Tobias worked as Partner at Cowen, focusing exclusively on Healthcare M&A in the DACH and European regions. Previous roles include 8+ years at GCA Altium (now Houlihan Lokey) and 4+ years at Deutsche Bank Corporate Finance in London.

Tobias holds an LLB from King’s College London and an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.

Co-Founder and Managing Director, PARATUS Holding GmbH

Friedrich von Kleist is Co-Founder and Managing Director of PARATUS, a Healthcare Software B2B Buy and Build. Before starting PARATUS, he worked at GREENPEAK Partners as Head of Healthcare investments. Furthermore, Friedrich von Kleist gained several years of experience as a healthcare management consultant and private equity fund-of-fund investment professional. Friedrich von Kleist holds a Master in Management from ESCP Europe in Paris, a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from University Kiel and is a certified bank clerk trained at Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. KGaA.

Partner, capiton AG, Berlin

Fritjof Franz is Partner of capiton AG. Before joining capiton in 2018, he worked for several years as Head of Global M&A and Licensing for the listed Paul Hartmann Group, as well as several years for a private equity investor, a management consultancy and as a lawyer in the field of M&A and restructuring. Fritjof Franz is a certified lawyer and holds a LL.M. in M&A from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a MBA from IE Business School in Madrid.

Counsel, Reed Smith LLP, London

Colin is a counsel in the Financial Industry Group, working principally in the Restructuring & Insolvency team, having qualified into the team in 2015.

Colin works on a variety of contentious and non-contentious insolvency and restructuring matters which frequently feature cross-border elements. Colin advises insolvency practitioners, corporate clients, creditors, trustees and directors across a range of industry sectors with particular experience in shipping, aviation and financial services.
Colin has completed two six-month client secondments at the Civil Aviation Authority and the asset-finance team at Barclays Bank Plc.

Managing Director, Andersch Assurance WPG

Dr. Christoph Schuler has more than 20 years of experience in supporting restructuring/turnaround, refinancing, and transaction processes. Dr. Schuler is primarily responsible for developing restructuring and future concepts in accordance with BGH case law and IDW S 6 to create transparency in challenging situations. Based on these decisions, sustainable financing solutions are developed and implemented under his guidance. As a certified public accountant, Dr. Schuler also provides support in accounting issues in arbitration proceedings, purchase price allocations, and in the context of corporate transactions. Dr. Schuler received his doctorate from Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and has been a certified public accountant since 2010.

Founder, Managing Partner, ECCO Group

Uli Lorenz is the founder and managing partner of the ECCO Group. He is responsible for acquisitions and leads the investment team. With over ten years of experience in private equity and a career that began in investment banking, he has extensive expertise in executing complex, cross-border transactions. His ability to understand the specific requirements of sellers makes him a valued partner, particularly in challenging carve-out transactions.

Before founding the ECCO Group, Uli was instrumental in establishing two pan-European private equity companies and, as Managing Director, contributed to significantly expanding their portfolios. His analytical skills and strategic foresight shape the investment strategy of the ECCO Group.

Partner, Geopolitical Strategy, Defense & Security, EY-Parthenon

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  New York

Peter is a partner and leader in the Technology Transactions practice within Reed Smith’s Global Corporate Group. He has an electrical engineering and intellectual property background, and had worked in the computer science industry prior to his career in the legal services industry. He has extensive experience advising corporate clients regarding tech transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, spinoffs, and complex IP transactional matters, in each case in the intellectual property, information technology, cyber security and privacy practice areas. Peter has provided counsel on numerous intellectual property portfolio and patent prosecution matters. Peter also has extensive experience litigating complex IP matters, with a focus on patent litigation involving technology in the electrical engineering arts.

Peter is a member of Reed Smith’s Emerging Technologies team and a lead Tech Transactions partner in the science, engineering, and software space and handles matters all industries and technologies, including matters for clients in diverse technology fields such as computer software, microelectronics, IoT and other Internet technology, blockchain, cryptocurrency. He is also a member of On-Chain: Reed Smith’s Crypto & Digital Assets Group which represents clients relating to Cryptocurrency and related mining matters as well as matters relating to other Digital Assets such as Tokens and Stable Coins, and related fractionalization, FinTech, Health / MedTech, InsurTech, information technology systems, telecommunications, media technology, virtual reality, solar, defense and aerospace technology, cyber security, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data and analytics technology, and data protection.

Prior to his legal career, Peter gained more than four years’ experience as a lead negotiator for IP licenses and agreements for IBM in the Intellectual Property & Licensing (IP&L) of IBM’s Headquarters Division and more than 15 years’ experience as an engineer and manager for IBM in the microelectronics division, during which time, he performed such tasks as card-level electronics design and testing, software development, and semiconductor research and development.

CEO, base camp management consulting GmbH

Marcus P. Höfer is the CEO of base camp. Thanks to his cooperation with a number of private equity funds and their portfolio companies, Marcus Höfer offers long-term management consulting experience and has been extensively involved in various international and national digitalisation projects and transformations. As an early adopter of new technologies and a 'digital native', Marcus Höfer is the optimum contact person in all areas of digitalisation for companies that dare and want to take this important step.

Marcus Höfer graduated from the Technische Universität München with an MSc in information systems focussing on corporate finance.

General Manager, Grata

Andrew Bocskocsky is the General Manager of Grata, a business unit of Datasite, a leading SaaS platform used by enterprises globally to execute complex, strategic projects. In this role, Andrew is responsible for leading the delivery of research and insight to dealmakers, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and unique real-time data.

Andrew is an entrepreneur and technologist. He joined Datasite from Grata, where he was Co-Founder and CEO since 2016, and which Datasite acquired in 2024. Before that, Andrew founded Gramercy 360, a technology consulting, strategy and development firm specializing in architecting cloud-based platforms, machine learning and analytical systems. He has also held engineering and analyst roles at Palantir and Endurance.

Andrew holds a BA in Economics and Computer Science from Harvard University.

Founding Partner, Helena Capital

CEO, VenCap International plc

Tim is VenCap’s CEO and is a member of the VenCap investment committee. He has been investing in venture capital funds since 1994. Prior to joining VenCap, Tim was an Economist and Statistician at the Association of British Insurers. He received his BSc (Hons) in Economics and Statistics from Coventry University and is an Associate of the CFA Society of the UK. Tim is a non-executive director of Polar Capital Technology Trust plc and Chrysalis Investment Limited. Tim should have retired from all sports many years ago.

Senior Managing Director, Head of Germany Technology, Co-Leader of EMEA Technology, FTI Consulting

Renato Fazzone is the co-leader for Europe, the Middle East and Africa within the Technology segment and founded the Düsseldorf office of FTI Consulting. For nearly 25 years, Mr. Fazzone has worked exclusively in the technology field as an expert in business continuity, regulatory compliance and the technical and strategic application of technology to address regulatory requirements and other digital risks.

Applying cutting-edge technology, Mr. Fazzone helps clients identify hard facts related to highly sensitive, complex cases, providing specialized knowledge in IT infrastructure, cloud applications and emerging data sources such as Microsoft 365, WhatsApp and Slack. He has worked closely with management and supervisory boards and, where necessary, has reported to regulatory authorities such as the Securities & Exchange Commission, the European Commission, the Department of Justice, Deutsche Flugsicherung (“DFS”), local prosecutors and competition authorities, helping to navigate data nuances, including the use and meaning of emojis, linked content and how to evaluate documents with multiple cloud versions.

Mr. Fazzone helps clients navigate high-stakes corporate matters such as fraud, corruption, asset misappropriation, financial crimes and antitrust violations. He has extensive expertise in serving clients across a wide array of industries, including financial services, banking, retail, automotive, construction, real estate, steel and other areas of manufacturing.

Mr. Fazzone has provided advice on a wide variety of special investigations. He has also advised clients on data leakage and intellectual property theft, as well as competition, misconduct and litigation issues. In addition, Mr. Fazzone authored numerous articles published in the European press and is a frequent conference speaker.

Prior to joining FTI Technology, Mr. Fazzone was a Partner at BDO AG in Germany, heading the e-discovery and computer forensic service.

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Frankfurt

Nina Siewert advises clients on German tax law, in particular on domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, group structuring and real estate investments. She has significant experience in structuring funds and debt instruments as well as in tax matters relating to distressed transactions and restructurings.

Prior to joining Reed Smith, Nina was a tax partner in a major international law firm. She has also served as Counsel for two previous firms. Nina is admitted as a German attorney (Rechtsanwältin) and as a chartered tax advisor (Steuerberaterin).

Managing Partner, Vidia Equity

Johanna is Founding Partner of Vidia, where she is responsible for the firm’s general strategy, co-leading the transactions team and fundraising. She founded Vidia beginning of 2021 with the aim of driving decarbonization in the industrial segment, with a focus on scaling climate solutions for the highest emitting industries in the DACH and Nordic regions. Prior to founding Vidia, she was a Partner at Orlando Management, a Munich based midmarket private equity firm. She also founded Orlando Nordics in Stockholm, successfully establishing Orlando’s presence in the Nordics. Johanna started her career in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs. Johanna studied law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg and the University of Sydney.

CEO, Managing Partner, Intelligent Fluids

Christian Römlein is CEO and Managing Partner of Intelligent Fluids GmbH, a Leipzig-based DeepTech pioneer specializing in sustainable, high-performance cleaning fluids for industrial applications. With more than thirty years of international executive experience in strategy, marketing, and entrepreneurship, Christian has established Intelligent Fluids as a global driver of green chemistry for industries such as microelectronics, oil & gas, and maintenance. He is passionate about combining business success with environmental responsibility and actively serves as honorary senator of Germany’s largest SME association and Vice President of the SME Alliance for Africa. Christian is an advocate for innovation that delivers impact for both business and the planet.

Partner, Summa Equity Advisory GmbH

Matthias is responsible for Summa Equity in DACH (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria), spanning sourcing, value creation, and portfolio management across our investment themes with a focus on Resource Efficiency and Tech-Enabled Transformation.

Summa Equity invests in companies that are solving global challenges and creating positive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes for society. Summa’s purpose is to co-create win-win for investors, portfolio companies, and society through aligning its vision and investing in line with the UN SDGs. Summa invests across the themes of Resource Efficiency, Changing Demographics, and Tech-Enabled Transformation, and has c. EUR 4bn assets under management.

Before joining Summa Equity, Matthias was a Partner at The Riverside Company and before that a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. He holds a Master of Science in International Business Administration from WU Vienna and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Munich

Dr. Germar Enders focuses his practice on private equity, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and general corporate law. Germar has extensive experience in advising strategic and financial investors as well as management teams on domestic, cross-border and multi-jurisdictional transactions, and on all aspects of corporate law, including corporate structurings. He advises in a broad range of industries, including automotive, consumer, e-commerce, IT and healthcare.

Prior to joining Reed Smith, Germar worked at other leading international law firms in the field of Private Equity/Corporate/M&A and as assistant professor at the Max-Planck-Institute and the University of Munich. During his legal clerkship, he trained in Cologne and New York. He regularly publishes articles on matters of corporate and civil law, including in legal reference books and commentaries.

Co-Founder & Managing Director, Radial Consulting Group

Sascha has more than 12 years of professional experience and has been working at EY, Porsche Consulting, and as a Senior Manager at Deloitte Financial Advisory before founding Radial Consulting Group in 2022. He has led transaction and restructuring projects for PE portfolio companies. Sascha’s expertise includes hypergrowth and turnaround situations, and sectors such as industrials, commerce, and SaaS.

He is also a lecturer at EBS Business School, Munich Business School and the International School of Management.

Investment Director, Family Trust Investor FTI GmbH, Munich

Friedrich Wallwitz is an investment director and has been active in the investment business since 2018. Prior to Family Trust, he was an investor for Gimv NV and an M&A advisor focusing on succession situations for Edmond de Rothschild and PMB Capital, guiding family-owned companies through a change of ownership. He began his career at J.P. Morgan as a commodities trader.
 
Friedrich holds a B.A. Economics and International Relations from Lancaster University, and an LL.M. Law & Economics from the Universities of Hamburg, Rotterdam and Berkeley. In addition to his work at J.P. Morgan, he completed an M.A. Christian Theology at the University of London.

Partner, Managing Director, SGP Schneider Geiwitz

Dirk Pahlke joined SGP Schneider Geiwitz in May 2024 as Partner and Managing Director for the newly established SGP Principal Solutions business, focusing on the specific challenge-driven transformation of a target under temporary full ownership with a clearly defined upside sharing mechanism at exit for the benefit of the previous owner.

Before joining SGP Schneider Geiwitz, he was a Global Partner of Rothschild & Co and head of M&A in the German-speaking countries until the end of 2023 where he worked for nearly 30 years based in Frankfurt and, earlier in his career, London.

Founder, Managing Director, neomerge

Dieter is Founder and Managing Director of neomerge, an innovative M&A advisory firm focused on sell-side mandates, deal sourcing, and buy & build services for investors. With more than 15 years of experience, he has advised entrepreneurs, mid-sized companies, international corporates, and financial investors on succession planning, M&A transactions, and strategic financing. Prior to founding neomerge, Dieter led the expansion of Barclays and Rothschild’s technology M&A practices in the DACH region. Earlier roles include M&A and growth capital advisory at KPMG and UBS.

Neomerge combines digital tools with a holistic advisory model and deep sector expertise to deliver high-quality transaction services with exceptional efficiency. The firm’s technology-driven approach ensures consistent quality and maximizes deal success – offering mid-sized companies and investors access to services previously reserved for large corporations. Its team supports innovative, technology-oriented businesses with M&A and fundraising, and works with corporates and private equity investors through its proprietary Buy Side Accelerator to develop targeted, tech-enabled buy & build strategies.

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Munich

Philipp is a partner in the Munich office and a member of Reed Smith’s Entertainment & Media Industry Group. Philipp has a broad proficiency in the digital area. With more than two decades of experience, he has a strong focus on cross-border projects and complex agreements. In the digital sector, his dynamic practice involves cloud, mobile and e-commerce, Internet of Things, AI and 4IR frameworks as well as Web3, metaverse and data economy. More generally, he covers information technology, outsourcing, telecoms, and data protection.

Philipp’s clients include major international industrials from the high-tech sector as well as specialized SMEs, highly innovative start-ups, and business incubators. In addition, his expertise includes digital solutions in the area of sustainability and impact investing.

CFO and Managing Director, DHL Supply Chain Europe

Dr. Michael Rolle is CFO and Managing Director at DHL Supply Chain, the global market leader in Contract Logistics providing end-to-end Supply Chain solutions for customers from all industries. He has held various Management positions within DHL Group and started as Global Head of M&A. He is also an industry advisor to Private Equity firms on Logistics and Ecommerce and an investor in Logistics Data & Technology companies. Michael started his career in Private Equity at Apax Partners. He studied Business Management, holds a PhD in Econometrics and studied in Cologne, Paris and Boston.

Partner,  Reed Smith LLP,  Munich

Andreas is co-managing partner of Reed Smith’s Munich office and a member of the firm’s Emerging Technologies Group. He is also co-head of the global Artificial Intelligence practice of Reed Smith.

Andreas' practice focuses on legal advice around technology, digitalization, data, artificial intelligence, privacy and IT/cyber security (Germany and EU). He is passionate about technology and privacy and a thought-leader when it comes to legally evaluating new technologies and finding practical ways to “make things possible.” In addition to advising clients regarding compliance, product development and agreements, Andreas is also highly experienced in representing clients before data protection authorities and courts. 

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, DealCircle GmbH

Graig Gröbli is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DealCircle, a holistic technology solution with the world's largest database of search and buy profiles. The superior matching technology makes the Hamburg-based fintech, founded in 2018, the preferred partner of hundreds of M&A advisors in buyer identification and market outreach. They get access to a Big Data-supported buyer database with over 250,000 profiles (family offices, private equity, MBI and corporates).

At DealCircle he is primarily responsible for M&A operations and business development. 

Prior to founding DealCircle, Graig Gröbli was a partner in a mid-cap private equity investor with a focus on business services & software transactions.

Chief Digital Officer, cysmo Cyber Risk GmbH

Hannah Victoria Gross brings over 15 years of experience in the finance industry, including 8 years at the renowned consulting firm PPI Group in Hamburg, where she specialized in digital transformation within the insurance sector. She has a proven track record in driving innovation and helping insurers navigate digital change. After her time in consulting, Hannah transitioned to a corporate banking platform provider, where she led digital expansion efforts.

Back in 2016, Hannah was one of the idea creators for cysmo®, an automated cyber risk rating platform that leverages outside-in technology to assess externally visible vulnerabilities in companies, portfolios, and supply chains. At that time, digital transformation was reshaping industries, and the growing significance of cyber risks made it a natural and critical counterpart in this transformation.

Today, cysmo® is the market leader in Germany. Hannah returned to the newly established cysmo® Cyber Risk GmbH to drive the company's international expansion, as it is now trusted by major insurers, MGAs, brokers, banks and M&A professionals.

Her expertise spans digital platform solutions, international expansion, and cyber risk management, with a strong focus on the insurance and financial sectors.

Partner, Miller Thomson LLP, Toronto and Vancouver

Adam Bata is a M&A/private equity partner in Miller Thomson LLP’s Toronto and Vancouver offices, who advises clients on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, equity and venture capital financings, and other strategic transactions. He also provides ‘external general counsel’ support to emerging and high-growth clients at every stage of the corporate lifecycle by assisting with structuring, corporate governance and ongoing commercial matters. Adam frequently works with European acquirers and investors on their Canadian deals.

Partner, Reed Smith LLP, London

Tom Whelan focuses his practice on private equity and M&A, advising private equity sponsors, multi strategy funds, other private capital investors and corporates, helping them deploy capital across the world.

Tom handles buyouts, including secondary buy-outs and secondaries, take privates and co-investments, general M&A, bolt-ons, management incentive plans, restructurings and refinancings through to exits. During the course of any investment, Tom advises on portfolio company work and any changes to management incentive plans.

Tom regularly executes transactions in regulated sectors such as healthcare, technology, media and telecoms, financial services, water and energy, as well as handling many transactions in other sectors such as real estate, hotels and leisure, food, consumer and retail, industrial and automotive.

Managing Director, CEO Germany, Chairman of the Management Board, Lincoln International AG

Michael provides overall strategic and operational leadership for Lincoln International’s activities in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Benelux region. He principals the procurement and management of clients, leads deal teams and recruits qualified personnel.

In addition to his operational roles within the firm, Michael is passionate about mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Germany. He has 25 years of experience advising on M&A, public takeovers, fairness opinions and corporate divestitures. His clients are comprised of large corporations as well as mid-sized privately-owned businesses and leading private equity groups. Michael brings global, cross-border expertise to his projects, helping clients navigate the increasing complexity of transactions, and creating a comprehensive deal experience.

Michael is currently Vice Chairman of Shareholder Value Beteiligungen AG and Vice Chairman of the German software company, SNP SE. Michael is lecturer on the topic of M&A at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

Prior to joining Lincoln International, Michael led M&A at Sal. Oppenheim (Germany), Europe’s largest private bank. Previously, he worked in the investment banking division of Citigroup Global Markets in London and Frankfurt. Michael began his career at EY.

Michael holds a doctorate in corporate finance from Fribourg University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst in the UK.