Twin hire strengthens Latham & Watkins presence in Germany's M&A market

Twin hire strengthens Latham & Watkins presence in Germany's M&A market

Twin partner hire from Baker McKenzie Ingo Strauss and Heiko Gotsche join the firm's Düsseldorf office

American international law firm Latham & Watkins has made moves to strengthen its corporate practice department in Germany with a twin hire of M&A lawyers.

Ingo Strauss and Heiko Gotsche will join the firm's Düsseldorf office from rival Baker McKenzie. The duo joins as partners and bright with them combined experience of nearly three decades in advising public and private companies, buyout firms, banks and other investors on a range of transactional matters, from cross-border M&A to carve-outs.

Burc Hesse, the firm's German office managing partner, said that Strauss and Gotsche's practices and experience will add tremendous additional firepower to Latham & Watkin's market-leading M&A capabilities in Europe.

Strauss, a former professional international handball player, was associated with Baker McKenzie for approximately nine years and was chair of its private equity group. He had worked with German firm Hengeler Mueller after having a brief stint with Linklaters in Cologne.

Gotsche, on the other hand, was a partner at Baker McKenzie for nearly half a decade. Like Strauss, he was also in the past associated with Hengeler Mueller where he spent six years.

"Ingo and Heiko are seasoned M&A practitioners with formidable technical skills, strong commercial judgement, and deep knowledge in a number of dynamic global industries that only comes with years at the forefront of the practice. Their arrival represents another step forward for the firm as we look to further establish the premier transactional practice," Ed Barnett, global co-chair of Latham & Watkin's M&A practice in London, said.