Kirkland & Ellis expands German presence and recruits expert from Latham & Watkins

Kirkland & Ellis is set to establish a presence in Frankfurt, marking its second German location, with the recruitment of prominent corporate lawyer Tobias Larisch (PICTURED) from Latham & Watkins.

Larisch, who previously led Latham’s continental European corporate division, will join Kirkland as a partner. This move comes two decades after the global legal giant opened its 50-attorney Munich office in 2004.

With a background at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer before his 2018 move to Latham, Larisch brings extensive experience advising international private equity firms, infrastructure funds, and corporations on mergers and acquisitions, public takeovers, joint ventures, and carve-outs. At Kirkland, he is expected to bolster the firm’s transactional practice in Germany.

Larisch’s portfolio includes significant deals in the energy and infrastructure sectors, as well as intricate transactions involving public companies. His recent work includes advising KKR on its partnership with German renewable energy company Encavis AG and representing E.ON in several transactions, including the divestment of its waste-to-energy division to EQT.

At Kirkland, Larisch will collaborate with Munich-based corporate partners such as Benjamin Leyendecker, Philip Goj, and Henrik Braun. The team has recently advised on high-profile deals, including Blackstone and Rivean Capital’s acquisition of Schletter Group and TPG and CDPQ’s €3.9bn purchase of Aareon from Aareal Bank.