Shearman & Sterling has re-established its presence in Munich – seven years after withdrawing from Germany's private equity hub – with the hire of acquisition finance partners Florian Harder and Jann Jetter from Linklaters.

The move signals a renewed commitment to Germany, where, under the leadership of Georg Thoma, who is now a consultant, the New York firm built up a market-leading position for big ticket M&A in the 1990s and 2000s.

Harder, who will head up the firm's Frankfurt and Munich offices, arrives at Shearman after more than 13 years with Linklaters in Munich, having started his career at SJ Berwin in Frankfurt.

He specialises in M&A and private equity deals, joint ventures and corporate restructurings, while Jetter focuses on tax-oriented domestic and international M&A structuring.

Shearman originally shuttered its nine-lawyer Munich office back in 2013 as part of a wider pull back in Germany, which also saw the closure of its 31-lawyer Düsseldorf arm, where a highly rated team of corporate and disputes lawyers joined Latham & Watkins to set up its new office in Germany's industrial centre.

Alongside its Frankfurt office, which survived the original retrenchment, the return of the Munich office increases the firm’s European office footprint to seven, adding to locations in Brussels, London, Paris, Milan and Rome.

Shearman said the move was part of a ‘continued focus to grow strategically in specific geographies and core practices including in Germany across M&A, private equity, tax and financing including restructuring’.  

Senior partner David Beveridge said the new partners brought “knowledge, experience and deep relationships with some of the largest financial sponsors and corporates in Europe, which complements our existing global offering.”  

Ward McKimm, European managing partner, added: “Given the market opportunity domestically, Florian and Jann's experience and expertise will be key to the growth of our transaction-focused capabilities in Germany, with the prospect of further strategic developments across our broader European platform.”

The office opening comes a year after the Shearman unveiled its seventh US arm, in Dallas. Meanwhile, in October four members of the ex-Shearman Düsseldorf team that landed at Latham – Harald Selzner, Martin Neuhaus, Natalie Daghles and Rainer Wilke – joined Noerr.

Also launching in Munich is Clyde & Co, which this week unveiled the hire of a three-partner insurance team from Norton Rose Fulbright.