Goodwin Procter is expanding its German presence to Munich with the hire of private equity partner Jan Schinkoth and an associate from US rival Sidley Austin. 

Schinkoth, who will be resident in Munich on a remote basis, is the latest partner to join Goodwin’s European private equity bench from Sidley following a five-partner team hire last fall that saw former Sidley private equity co-heads Erik Dahl and Christian Iwasko jump to Goodwin’s London base in October. 

Moving across with him is Sidley Austin associate Sebastian Walczak, who will take up the role of counsel. The firm would not comment on whether it had plans to open in Munich, Germany's private equity hub. A spokesperson said: "We are deeply committed to having scale and depth in Germany in our core areas and are open-minded about onboarding talent in geographies outside of Frankfurt.”

Having joined Sidley from DLA Piper in 2017, Schinkoth is moving to Goodwin after four years with the Chicago-based firm’s Munich private equity team. He worked at Kirkland & Ellis for eight years prior to his stint at Sidley, having made partner back in 2010. 

Schinkoth brings with him more than 15 years of experience in advising private equity transactions both domestically and cross-border. He specialises in guiding private equity and strategic investors through complex leveraged buy-outs, refinanced transactions, growth equity deals and other corporate matters. 

Dahl said Schinkoth was a “great fit” for Goodwin’s “expansive” European private equity platform due to his market-leading expertise and collaborative approach to advising sponsors on cross-border large cap buyouts as the firm looked to secure a larger foothold in the German market. 

“His deep knowledge of the technology space in Germany also provides a bridge to our funds clients investing in an industry we recognise to be disrupting almost every sector of the global economy,” Dahl added. 

Goodwin’s European private equity network has grown substantially in the last 12 months, with the arrivals of Sava Savov, Michelle Tong and John Van De North — who all joined from Sidley alongside Dahl and Iwasko — in September and former CMS private equity head James Grimwood in January. 

Further London hires made by the firm include Hugh O’Sullivan and Geoff O’Dea, who joined Goodwin earlier this year from Kirkland and Baker McKenzie, respectively. 

Following the recent flurry of hires, the firm now boasts more than 150 private equity lawyers in Europe across its London, Frankfurt, Paris and Luxembourg offices. 

The firm was ranked fourth in Mergermarket’s Q1 league table for European private equity exits, advising on six deals valued at $3.8bn

Since setting up shop in Frankfurt in 2016, the firm’s German team has grown to more than 30 lawyers working across the private equity, real estate, technology and financial service industries.