Skadden set to launch German capital markets practice after double hire

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom is set to launch a capital markets practice in Germany after the hire a two-partner team from Shearman & Sterling. Shearman's regional practice head Stephan Hutter and fellow securities partner Katja Kaulamo will join Skadden’s Frankfurt office. Scott Simpson, cohead of Skadden's global transactions group, says the hires represent "a very important" step in broadening the firm’s coverage in Germany. "To be a leading global transactional firm, you have to be able to offer your corporate, private equity and financial institutions clients capital markets advice in key markets like the U.S., London and Germany," Simpson says. "Our practice in Germany has historically been focused on M&A, private equity and banking, so these hires fulfill that strategic need to deepen our corporate practice." Skadden's European corporate finance cohead Rick Ely says the move is part of a "broader strategy" to take advantage of growing activity levels in the corporate bond market. "Unlike in the U.S., where corporates tend to rely much more on the capital markets for financing, European corporates have traditionally depended on bank debt for the majority of their funding needs," Ely says. "With increased capital requirements and other regulatory changes causing banks to limit their activities, we believe European capital markets activity will continue to increase."

Skadden set to launch German capital markets practice after double hire amlawdaily.typepad.com Wed, Feb 8, 2012