Mediobanca strengthens in European advisory services with the opening of a new office in Germany

Mediobanca is opening a new branch office in Frankfurt to focus on Corporate and Investment Banking advisory business in Germany, with a particular focus on the Mid Market segment, which has been developed successfully in the last few years in Italy.

The new office, which will be operative as from July 2024 with a newly-established team of 12 professionals, will provide M&A and Debt Advisory services to German companies, family-run firms and private investors in various sectors, primarily in the Mid Corporate segment. The new office will also enable Mediobanca to expand the range of services it offers, including cross-border M&A advisory activities, strengthening the Bank’s commitment to Germany.

The Frankfurt branch will be headed by Wolfram Schmerl as Branch Manager and Christoph Handrup as Co-Head of Mediobanca Germany, both of whom will report to Lorenzo Astolfi, Head of Global Mid Corporate & Sponsor Solutions of Mediobanca.

Schmerl, a professional with more than thirty years’ experience in Corporate Finance, was one of the co-founders of Alantra Germany, serving as Managing Partner and CEO. In his career, he has managed more than 120 transactions in various sectors with an aggregate value of approx. €30bn. Handrup, former partner and co-founder of Alantra Germany, has acquired more than 18 years’ experience in the M&A market, acting as advisor to private equity investors and corporations in more than 50 deals in Germany and internationally.

Maximilian Rohardt will also be joining the German team, as Head of Debt Advisory. A senior banker with more than 18 years’ experience in leveraged finance and restructuring, Rohardt has led more than 70 transactions in various sectors.
The decision to expand into the German market is consistent with the 2023-26 Strategic Plan “One Brand-One Culture”, one of the main objectives of which is to establish a broader and more diversified European CIB platform, with higher income derived from non-domestic businesses (up from 40% to 55% of the Group total) and capital-light revenues (up from 28% to 40%), with advisory business becoming the leading product in terms of contribution to and growth of the Division's revenues.
The opening of the Frankfurt branch will therefore support Mediobanca in the consolidation of an advisory model that has shown high resilience compared to the rest of the investment banking sector in Europe, on the back of the growth it has delivered in Italy, Spain and France (the latter through Messier et Associés), and has been strengthened further with the partnership signed in 2023 with Arma Partners, a company based in London which is an international leader in digital economy advisory business.

“Mediobanca is strengthening its footprint in Germany with a view to capitalizing primarily on opportunities in the Mid Corporate sector, which is a key growth driver of our model based on developing capital-light activities and advisory business. This objective is consistent with the guidelines of our 2023-26 Strategic Plan “One Brand-One Culture”. Moreover, an on the ground advisory presence will support cross-border M&A activity and will complement the debt and markets services already offered to German large corporates”, said Francisco Bachiller and Giuseppe Baldelli, Co-Heads of Corporate & Investment Banking of Mediobanca.

“Opening a new branch office in Germany will allow Mediobanca to take another step forwards in creating a pan-European Mid-Corp platform, providing additional resilience for our advisory model through the addition of a team of bankers with consolidated experience, many of whom I have worked with for several years”, said Lorenzo Astolfi, Head of Global Mid Corporate & Sponsor Solutions of Mediobanca.

“Medium-Size Enterprises are central to the German economy, and will become more so in the course of the macroeconomic correction that has just started. Inaugurating a new office in Frankfurt will allow Mediobanca to meet the healthy demand for advisory services coming from German companies, family-owned businesses, and private equity investors in various sectors, supporting them in their growth”, said Wolfram Schmerl, Mediobanca Frankfurt Branch Manager.

“Entrepreneurs, families and investors will be able to evaluate strategic activities, such as M&A deals, partnerships with providers of private capital, and cross-border expansion, by being able to count on Mediobanca's international platform, which is distinctive for its high reputation, lean organization and strong focus on the client”, added Christoph Handrup, Co-Head of Mediobanca Germany.

Milan and Frankfurt, 8 July 2024