M&A juniors flock back to Germany

Resurgent German M&A activity is creating new demand for junior corporate financiers in the country.

During the downturn of 2001 and 2002, international investment banks retrenched junior M&A execution teams in Frankfurt and relocated staff to London. But with German dealmaking on the increase, recruiters report renewed interest in hiring juniors on the ground.

"During the crisis, execution teams were moved to London," says Andreas Halin, a partner at Whitehead Mann in Frankfurt. "But there is now a strong need to increase execution teams on the continent. Banks in Germany are extremely short of staff at the junior end - they are hiring fresh from university, from MBA colleges, from accounting firms, and out of the corporate world."

Last year, the value of announced German M&A deals rose 74% to $111.2bn according to information provider Thomson Financial. The country has already been party to some hefty M&A deals in 2006: Continental, the German car parts manufacturer recently announced plans to buy the automotive electronics business of Motorola for $1bn (€824m).

Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, BNP Paribas and Société Générale are among the banks understood to be currently hiring in Germany, at both junior and senior levels. Dresdner is also expected to add corporate finance talent in the country.

Recent senior moves reflect buoyant demand. In February, Bank of America Bank hired Hans-Olaf Henkel, former head of German industry federation Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie, as a senior adviser.

Last month, Credit Suisse hired Hans Meier-Scherling, a healthcare and chemicals specialist at Rothschild. And Bear Stearns this week announced the appointment of Manfred Puffer, a former member of the management board at West LB, as a senior managing director and client coverage banker for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe.

Halin says increased hiring is driving up pay. With base salaries now around €200,000 and bonuses multiples of this, he says pay for managing directors in German corporate finance is now 'significantly' higher than it used to be and that German corporate finance bonuses rose an average of 40% in 2005.