Dr. Stefan Koch

Partner, Frankfurt

Biography

“Stefan Koch is doing a great job. He is a tough but pragmatic negotiator.”
Chambers Europe – Germany 2025

Overview

Stefan Koch is a partner in our Global M&A practice and heads our DACH M&A Private Equity group. Stefan Koch has more than 20 years' relevant experience and is ranked as one of Germany’s leading PE practitioner by all top legal directories.

He works for a variety of top tier PE sponsors providing both legal and strategic advice. Many of his transactions involve complex deals in regulated sectors or companies with disruptive business models. International in outlook and approach, Stefan regularly leads teams across multiple jurisdictions.

Stefan is dual-qualified and permitted to practice in both Germany and New York, USA. He has worked as M&A lawyer both in the US and in Germany.
 

Bars and Courts
Rechtsanwalt, Germany
New York
Education
Second State Exam
Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg
Dr jur
University of Hamburg
LLM
New York University School of Law
First State Exam
University of Hamburg
Languages
German
English

Experience

CVC DIF
Advised CVC DIF on its acquisition of a 49 % stake in BALANCE Erneuerbare Energien, the biogas subsidiary of Leipzig-based gas group VNG AG.

GHD
Advised medical supplier GHD, a Nordic Capital portfolio company, on the sale of ForLife Group to private equity investor Duke Street.

Battery Ventures
Advised the international private equity investor Battery Ventures (Battery) on the acquisition of steute Technologies GmbH & Co. KG (steute), a developer and manufacturer of switches, sensors and other products for medical and industrial applications.

Merck KGaA
Advised Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (MKDG), a leading science and technology company, on the agreement to acquire life science company Mirus Bio for US$600 million.

ACP Allianz Capital Partners (ACP) and others
Advised an international syndicate consisting of ACP, Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc., Infinity Investments SA and MEAG on its 2015 acquisition of Autobahn Tank & Rast GmbH, the German autobahn services company.

Allen & Company
Advised Allen & Company LLC, as financial advisor to Axel Springer SE, on KKR's €6.8 billion takeover offer.

Ardian (formerly Axa Private Equity)*
Advised Ardian on the 2021 acquisition of YT Industries, the 2021 disposal of Schwind eye-tech-solutions GmbH, the 2019 acquisition of German Saal Digital, the 2016 acquisition of German Schwind eye-tech solutions GmbH as well as the previous acquisition of the railway sleepers business of Pfleiderer AG through a carve-out; the acquisition of CABB, a specialty chemicals company through a carve-out from Clariant; the disposal of Alukon, a manufacture of roller shutters; and the disposal of Gealan, a manufacturer of PVC window profiles.

Battery Ventures 
Advised Battery Ventures-backed Proemion Holding GmbH, a global provider of advanced data and analytics technology for mobile industrial equipment, on the acquisition of TrendMiner NV, an industrial analytics company of Software AG.

Battery Ventures
Advised Battery Ventures on its 2021 sale of Forterro for EUR 1 billion, its 2021 acquisition of ifp, its 2021 acquisition of Bernd Kraft (now: AnalytiChem), its 2020 voluntary public takeover offer for EASY SOFTWARE AG, its 2020 acquisition of winworker (now Craftview), its 2019 acquisition of abas Software AG through its portfolio company Forterro, the 2017 disposition of Worldhotels AG and its 2015 sale of German Trust International Group to NASDAQ-listed Sabre Corporation.

Cobepa 
Advised Cobepa on its 2021 EUR 1.5 billion disposal of Hillebrand AG to Deutsche Post.

DBAG 
Advised Deutsche Beteiligungs AG on the acquisition of a majority stake in Multimon AG, a leading provider of fire protection systems.

Duke Street
Advised Duke Street on its 2022 disposal of Medi-Globe (as well as the earlier 2016 acquisition), its 2021 acquisition of Compo, and its 2018 acquisition of A-Rosa river cruises.

IK Investment Partners
Advised IK Investment Partners on its 2019/20 acquisition of MDT technologies GmbH and its 2016 acquisition of ZytoService Deutschland GmbH.

Merck
Advising Merck on the acquisition of the American life science company Mirus Bio for approximately EUR 550 million.

Merck KGaA*
Advised Merck KGaA on the 2022 acquisition of Lonza's "MAST business" through a carve-out, the 2015 agreement by its Life Science business, Merck Millipore, to acquire the worldwide rights to an innovative protein detection technology from Singulex, the 2015 disposition of its drug discovery and developments solutions business to Eurofins SA, as well as previously on the US$7.2 billion acquisition of Millipore Corporation and the €4.9 billion disposal of its worldwide generics business to Mylan Inc. through a global carve-out.

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners (MSIP)
Advised MSIP on its 2022 sale of VTG AG to a consortium of Global Infrastructure Partners and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in a deal valued at EUR 7 billion, the largest German PE transaction in 2022 so far.

Nordic Capital
Advised Nordic Capital on the 2024/2025 significant minority investment by CPP Investment in Regnology, its 2022 acquisition of ProGlove, its 2021 acquisition of BauFi 24 and the formation of the new Bilthouse group, its 2021 disposal of Veonet, its 2021 acquisition of Bearing Point RegTech (now: Regnology) through a carve-out from BearingPoint, its 2018 acquisition of Prospitalia, its 2018 acquisition of Ober Scharrer, its 2017 acquisition of Alloheim, its 2015 acquisition of Sunrise Medical and its 2014 acquisition of GHD GesundHeits GmbH Deutschland.

Triton
Advised Triton on its 2021 sale of Meine Radiologie Holding.

*Includes matters worked on prior to joining White & Case

Awards and Recognition

Handelsblatt Best Lawyers Germany 2024: Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity

Juve 2024/2025: Leading Individual, Private Equity

Legal 500 Germany 2025: Leading Partner, Private Equity

IFLR 1000 2024: Highly regarded, Private Equity, M&A

Chambers Global, EMEA 2025: Chambers ranked for Private Equity ("Impressive levels of activity on notable work highlights" "tough but pragmatic negotiator")

MergerLinks 2024: One of the "Top 10 FinTech Lawyers in EMEA" by deal value.