(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. named two German nationals as partners, the most in more than a decade, as the Wall Street bank looks to capture more business in the country.
The firm added Axel Hoefer, head of industrial banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to its partnership in a biennial selection to pick a select few to join the highest rank of executives. Jans Meckel, co-head of EMEA fixed income currencies and commodities derivatives origination, also became a partner.
Goldman Sachs this week promoted 95 executives to its partnership, the biggest addition since Chief Executive Officer David Solomon took over leadership of the firm in 2018. Hoefer and Meckel are among the 21 promotions in EMEA.
Germany’s dealmaking has been outpacing the rest of Europe with a flurry of big-ticket transactions such as the sale of DB Schenker and Covestro AG. The volume of German mergers and acquisitions have exceeded $110 billion, an increase that’s at odds with the its gloomy economic outlook. Goldman Sachs is the top M&A adviser in Germany so far this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Hoefer, who’s an avid supporter of the football club FC Cologne, advised on the initial public offering of Porsche AG in 2022. He also led the €17 billion ($18 billion) sale of Thyssenkrupp AG’s elevator business as well as the spinoff of Daimler Truck Holding AG.
Paris-based Meckel started at Goldman as an analyst in Frankfurt in 2002, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was among the five executives who were promoted across the bank’s investment-grade capital markets and risk management units in June.
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