Former Rothschild & Co Partner Dirk Pahlke Joins SGP Schneider Geiwitz

The business law firm SGP Schneider Geiwitz is launching a new service: tailored solutions through the targeted acquisition of shareholdings in subsidiaries or business units to help mid-sized companies and corporations address time-critical transformation challenges more efficiently. This is particularly relevant in restructuring cases, avoiding antitrust sanctions or complying with antitrust requirements, mitigating ESG-related disadvantages at group level, and outsourcing major corporate risks. The objective is to provide companies with additional options and thereby improve their position.

To this end, the firm has established a dedicated but fully integrated business unit: SGP Principal Solutions GmbH, headquartered in Frankfurt. Former Rothschild & Co Partner Dirk Pahlke has been appointed Managing Director. He will also support the continued growth of SGP Corporate Finance in the area of M&A advisory.

“We see a clear market need for temporarily transferring companies or business units into alternative shareholder structures to implement solutions that could not be realized in the original corporate or group structures with the necessary speed or scope,” explains Dirk Pahlke.

This need often arises from restructuring requirements, regulatory or antitrust constraints, structural challenges, or corporate policy considerations. Once the specific issue has been resolved, the business unit can be further developed, sold to third parties, or transferred back.

A key advantage of the “Shareholder-as-a-Service” model is that the seller or former shareholder meaningfully participates in the restructuring success. SGP Principal Solutions will be compensated on a success-based fee model.

Arndt Geiwitz, Managing Partner of the SGP Group: “With this offering, we can help companies make restructuring processes significantly more efficient — and in many cases prevent insolvency proceedings altogether.”

To address client challenges effectively, SGP Principal Solutions has access to the full range of services of the SGP Group as well as its partner network. “We rely on a large, well-established team of auditors, tax advisors, lawyers, and transaction and restructuring experts, ensuring a comprehensive and interdisciplinary advisory approach,” says Geiwitz. “Where additional expertise is needed, we can draw on our excellent network of service partners. We see ourselves as a one-stop shop for all the needs of the entrusted business. This broad spectrum of experienced teams and partners makes us extremely fast, efficient, and effective.”

Dirk Pahlke, Managing Director of the newly founded SGP Principal Solutions GmbH, was until the end of 2023 a Global Partner at Rothschild & Co, where he worked for nearly 30 years in Frankfurt and previously in London. He brings extensive experience in advising on complex European and global M&A projects, corporate financings, and capital markets transactions. Having advised on more than 150 transactions involving listed and private companies, financial investors, family offices, and public institutions, he has successfully guided clients across a wide range of industries. A graduate in Business Administration from the University of Durham, England, he has repeatedly been recognized in recent years as a “Top Investment Banker in EMEA” as well as a “Top Investment Banker in German-speaking Countries.”