Bird & Bird has strengthened its German finance practice with the hire of Gassner Stockmann & Kollegen partner Bertold Frisch.

Banking and finance partner Frisch, who will join the TMT leader's Frankfurt office, has over 15 years experience in the banking and financial services sector and has particular expertise in the fields of property and acquisition finance.

Frisch joined Gassner in 2005 from the Frankfurt arm of Allen & Overy. He has also previously worked at German lending giant Deutsche Bank.

The hire continues efforts by Bird & Bird to strengthen its European finance capability, after the top 30 UK firm hired SJ Berwin associate and former Ashurst lawyer Herve Pillard to head up a new banking and financial services team in Paris.

Bird & Bird has three offices in Germany, with outposts in Duesseldorf and Munich complementing its Frankfurt offering, alongside eight other bases across continental Europe.