DLA Piper is to make its long-awaited Munich debut with the transfer of technology partner Thomas Jansen and two associates from its Cologne office.

The new outpost, which will open in September, will initially focus on technology, media and communications work but the firm hopes to branch out the practice to cash in on a vibrant local buy-out market.

The transatlantic firm has been trying to engineer a foothold in the competitive Bavarian legal market for the last two years and Munich becomes its fourth German base alongside Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg.

DLA Piper currently has 85 fee earners in Germany but local managing partner Ulrich Juengst has outlined plans to boost that number to around 150 in the coming years. The firm's 20-lawyer Frankfurt office is likely to see the biggest rise in headcount.

Commenting on the Munich launch, Juenst said: "We are currently in negotiations with a number of lawyers [at other firms] and we plan to build the Munich office to 15 lawyers in the near future."