Eversheds Sutherland has opened an office today (1 August) in Duesseldorf, by acquiring local firm Grooterhorst & Partners.

The firm consists of three partners and 11 lawyers and will initially focus on insurance and real estate work, before expanding to become a full-service practice over time.

The new partners are real estate lawyers Johannes Grooterhorst and Marc Christian Schwencke, and insurance lawyer Ralf-Thomas Wittman.

Eversheds Sutherland's co-chief executive Lee Ranson said: "We are committed to the strategic expansion of our global platform. Our launch in Duesseldorf, an important centre of corporate activity and the industrial heartland of Germany, is a significant milestone in the rollout of that strategy."

The office is the firm's 63rd worldwide and its fourth in Germany, where it already has offices in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.

Legacy Eversheds entered Germany in 2015 through a merger with its alliance partner Heisse Kursawe, which became a financially integrated part of Eversheds LLP.

Earlier this year, the firm merged with US firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan to create Eversheds Sutherland, although the two firms retained their financial independence.

The firm also merged with Singaporean firm Harry Elias Partnership this year in a deal that sees Eversheds own 33% of the new firm, Eversheds Harry Elias.

In its financial results for the 2016-17 year, the legacy Eversheds business took in revenues of £438.6m, up from £405.5m in 2015-16.

Despite the revenue increase, net profit and profit per equity partner (PEP) both fell – by 4% and 2% respectively. PEP decreased to £726,000 from £742,000 in 2015-16, while net profit fell from £87.5m to £84.1m.