King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has recruited a five-strong team of lawyers for its Germany base, with the takeover of a boutique led by former SJ Berwin Frankfurt corporate head Michael Roos.

Roos left legacy SJ Berwin's Frankfurt office in 2009 to set up his own firm, RoosLegal, more than four years before SJB's ill-fated 2013 merger with KWM.

RoosLegal, which is based in Mainz and focuses on corporate and private equity work, now has four lawyers alongside Roos. The whole team will join KWM's Frankfurt base next month, with Roos and M&A lawyer Marcus Herz joining as partners.

With the new additions, KWM will have seven partners and eight lawyers in its sole German office.

Frankfurt corporate partner Rudiger Knopf told Legal Week: "Michael is a very strategic thinker and he is coming to a new firm that is now equally well geared to deal with national M&A and private equity transactions, as well as following the investment routes in and out of China.

"This team was the missing puzzle piece for us in Germany and we have now got the critical mass we need to handle all relevant transactions in the corporate finance space."

Fellow corporate partner Christian Cornett said: "Our firm has recently tripled its office space here, so it is looking at long-term growth. We're aiming to establish a sound group of partners and a strong team."

Cornett added that the office is set to grow with further associates during the next six months.

The move follows the first lateral hires made by KWM's slimmed-down European business since its European, UK and Middle East (EUME) business fell into administration at the start of the year.

The firm recruited corporate partner Hui Zhao from Germany's Noerr in July, along with Latham & Watkins finance and restructuring counsel Daniel Ehret, who also joined the Frankfurt base as a partner.

This January, the firm came to an agreement with a number of partners to stay on at the firm following the EUME collapse, including Frankfurt trio Cornett, Knopf and Rudolf Haas.

However, a number of those lawyers have since left the firm, including Dubai disputes partner Ghassan El Daye, who joined Charles Russell Speechlys, and three partners in KWM's affiliated Milan office including office head Giancarlo Castorino, who left for McDermott Will & Emery.

Wang Rongkang, who was appointed as KWM's EUME managing partner this August, commented: "The addition of such a competent and experienced transaction team to our German office is an important step towards the expansion of the European part of KWM, and is in line with our strategy not only to be the expert for the Asian market in Europe, but also to be perceived as an excellent local player."