Our People – expertise & commitment.

Michael Rolf

Big4 advisory quality, hands-on services, buy & build, long-term cooperation with investors and entrepreneurs.
Michael Rolf founded Sancovia with this vision in 2012. 

As Managing Partner, Michael Rolf leads the operational business of the group and provides hands-on support to entrepreneurs and investors in sales mandates and buy & build strategies. With more than 20 years of transactions experience and more than 200 successful corporate transactions alone with Sancovia, but due to his own intensive experience as an entrepreneur, he understands the needs of entrepreneurs and investors in their entirety to a high degree.

Michael Rolf and the entire Sancovia team are committed to working in partnership with their clients until the desired success is achieved.

Before joining Sancovia, Michael Rolf held management positions at PWC in Frankfurt am Main and a private equity company in Zurich. After two further positions as CEO and CFO, he founded Sancovia in 2012.After successfully completing his apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at Braun in Kronberg, Michael Rolf studied international business administration in Wiesbaden and Rome. He is a certified German and American public accountant. 

Jörn Grage

Jörn Grage is the Managing Partner of Sancovia's Düsseldorf office and, as an highly experienced financial expert, focuses in particular on our clients' figures. He acquired and perfected his know-how and expertise, especially with regard to due diligence, in 10 years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in various national and international positions. After working for PwC Middle East in Dubai, Jörn Grage followed his former PwC colleague Michael Rolf in 2013 and has been a partner at Sancovia since the beginning.

Jörn Grage holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Banking and Finance) from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a title as Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) from the CFA Institute.

Erik Mattes

Erik Mattes is Managing Partner at the Ravensburg office. He has been part of the Sancovia team since 2015 and is one of our buy-side specialists, having successfully completed over 50 transactions. Erik Mattes owes his success not only to his many years of M&A experience but also to his empathy and ability to consider the needs of entrepreneurs. He looks back on a successful career at KPMG, goetzpartners and Jefferies. Before joining Sancovia, he worked most recently at the Schulz Group in the role of CFO.

Erik Mattes studied International Business Administration in Wiesbaden and San Sebastian. In addition to his diploma, he also holds a Master of Business Administration. 

Fabian Lautenschlager

Fabian Lautenschlager is partner at the Ravensburg office since 2019 and is responsible for the needs of our mid-market clients in buy and sell mandates. After a career at the Boston Consulting Group and over 10 years at the global mid cap M&A consultancy GCA Altium in Munich and London, he became part of the Sancovia team. Fabian Lautenschlager thus brings bundled expertise from national and international M&A practice through more than 15 years of relevant professional experience to our processes. 

Fabian Lautenschlager holds a degree in economics with a focus on finance and studied at the University of Ulm and the University of Bologna. 

Carsten Hauke

As a partner in Munich, Carsten Hauke supports our medium-sized clients with buy and sell mandates. He started his career at Lehman Brothers in the Mergers & Acquisitions department in Frankfurt and London before joining Sky Deutschland Group. There he headed the Mergers & Acquisitions department for more than 15 years. In addition, he was responsible for Corporate Finance, Strategy/Corporate Development and Partnerships of the Sky Deutschland Group for several years.

Carsten Hauke holds a degree in business administration and studied at the University of Essen in Germany, the Université Panthéon-Assas in France and Clemson University in the USA.

Roman Gronau

As a Partner Roman Franz Gronau is our TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) expert in Munich, and advises on both buy- and sell-side M&A mandates. He began his career at EY in transaction services (focussed on TMT assignments) where he spent seven years, latterly as a manager.  He subsequently joined Evidensia, a portfolio investment of EQT. After more than 2 years as an Investment Manager, including several successful transactions, he moved to Becker Büttner Held as a Senior Manager and was responsible for their TMT M&A practice.

Roman studied at Munich Business School in Germany, Fudan University School of Management in China and Northwood University in the USA. 

Joachim Krantz

Joachim Krantz is partner at Sancovia's Frankfurt office since 2020 and, as a financial specialist, supports our medium-sized clients with regard to due diligence, buy and sell side mandates. 

In particular, his 20 years of professional experience in transaction consulting and M&A at PricewaterhouseCoopers contribute effectively to Sancovia's Big4 standard. His experience with medium-sized companies, large international groups and private equity companies since joining Sancovia in 2019 is highly significant. 

Joachim Krantz holds a degree in economics with a focus on finance and studied at the University of Gießen and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (USA). In 2011, he also achieved the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) qualification from the CFA Institute.

Christopher Leek

Christopher Leek is a partner, based in Frankfurt, and specialises in buy- and sell-side transaction advisory services.

He has many years of experience in M&A accrued at PricewaterhouseCoopers and latterly FTI Consulting, where he jointly established its German corporate finance presence.  During that time he has advised on multiple large and mid-cap domestic and cross-border transactions, principally for financial sponsors.  He has a broad sector expertise including industrials, retail, education and services.

Christopher holds a degree in economics and accounting from the University of Bristol.  He is also a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) in the United Kingdom.

Nenad Skopljak

Nenad Skopljak is a partner in our M&A department in Frankfurt am Main and supports medium-sized customers with sell-side transactions. He has many years of experience in the field of M&A having worked in private equity (OEP, Advent International), Big4 advisory businesses (PWC, KPMG) and with a stock listed US corporate (AAM). During this time, he has successfully completed more than 30 transactions as the lead project manager. His clients particularly value his ability to examine complex corporate transactions from different perspectives and build on this to implement an optimal solution involving all those involved.

Nenad completed his studies in business administration in Duisburg, Frankfurt am Main and New York with a degree in business administration. In addition, he regularly participates in executive education courses at Harvard Business School and MIT, among others.

Oliver Steinberg

Oliver Steinberg is M&A Partner at our Frankfurt office and advises our mid-cap clients on buy-side and sell-side mandates. 
With many years of M&A experience, Oliver has advised on numerous mandates for financial investors, small and medium-sized enterprises and multinational corporations both in Germany and abroad.
In the five years before joining Sancovia, Oliver worked for Lincoln International, a global mid-cap M&A advisory firm, where he was a member of the Financial Sponsors Group and responsible for business with family offices in the DACH region. Prior to that, he was an M&A advisor for Commerzbank and Bear Stearns, and in private equity for palero capital and Ellion Management. Oliver’s experience as an advisor, investor and entrepreneur has shaped his approach to consulting, which combines in-depth process know-how and goal orientation with empathy and understanding for the needs of his clients and their counterparts.

Oliver holds a Bachelor of Science (with Honours) from Cass Business School.

Matthias Knoke

As a Partner in our Düsseldorf office, Matthias Knoke is responsible for both buy-side and sell-side mandates. He started his professional career in the business recovery services department at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Düsseldorf. Starting in 2012, Matthias successfully accompanied numerous buy and sell side mandates at Oaklins, a renowned M&A advisory, and was most recently responsible for the Stuttgart Oaklins office.  In 2017 he joined QuEST Global, an international engineering and hi-tech service provider in Munich, as Head of M&A Europe. In addition to national and international buy-side projects, he was responsible for the further development of QuEST's Corporate Development Team.  

Matthias Knoke is a trained banker and holds a degree in business administration (Int. Business Administration and Finance & Asset Management) from ISM Dortmund.

Tina Zakic

As a Partner in our Düsseldorf Office, Tina Zakic provides cross-location support to our Buy & Build Division. She supervises the internal Buy & Build process and leads the Research Department.

Tina has been part of our team since 2016 and has successfully supported numerous SME transactions since then. With over 9 years of experience in the M&A sector, gained in the financial industry and various consulting firms, she brings profound expertise and extensive knowledge to the role.

Tina holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) with a focus on Finance and Taxation, a Bachelor of Laws with a specialization in M&A, and has completed a commercial apprenticeship.

Jaime Fernández Pinilla

As a Partner in our Madrid office, Jaime Fernández is responsible for buy-side and sell-side mandates. Mr. Fernández started his career at Grupo Ahorro Corporación (ACF), where he worked in the strategy and analysis department advising Spanish listed companies in various sectors (TMT, broadcasting, industry...). Jaime then switched to Auren Corporate, where he advised successfully due diligence and valuation projects at buy- and sell-side mandates as Director.

Jaime holds a bachelor’s degree in Business & Administration from the university of CUNEF. He completed a semester abroad at the National Chengchi University of Taipei, Taiwan.

Guido Ebbing

Guido Ebbing serves our private equity clients as well as entrepreneurs and corporates on both sell- and buy-side mandates.
 
Guido started his career at Deloitte Corporate Finance in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Here, he specifically focused on mid-market M&A and was involved in a wide range of buy- and sell-side transactions. Clients varied from private equity, to privately held- and publicly traded companies across a variety of industries. Key focus sectors were the TMT and Consumer Business industries. Some 8 years of Big4 experience has made him into a widely educated and seasoned M&A professional.

Guido holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a double Master; Marketing and Finance, both from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Julian Lewis

Julian Lewis, our London office Director, specialises in serving private equity clients, entrepreneurs, and corporates. His expertise spans both buy and sell-side mandates. 

Julian began his career at Deloitte UK and subsequently spent several years in M&A corporate finance, specifically within the Private Equity Coverage team. His responsibilities included cultivating and managing relationships with the UK Mid-Market Private Equity community, with a focus on originating and executing mid-market deals. 

Julian holds a Bachelor of Business Science in Finance & Accounting, a Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting, and is a certified Chartered Accountant (CA(SA)).

Rafał Jackowski

Rafał Jackowski, our Warsaw office Director, serves our private equity clients as well as entrepreneurs and corporates on both buy-side and sell-side mandates. 

Rafal's prior experience includes providing transaction advisory services at KPMG Poland across various industries, serving as an M&A Manager at LUX MED, a leading healthcare company in Poland previously backed by MidEuropa, and acting as M&A Director for MidEuropa, supporting the buy-and-build strategy for J.S. Hamilton, a leading TICC services provider with CEE exposure.

Rafał holds a Master’s degree in Capital Investments from Poznan University of Economics and also completed Economics PhD programme at Warsaw School of Economics.

Valentin Heinemann

Valentin Heinemann manages buy- and sell-side mandates as Director at our headquarter in Freienbach. He started his career at Deloitte in Zurich and then joined the renowned M&A consultancy Hübner Schlösser. Valentin came to Sancovia in 2017, where he has since successfully advised on numerous mid-market transactions.

Valentin Heinemann holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from SBS Swiss Business School and a Master of Science in Financial Services from the University of Ulster (Ireland).

Pedro Moragues Prieto

Pedro Moragues manages buy- and sell-side mandates as Director at our Madrid office. He started his career at IESE Business School being Research Analyst with a special focus on Corporate, Banking and Real Estate industry. After that, Pedro joined ONEtoONE Corporate Finance in 2013 where he held different positions as Research Department Director, Director of Corporate Development in the firm for Europe and South America and M&A Manager. Pedro many years of M&A experience and has previously executed numerous M&A projects for medium-sized family businesses, financial investors as well as listed and smaller companies from various industries in Europe. 

Pedro holds a bachelor’s degree of Law and Business & Administration from the Complutense´s University in Madrid fulfilling his education with various programs within IESE Business School.

Bülent Tiz

Bülent Tiz, as Director, possesses extensive experience in leading strategic transformation programs and post-merger integration. With his many years of experience in management consulting, he has guided numerous companies through strategic challenges. His expertise lies particularly in organizational development on both a local and global level (Group Holding).

Benedikt Kupka

Benedikt Kupka primarily supports buy-side mandates from our Düsseldorf office. He has many years of experience in the field of corporate M&A, particularly in building mid-sized corporate groups as part of buy-and-build strategies in collaboration with financial investors. He began his career in audit-related consulting at KPMG in Düsseldorf. Later, he mainly implemented transaction and financing projects for a corporate group in the fiber optic and energy infrastructure sector, most recently serving as Head of M&A. Subsequently, Benedikt Kupka supported the growth of a group in the gardening and landscaping sector before joining Sancovia.

Benedikt Kupka studied economics with a focus on Finance & Accounting at the Goethe University Frankfurt and gained international experience at Católica in Lisbon. He also completed a master's degree at EBS University of Business and Law, spending a semester at the University of Pittsburgh.

Sandra Orf

Sandra is a Director in the Transaction Services division at Sancovia and works at our Frankfurt location.
With over 15 years of experience in Transaction Services, she supports investors and management teams through all phases of the deal lifecycle – from strategic decision-making to successful execution. Her focus is on Financial Due Diligence and the analysis of complex financial data.

Her professional career includes international leadership positions at Big Four firms in Germany and the USA. There, she has applied her extensive expertise, particularly in transactions involving private equity clients and portfolio companies across various sectors.

She is particularly passionate about cross-team collaboration, mentoring young talents, and creating measurable value in dynamic environments.

She holds a Master in Mergers & Acquisitions (LL.M.) and a Bachelor in Banking and Finance (BBA), both from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

The Thanh Nguyen

The Thanh Nguyen is a Director at Sancovia and works in the Frankfurt office focusing on sell-side M&A advisory for medium-sized companies. Before joining Sancovia, Thanh held leadership positions for several years at renowned M&A advisory firms and in the corporate finance sector. He advised entrepreneurs, family businesses, family offices, private equity investors, and large corporations across various industries and geographic markets, with a particular focus on business services and real estate. During this time, he gained extensive experience in executing company sales—from preparation to approaching potential investors, negotiating, and final implementation. A particular focus is placed on the market-oriented positioning of companies in both structured and more complex processes.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Bayreuth and a Master's degree in Energy and Finance from the University of Duisburg-Essen, complemented by academic experience at the Norwegian School of Economics.

Josua Brouwer

Josua Brouwer is a Senior Manager in the Benelux team based in Amsterdam, supporting both private equity clients and entrepreneurs with sell-side and buy-side mandates.

Before joining Sancovia, Josua began his career at Deloitte Corporate Finance in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. There, he was involved in numerous mid-market M&A transactions across a variety of industries. During his approximately eight years at Deloitte, Josua was part of several sector teams, including Consumer Business, TMT, and Healthcare. His transaction experience covers the full spectrum of M&A processes – including sell-side and buy-side mandates with cross-border structures, carve-outs, transactions with publicly listed companies, and (post-insolvency) turnarounds.

Josua holds a Master's degree in Finance & Investments (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University) as well as a Bachelor's degree in Economics & Business Economics (Utrecht University). He also spent a semester abroad at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.

Philipp Schroer

Philipp Schroer is responsible as Vice President at the Frankfurt location for overseeing our mid-sized clients within the scope of M&A sell-side mandates.

Before joining Sancovia, he gained experience in the field of corporate finance at Capitalmind Investec, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, IKB Deutsche Industriebank, and BDO Auditing.

Philipp holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics with a focus on Finance and Accounting from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and a Master's in Finance from EBS University for Business and Law in Oestrich-Winkel. Additionally, he participated in an exchange program with EDHEC Business School in Nice, France, during his studies.

Lucia Barragán Zapirain

Lucia is a manager in the Transaction Services department at Sancovia and works at our Madrid office.
With over eight years of experience in transaction consulting, she supports investors and management teams throughout the entire deal process. Her focus is on financial due diligence and the analysis of complex financial data.

Her professional career includes international positions at Big Four companies in Germany and Spain, where she worked with private equity clients and portfolio companies from various industries. Additionally, she was employed by a Spanish multinational company in Peru.

Lucia holds a bachelor's degree in Economics and Finance from the Autonomous University of Madrid and supplemented her education with international programs at the University of Lima in Peru.

Ann Phan

Ann Phan is part of Sancovia's Düsseldorf team. In the Transaction Services area, she supports investors and management teams throughout the entire deal process, drawing on many years of experience.

Previously, she worked at PwC in transaction consulting, auditing, and in the private equity sector. She advised international corporations and medium-sized companies with a focus on growth phases, IPOs, and capital market transactions.

She holds a master's degree in International Business Administration with a focus on Accounting from the University of Vienna.

Thilo Koppitz

Thilo is a manager in the Buy & Build sector at Sancovia and works at our Munich office. For over two years, he has supported technology-oriented companies in strategic group development.

Before joining Sancovia, Thilo worked for more than three years at an investment boutique, where he advised medium-sized companies and corporations on structuring and implementing debt financing solutions. Prior to that, he was involved in financing major real estate projects and completed several stages at a cooperative bank.

Thilo Koppitz is a trained banker.