ACGM Announces the Opening of a Representative Office in Germany

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jul 9, 2013) -  ACGM, INC. ("ACGM") today announced the opening of a representative office in Berlin, Germany. The establishment of a German representative office reflects ACGM's international focus and its commitment to the European, Middle Eastern and African ("EMEA") markets. The Berlin representative office will be regulated by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ("BaFin").

Germany was chosen as the location for ACGM's first European office because of the firm's longstanding relationships in Germany, the country's central location, and Germany's importance as a political and economic powerhouse within the region. As well as being Germany's political and cultural capital, Berlin is recognized as the center for all major policy decisions affecting the Eurozone. The opening of a representative office in Berlin is the first step in ACGM's plan to build an increased local presence across EMEA, a major strategic growth area for the firm. 

ACGM is involved in a number of financial transactions and advisory assignments that have arisen out of the euro crisis. The firm's European expertise and high profile US customer base have enabled ACGM to position itself in the burgeoning market for European distressed assets and cross-border M&A. In addition, amidst the increasing capital requirements faced by European banks, ACGM has been working on developing compelling solutions for enabling European banks to meet new capital requirements whilst minimizing cost of capital, and doing so in adverse environments through its Consolidated Affiliate Model ("CAM"). The Financial Times has recently discussed the CAM model as a potential alternative to the "CoCo" note (see here).

The German representative office will be led by Dr. Wolfgang Richter, Senior Advisor and European Representative and Michel Rybkin, European Representative, Emerging Markets & Special Situations.

Dr. Richter joined ACGM in 2012 and has over 20 years of experience as an attorney in the financial sector. He has a long-standing career with the German Finance and Projects Group at DLA Piper, advising clients on all aspects of banking and finance. Dr. Richter is an expert in M&A deals in the financial sector, securitizations, real estate finance, non-performing loan deals, equity and debt structuring as well as advising investors and financial institutions on product development and strategy.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Richter worked for the law practice of a Big Four accounting firm, where he developed close working relationships with transaction-oriented auditors. He has also worked for the Treuhandanstalt, the government agency charged with privatizing all state-owned companies in the former East Germany. This experience has given Dr. Richter a deep insight into innovative transaction structures.

Mr. Rybkin possesses more than a decade of Emerging Markets sales and trading experience and prior to joining ACGM, he was a Partner at Cheyne Capital Management in London where he was Portfolio Manager for a $250M long-short equity global Emerging Markets fund. Throughout the late 90s and 00s he was based in London holding various Emerging Markets sales and trading positions at the likes of Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. Mr. Rybkin has rich expertise in Emerging Markets equity, fixed income, derivatives and FX, providing ACGM and the Firm's clients with a wealth of knowledge. Mr. Rybkin has also worked extensively on deals relating to highly illiquid structured trades, predominately in Eastern Europe and Africa.

Developed over the course of a successful career in the Emerging Markets sector, Mr. Rybkin maintains strong relationships with institutional investors and high net worth individuals across EMEA.

ACGM's President and CEO, Carlos Abadi, announced the office opening, noting that ACGM's global client base will be major beneficiaries of the firm's local expertise within EMEA.

"The opening of the Berlin office marks a major commitment to the EMEA region and the future of the firm. Having a local presence and local expertise in an area where we have seen significant transactional and advisory activity allows the firm to better serve our global client base and positions us to more effectively access and quickly act upon compelling opportunities on behalf of our clients. In the knowledge and relationship-driven business of finance, a local presence can be fundamental to a transaction's success. I'm extremely pleased with the high quality team we are building in EMEA and this office provides a launching pad for further international expansion."

About ACGM
Founded in 1991, ACGM is a boutique investment banking firm specializing in global special situations advisory and investment banking transactions for financial and corporate issuers in the US, Europe, LATAM and the Middle East, closely integrated with a fixed income sales and trading capability. www.acgm.com