Luxembourg – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has added Yoanna Stefanova as a corporate/M&A partner in the Luxembourg office. Arriving from NautaDutilh, Stefanova is the first new partner to join the firm’s Luxembourg office (K&L Gates Volckrick) since its establishment in July 2021 as K&L Gates’ eighth office across Europe and 46th worldwide.

Stefanova focuses her practice on transactional M&A work mainly for private equity firms and alternative investment funds, advising on the various aspects of investments and divestments, including financing, restructuring, refinancing, corporate governance, and pre-insolvency matters. She also has extensive experience advising on the structuring of M&A transactions, ongoing operational matters, and corporate governance models and has led a number of complex cross-border transactions.

Dr. Thomas Lappe, co-leader of K&L Gates’ corporate practice area, commented:  “Having a well-versed corporate/M&A partner on the ground is fundamental to the development of our office in Luxembourg, one of the most important European jurisdictions for investment funds and private equity. Yoanna’s track record nicely complements our pan-European corporate offering.”

Stefanova’s arrival follows the earlier additions of corporate partners Josh Berick (New York), Tom Young (Brisbane), Rema Awad (Orange County), and Marius Toime (Singapore) – as well as David Bartz and Adam Smith in the firm’s newly-formed Nashville office of now more than 40 lawyers – during the past year, along with the establishment of K&L Gates’ Luxembourg office, which provides further significant opportunities for the firm’s leading asset management and investment funds, private equity, corporate/M&A, and other practices and their clients around the world. They are among more than 100 new partners and of counsel who have joined the firm globally since the beginning of 2020. 

“We are delighted to welcome Yoanna as our new corporate/M&A partner,” said Mathieu Volckrick, managing partner of K&L Gates Volckrick. “The depth of her knowledge and experience of transactional matters is very complementary with our already strong asset management and investment funds and banking and finance practices, and will allow us to deliver a compelling set of services to both our AMIF and corporate clients throughout the full cycle of their transactions.” 

K&L Gates’ corporate practice is one of the most substantial in the legal industry, with more than 500 lawyers in offices on five continents assisting clients in the structuring, financing, and completion of domestic, international, and cross-border transactions. The group serves as counsel to a broad array of Global 500, Fortune 100, FTSE 100 corporations, privately held and venture-backed companies, partnerships, private equity firms, other investment funds, management groups, and entrepreneurs. The practice has helped earn K&L Gates recent recognitions that have included designations as corporate “Law Firm of the Year” in U.S. News-Best Lawyers’ 2022 “Best Law Firms” report and one of America’s top corporate law firms by Forbes.