A team of longtime friends and partners with unique industry networks
Florian Lahnstein
Founder & Partner
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Mr. Lahnstein is the founder and Managing Partner of Vorsprung. Prior to founding Vorsprung, he was Managing Director at Siguler Guff, a $14bn AUM Alternative Assets company, where he was actively involved in developing the Firm's business activities in Europe. Between 2009-2014, he was the Founder and Chairman of RiverRock, an early leader in private debt and public equity focused on European SMEs. During his tenure, the firm raised more than $600m, investing in a total of 15 companies. Previously, Mr. Lahnstein was the Head of Bear Stearns' European Investment Bank. From 2003-2007, he was the Head of the German Investment Banking Division at UBS Investment Bank in Frankfurt, advising on transactions worth more than EUR 40bn - mostly for Private Equity, German Government and large German families. Previously, Mr. Lahnstein was Director of German TMT at Merrill Lynch in London as well as Executive VP Corporate Venture Capital at Bertelsmann AG.
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Mr. Lahnstein graduated with a Master of Business and Economics from the University of Cologne and he currently lectures in Corporate Finance and Private Equity at the University of Cologne.
Mark Pohlmann
Co-Founder & Partner
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Mr. Pohlmann is a Co-Founder and Partner of Vorsprung and has over 30 years' of experience in banking and investing. Prior to Vorsprung, Mr. Pohlmann was Head of Investment Banking DACH at Jefferies, where he managed the local team in Frankfurt, developed the business, looked after portfolio clients and originated and executed several mid-cap transactions. During 2000 to 2013, Mr. Pohlmann worked for UBS, first as Head of ECM Germany & Austria in London and from 2007 as Head of Investment Banking Germany & Austria in Frankfurt. Between 1992 and 2000, Mr. Pohlmann was at Bankers Trust and held various positions in Credit, Real Estate Finance, M&A, Corporate Derivatives and ECM. Mr. Pohlmann started his career at Deutsche Bank in Portfolio Management.
Mr. Pohlmann holds a BSc in Industrial Economics from the London School of Economics.
Prof. Dr. Günther Strunk
Co-Founder & Partner Tax & Legal
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Prof. Dr. Günther Strunk is a Co-Founder and Partner of Vorsprung and responsible for all tax an legal matters. He started his professional career as a Tax Advisor at Arthur Andersen in Hamburg and later was the Founding Partner of a regional specialist tax an legal consultancy firm in Hamburg with over 20 professionals. Simultaneously, he became Professor for Business Administration at University of Lübeck. Since 2015, Prof. Strunk is Head of Tax and Partner of BWLS Goerg. He is also the Founder and academic director of the Hamburg Institute for Family Studies, which supports family owned businesses.
Prof. Strunk studied Business Administration at the University of Bochum and the Technical University of Berlin and finished his Dissertation and Habilitation in the field of Business Administration, especially in International Tax Law, at the University of Hamburg. Currently, he is Professor at the Leuphana University Lüneburg.
Joachim Koolmann
Partner Debt & Special Situations
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Joachim Koolmann is Partner at Vorsprung with the focus on Debt Financing, Financial Restructuring and Special Situations. He has over 30 years of experience in European Investment Banking including periods as a Principal Investor in Distressed Debt and Special Situations including Corporate Restructuring with a focus on German corporates. Mr. Koolmann started his career in Investment Banking joining Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York in Frankfurt, before moving to London. Further steps included Bankers Trust and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he was European Co-Head of Leverage and High Yield Finance. In 2006, Mr. Koolmann switched to Bear Stearns as European Co-Head Special Situations. Subsequently, he joined JP Morgan's loan trading desk. Since 2010, Mr. Koolmann is working as an advisor for debt financing and debt restructuring with a focus on German mid-sized companies, initially with Augusta & Co Merchant Bankers and more recently with Herter & Co.
Mr. Koolmann started in Banking as an apprentice with Commerzbank and holds as BA in Banking from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
Dr. Yuebing Lu
Partner Asia
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Dr. Lu is Partner at Vorsprung and heads the Asia business for the partnership. Since 2012, Dr. Lu had been the Vice Chairman (China) of Siguler Guff, where he has facilitated the firm's development in China in terms of strategies, investments and operations. Between 2010 and 2012, Dr. Lu was the CIO of China Jianyin, the domestic investment arm of the China Investment Corporation (China's National Sovereign Wealth Fund). In 2006, he founded the China Business of Climate Change Capital (CCC) and was member of the Investment Committee of two global funds C4F2 and C4MA, of which over $600m was deployed in sustainable projects. From 2003 to 2006, Dr. Lu was Vice President of Alstom (China), where he led Alstom's technology transfer, investments, and M&A activities in China. Prior to that he held various senior management positions in renowned corporates such as Ford Motor (China) and Caterpillar (China).
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Dr. Lu holds a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering, an MBA from McMaster University of Canada and University of Science & Technology Beijing as well as a Ph.D. in Economics from Cambridge University.
Verne Grinstead
Senior Advisor UK
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Mr. Grinstead is a Senior Advisor at Vorsprung Advisory Ltd, the UK business of the partnership. Between 2003 and 2013, Mr. Grinstead was a Managing Director at JP Morgan and Bear Stearns, where he worked in Equity Capital Markets and was responsible for senior corporate client relationships. Previous positions included Managing Director at Lazard, and being based in New York, Hong Kong and London. Since 2012 Mr Grinstead has been primarily involved in Private Equity, having co-founded, as a Managing Partner, Appian Natural Resources Fund LP where, together with Appian's founder, he successfully raised and led the $375m Fund I and had some involvement in the $775m Fund II. He is a Senior Advisor at Augusta & Co, the renewables advisory and investment management firm.
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Mr, Grinstead holds a Msc in Management from the University of Oxford and BA and LLB degrees from the University of Cape Town.
Bernd Dinter
Partner Family Office Services
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Bernd Dinter is Partner at Vorsprung and responsible for all matters relating to the Private Family Office, Art and Collectibles. Before joining the Vorsprung partnership, Mr. Dinter was Director of Art, Culture and Foundation at Sal. Oppenheim, where he managed a high double-digit million acquisition budget. Previously to his time at Sal. Oppenheim, Mr. Dinter established the global art, culture and foundations business at UBS. Mr. Dinter holds various consulting mandates in the cultural sector, including for the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hamburg State Opera.
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Mr. Dinter graduated with distinction in both cultural studies as well as sociology.
Thomas Wukonigg
Partner Family Office Services
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Thomas Wukonigg is Partner at Vorsprung and CIO of the Private Family Office. Mr. Wukonigg started his professional career at Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for Portfolio Management and advising high-net-worth clients in the Private Banking Department. Subsequently, he switched to the Asset and Portfolio Management department of BHF-Bank. After his time at BHF, Mr. Wukonigg joined Bankhaus Metzler, one of Germany's most prestigious private banks. During his time at Metzler, he advised numerous UHNWIs and managed large family portfolios. Prior to joining Vorsprung, Mr. Wukonigg was on the executive board of numerous private investment boutiques and Family Offices, always responsible for managing boutique funds and assets of wealthy families.
Franz Lucien Mörsdorf
Senior Advisor Real Estate
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Franz Lucien Mörsdorf is Senior Advisor at Vorsprung and responsible for all matters relating to Real Estate. He is a Real Estate industry veteran with more than 30 years of experience in investing into any type of Real Estate assets. Prior to joining Vorsprung, Mr. Mörsdorf was Managing Director at DekaBank, responsible for 6 open ended funds, 7 special institutional funds and indirect Real Estate investments, totaling over EUR 24bn AUM in 24 countries around the world. Prior to this he was Managing Director at aurelis (Deutsche Bahn/WestLB) the largest land development company of Germany with more than 300m sqft. Before this he was Managing Director at ASSET Immobilienbeteiligung (Metro(WestLB) overseeing transactions in over 450 retail properties totaling EUR 4bn in 5 European countries. Before joining ASSET Immobilienbeteiligung, Mr Mörsdorf was Spokesman of the Management Board of CBRE.
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Mr Mörsdorf holds a Master in Economics and Engineering from the University of Karlsruhe.