With his many years of experience as an M&A specialist and founder, Dr. Niggemann will play an important role in Zumera's strategic development.

Dr. Niggemann is responsible for the the advisory mandates (Execution) and ensures that Zumera's high quality standards are maintained at all times. As part of his role, he also trains our young bankers and develops existing processes for scaling and international expansion. Dr. Niggemann is convinced of Zumera's quality standards: "The high standard of advisory quality and the deep penetration of the buyer spectrum in the M&A processes managed by Zumera surprised me, because in the SME sector it is usually particularly difficult to ensure such broad coverage due to the mass of potential buyers. Thanks to the digital infrastructure, every banker has access to the knowledge of the entire team. This ultimately leads to high purchase prices and a high level of transaction security for the advised clients. What convinced me most, however, was the quality and energy of the team."

Before joining Zumera, Dr. Niggemann was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs for twelve years. He first worked in Frankfurt and later eight years in Asia. During his tenure at Goldman Sachs, he successfully executed a large number of cross-continental M&A transactions. His clients included corporations, family businesses, entrepreneurs, financial investors and state-owned companies.

Dr Niggemann was also involved in the formation of several companies, including The Stryze Group, which completed 30 acquisitions in its first twelve months under Niggemann's leadership. In addition, he has been assisting start-ups with financing issues as an investor and advisor for several years.

Dr Niggemann has successfully completed transactions in a variety of sectors, including energy, infrastructure, technology, industrials, automotive, transportation, healthcare, retail, consumer goods, finance, real estate and business services. He studied at WHU in Koblenz and EM Lyon in France and holds a PhD from Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main.

"We are very pleased to have Dr. Taro Niggemann join our team as a new Managing Director and Partner," said Felix Engelhardt, CEO & Founder of Zumera. "His long experience and deep knowledge in M&A transactions as well as his entrepreneurial experience, will help us to further develop Zumera to the number one in Europe and to support our clients in the best possible way."

Dr Niggemann will take up his new position at Zumera on 1 March 2023 and will be based in Berlin.