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Munich, July 03, 2019 – The international tax consulting firm WTS Germany continues to expand and has won the renowned transfer pricing specialist Prof. Dr. Axel Nientimp as partner. In addition, Andreas Riedl was elected to the partnership out of the company’s own ranks.

Prof. Dr. Axel Nientimp came from KPMG, where he had been Partner Global Transfer Pricing since 2013. Previously, the 49-year-old had worked for Deloitte for around 10 years, most recently also as partner. He has already more than 20 years of professional experience in international tax law.

Axel Nientimp’s main advisory responsibilities are the defense of multinational companies in transfer pricing audits and MAP proceedings, the negotiation of APAs as well as the structuring of transfer pricing systems. Furthermore, he guides companies in planning and documentation solutions as well as in all transfer pricing issues related to cross-border transactions. At WTS Prof. Dr. Axel Nientimp will work closely with Prof. Dr. Dietmar Gosch within the frame of tax litigations.

Andreas Riedl has been part of the WTS transfer pricing team since February 2009. In July 2018, he assumed responsibility for the TP Technology consulting division. Since then, his work has been focusing on digitizing transfer pricing functions. He develops digitization concepts for transfer pricing, supports companies in the automation of transfer pricing processes and controls the introduction of TP tools. In addition, his range of services includes tax valuation in the context of relocations of functions, transfer pricing issues in connection with intangible assets and support for companies in cases of digitizing their business models.

The transfer pricing practice of WTS under the lead of Maik Heggmair, with 40 consultants and a total of five partners, is one of the leading units in its consulting segment. With Axel Nientimp, WTS will expand its consulting portfolio, particularly in transfer pricing disputes, and further strengthen its presence in the greater Düsseldorf area. With the addition of Andreas Riedl WTS is intensifying the enlargement of its extensive digital transfer pricing consulting services and is now also represented in Frankfurt by a partner.

Munich, July 02, 2019 – WTS Germany expands its partnership by nine additional partners with the start of the new fiscal year 2019/2020. With these appointments, WTS – the largest German tax consulting firm with international orientation after the Big 4 – is continuing its strong growth of recent years.

“From our beginnings, we have been able to achieve new sales records year after year. With the new financial year 2019/2020, we want to continue this outstanding development and therefore have strengthened our position in main consulting areas with nine additional partners,” comments Fritz Esterer, CEO of WTS. “It is particularly gratifying that the ratio of women as new partners is almost 50% and that nearly all of the newly appointed partners come from our own ranks. The promotion and development of our own junior staff is very important for us at WTS”.

The new partners:

StB Daniela Angelini joined WTS in 2006. She is specialized in advising national and international companies on income tax issues. She also counsels on restructurings and reorganizations as well as on corporate acquisitions and disposals. Her particular focus is on Italian inbound mandates.

StB Christiane Harwardt-Linde came to WTS in 2014. She advises national and international companies on the optimization and structuring of turnover taxes. Her area of expertise also includes supply chain restructurings, process audits, auditing and support of ERP implementations as well as IT-supported risk analyses.

StB Roland Holz moved to WTS from KPMG in 2018. In particular, he specializes in tax structuring of company acquisitions, sales and reorganizations. He also advises on financing issues, IPOs and restructurings. In addition, Roland Holz has extensive experience in cross-border issues and complex transactions.

StB Lars Klevermann began his professional career at PwC in the International Reporting Group. From 2011 to 2017 he helped to establish the software provider AMANA Consulting GmbH to be the market leader in the area of income tax software. Since 2017, he has been working for WTS in the Digital Partnering service line. He supports tax functions in the digitalization and automation of end-to-end tax processes.

StB Andreas Masuch moved from EY to WTS in 2006. Since 2016, the sales tax expert held the position of Director at the Düsseldorf office. His range of activities includes comprehensive VAT consulting, in particular process-oriented consulting and international VAT compliance. As a WTS partner, he will continue to expand VAT process and technology consulting and will continue to enlarge the client base especially in the “Ruhr” area.

StB Prof. Dr. Axel Nientimp came to WTS from KPMG in May 2019. His consulting activities focus on the structuring of transfer pricing systems, the defense of multinational companies in transfer pricing audits and MAP procedures, the negotiation of APAs as well as the creation and implementation of planning and documentation solutions.

StB Dr. Gabriele Rautenstrauch moved from KPMG to WTS in 2018. Her main areas of practice are group tax law and international tax law. In particular, she focuses on cross-border restructurings and financing structures. She also consults on international developments in the field of BEPS and EU tax law.

Andreas Riedl has been part of the WTS transfer pricing team since February 2009. In July 2018, he assumed responsibility for the TP Technology consulting sector. Since then he has been focusing on the digitization of transfer pricing functions, supports companies in the automation of transfer pricing processes and controls the introduction of TP tools. Furthermore, Andreas Riedl assists clients concerning all transfer pricing issues.

RA StB Christiane Schönbach has been with WTS since 2009 and specializes in the tax support of highly complex investment structures as well as tax compliance in asset management – in particular private equity funds and open-ended real estate funds. She also focuses on tax consulting for credit institutions and investment funds. In her role as partner, she will continue to expand WTS’ market positioning in this advisory field.

The international tax consulting firm WTS Germany is expanding its asset management & financial services practice with Klaus D. Hahne. He will be a new partner in Frankfurt am Main with immediate effect. Klaus D. Hahne specializes in tax consulting for banks and financial service providers as well as the tax structuring of investment funds and capital market products.

“Our Asset Management & Financial Services practice is a highly specialized unit that is a leader in its segment. With Klaus D. Hahne, we have now been able to gain another excellent addition to our team around WTS partners Dieter Lübbehüsen and Steffen Neumann,” commented Franz Prinz zu Hohenlohe, member of the WTS Executive Board. “The know-how of the individual team members complements each other perfectly. Particularly in the area of alternative investments, we are now supported by Klaus D. Hahne is now even better positioned”.

Klaus D. Hahne focuses on the tax structuring of alternative investment funds – from private equity and private debt to renewable energy or venture capital. This also includes advising institutional investors on target investments in the relevant funds. In addition, he assists clients with tax issues in connection with capital market transactions and advises on the income and VAT taxation of financial instruments and financial services. Furthermore, Klaus D. Hahne has extensive experience in structural consulting in the banking sector.

Prior to joining WTS, Klaus D. Hahne was a National Tax Partner in the international law firm Dechert. Further stations in his career were Allen & Overy, EY and Hamburg Commercial Bank AG (formerly HSH Nordbank AG). Klaus D. Hahne appears regularly as a speaker and is the author of numerous specialist publications. Among other things, he is editor and co-author of the book “Die Umsatzsteuer in Kreditinstituten: Steuerbefreiung – Vorsteuerabzug – Besteuerungsverfahren (2007)” (Value Added Tax in Credit Institutions: Tax Exemption – Input Tax Deduction – Taxation Procedure).

WTS has opened its tenth German location in Berlin. From there, the international tax consulting company will centrally manage its consulting services for the digitization of tax and finance functions, and create a group-wide Digital Hub. This will be headed by Christian Baumgart (41). Karl Bevan (43) will assume the function of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) within WTS. Both digital experts joined WTS as new partners on 1 April.

“The process automation and digitization of tax and finance functions is one of our main topics. With our new Digital Hub, we will now establish a central hotspot for our digital consulting services. This applies both to our locations in Germany and internationally to all member companies of WTS Global,” explains Fritz Esterer, CEO of WTS.

In recent years, WTS has established itself as one of the leading service providers for the digitalization of tax and finance functions. The main growth drivers were tax process consulting and the development and implementation of tax tool solutions. With the founding of wtsAI, WTS has also accelerated the development of intelligent tax solutions using artificial intelligence methods for practical use.

Expansion of the Tax Technology Team

The new members Christian Baumgart and Karl Bevan strengthen the Tax Technology Team of WTS with immediate effect. Together with four other consultants, they have moved from KPMG to WTS and are responsible for setting up the Digital Hub.

Christian Baumgart has been working for KPMG in various positions on a national and international level since 2003. He specializes in the digitization of tax issues through process and transformation consulting as well as the implementation of IT tools. In 2008, he established a process and technology team at KPMG’s Berlin office, which he managed as a partner since 2010. In addition to projects in various tax disciplines, his focus was on HR and payroll functions. He advises clients from the strategy phase through planning to implementation.

Karl Bevan started his career as a software developer before joining KPMG in London in 2001. From 2008 he supported the development of the process and technology team at KPMG in Berlin and, as Director, was responsible for software development and implementation, product management of software solutions and the conception of technology strategies. He was also a member of KPMG’s governance and architecture boards for Global Mobility Technology. During his career, he has developed numerous local and global tax applications for international corporations.

“Digitization consulting is a cross-cutting topic that covers almost all tax areas. With our new Digital Hub, we are now creating a platform through which we can better serve our clients with digital solutions,” adds Fritz Esterer. “I am very pleased that we were able to win over Christian Baumgart and Karl Bevan. We will benefit greatly from their great expertise”.