Independent Corporate Finance Advisory
Focus on the German-Speaking Midmarket
International Market Access

Christian Berkhoff is Managing Partner at ARGONAS und has more than 20 years of experience in Corporate Finance Advisory und Investment Banking. 

At ARGONAS, Christian leads M&A and financing projects across a broad spectrum of industries, sectors and company situations. Christian’s focus areas are businesses in the Industrial & Automotive and Business Services space as well as complex financing solutions and M&A situations. 

Selected transaction references comprise inter alia the sale of the Siemens subsidiary Symeo to US-listed Analog Devices, the sale of Tecno Plast to Swedish Indutrade Group in the context of a succession solution, the carve-out and sale of a business segment for the international Auria Solutions Group as well as multiple financing and M&A projects for Feuer powertrain. 

Prior to co-founding ARGONAS, Christian inter alia worked for J.P. Morgan in London and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in Frankfurt, where he predominantly advised multinational corporations and large midmarket companies on structured debt and hybrid capital solutions.

Christian holds a degree in business administration from Goethe-University Frankfurt and a Masters in Finance degree from London Business School.

Sebastian Bauch is Managing Director at ARGONAS und has more than 15 years of experience in Corporate Finance Advisory und Consulting. 

At ARGONAS, Sebastian leads M&A and financing projects across a broad spectrum of industries, sectors and company situations. Sebastian’s focus areas are the sectors Software / Technology, Healthcare and Retail / E-Commerce as well as the support of growth businesses. 

Selected transaction references comprise inter alia the sale of Nissen & Velten Software to Main Capital as well as the buyout financing of Italpresse for Auctus Capital Partners. 

Prior to co-founding ARGONAS, Sebastian worked for IEG – Investment Banking in Berlin between 2006 and 2011, where he advised midmarket companies as well as multinational corporations on midmarket M&A transactions in Germany, Eastern Europe, Turkey and India. Sebastian previously also worked at BearingPoint in Frankfurt and KPMG in Hanover. 

Sebastian holds a degree in business administration from Humboldt-University Berlin.

Sascha Männel is Managing Director at ARGONAS and has more than 15 years of experience in the areas of Corporate Finance Advisory and Investment Banking. 

At ARGONAS, Sascha is responsible for deal origination and market analysis and further supports M&A and financing projects across a wide range of industries, sectors and company situations. Sascha’s focus areas are businesses in the Industrial & Automotive, Engineering, Logistics and Packaging space as well as the support of growth companies and special situations. 

Selected transaction references comprise inter alia the sale of the automotive positioning and software specialist Naventik to the Swiss listed semiconductor manufacturer u-blox AG and the sale of vPool Logistics to the Dutch Faber Halbertsma Group (Pooling Partners / PAKI Logistics). 

Before co-founding ARGONAS, Sascha worked for Freitag & Co. in Frankfurt am Main from 2008 to 2009 and for IEG - Investment Banking in Berlin from 2009 to 2012, where he advised medium-sized companies and international groups on mid-market M&A transactions in Germany, Eastern Europe and Turkey. Previously, he worked for Berenberg Bank, E&Y, Freshfields and KPMG in Berlin and Hamburg. 

Sascha holds a degree in business administration at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in Sankt Augustin, a degree in business law at the University of Applied Sciences Nordhessen as well an MSc in Global Banking and Finance at the European Business School London (EBS London).

Egor Kapustin, CFA is Executive Director at ARGONAS and has more than 15 years of experience in Corporate Finance and Investment Banking.

At ARGONAS, Egor leads and supports M&A and financing projects across a wide range of industries, sectors and company situations. Egor’s focus areas include Industrial, Deep Tech, Healthcare and Fintech.

Before joining ARGONAS, Egor worked at UniCredit Bank in Moscow, where he advised companies from Germany, Russia and Turkey on cross-border and domestic M&A transactions. Egor previously also worked at UBS, Renaissance Capital and PwC.

Egor is a CFA® charterholder, he holds a Specialist degree in Economics from Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics.

Felix von Bethmann-Hollweg is a Co-Founder of ARGONAS and meanwhile member of the Advisory Board of ARGONAS. He has more than 20 years of experience in Private Equity, Investment Banking and Corporate Finance Advisory. 

In his capacity as part of the advisory board, Felix supports ARGONAS and selectively also selected transaction processes with his broad network and sector expertise. Center of Felix’ professional activities by now is the management of the own family business. 

In the past, Felix built up relevant experience inter alia as part of the investment team of Fortress Investment Group and as part of the M&A team of J.P. Morgan. 

Felix holds a degree in business administration from ESCP-EAP (Paris/Oxford/Berlin). Further to that, he studied agriculture and history of arts.

Ahmed Sallam is a member of the Advisory Board of ARGONAS. He has around 20 years of experience in Investment Banking and Principal Investment

As a member of the advisory board, Ahmed supports ARGONAS with his broad network and sector expertise.

Ahmed is Founder and Partner at Orillion (https://orillion.co/), an international investment firm focusing on Venture Capital and Private Equity. Prior to that, he built up over 15 years of experience in investment banking, most recently running the Automotive and Automotive tech business at UBS out of London.

He is also a board member of US based technology firm Apex.AI 

Ahmed holds a Masters in Finance degree from London Business School.

Lance Duan is a member of the Advisory Board of ARGONAS. He has many years of experience in the areas Cross-Border M&A and Venture Capital Investments.

In his capacity as part of the advisory board, Lance supports ARGONAS and selectively also selected transaction processes with his broad network, especially in Asia. Furthermore, Lance is a Partner at Baker Street Venture Partners („BSV“) (https://www.bsvpartners.co.uk/), a London-based advisory firm focused on cross-border M&A, fundraising and further consulting services (including localization services in the context of companies entering new markets) with a particularly strong access to the Chinese, Thai and Singaporean markets. Depending on the specific requirements for the transaction process, ARGONAS and BSV selectively act as a team in order to provide, where valuable and requested, the combined expertise of ARGONAS and BSV out of one hand. 

In the past, Lance built up relevant experience inter alia as part of the investment teams of Salman Partners and Illuminate Financial Management and in the global M&A team of CIMC Group. 

Lance holds an MBA degree from London Business School and is a CFA charterholder.

Emily Song is a member of the Advisory Board of ARGONAS. She has over 15 years of experience in the areas Venture & Growth Investments and Cross-Border M&A. 

In her capacity as part of the advisory board, Emily supports ARGONAS and selectively also selected transaction processes with her broad network, especially in Asia, and her sector expertise, especially in the deep technology and healthcare industry. Furthermore, Emily is a Partner at Baker Street Venture Partners („BSV“) (https://www.bsvpartners.co.uk/), a London-based advisory firm focused on cross-border M&A, fundraising and further consulting services (including localization services in the context of companies entering new markets) with a particularly strong access to the Chinese, Thai and Singaporean markets. Depending on the specific requirements for the transaction process, ARGONAS and BSV selectively act as a team in order to provide, where valuable and requested, the combined expertise of ARGONAS and BSV out of one hand. 

In the past, Emily built up relevant experience inter alia as part of the investment team of Fidelity – Eight Road Ventures (focus on Technology, Media and Telecoms) as well as the Business & Strategic Planning teams at SHL Group and Philips Electronics (Healthcare & Consumer Lifestyle Divsion). 

Emily holds a Master and Bachelor degree in Economics from the University of Edinburgh, she is a Chartered Certified Accountant with ACCA and CIMA, and a Certified Financial Planner with CII

Prof. Dr. Olaf Schlotmann is a member of the Advisory Board of ARGONAS. He has many years of experience in investment banking, especially in the area of capital markets, as well as further experience from positions with the German federal ministry of finance as well as in university teaching and research.

 In his capacity as part of the advisory board, Olaf supports ARGONAS and selectively also selected transaction processes with his broad network and capital markets expertise. Center of Olaf’s professional activities is his position as professor, holding the chair of Economics and Banking at the Institute for Finance, Taxes and Law of Brunswick European Law School. 

Before his appointment to the Brunswick European Law school, Olaf worked at the German Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, Section VII “National and International Capital Market and Monetary Policy”, involved in debt management, hedging and government bond placement. Previously, he held for many years a number of leading positions at Dresdner Kleinwort, inter alia as Head of Debt Capital Markets for Mid-Cap clients in the German-speaking region. 

Olaf studied Economics at the University Hamburg where he also finished his dissertation in monetary theory in 1997.

Su Mattenklott is Office Manager at ARGONAS and has many years of experience in the areas office management as well as graphics and design as well as media management.

At ARGONAS, Su leads the office organization and is responsible, inter alia, for accounting and controlling, HR management and website management.

Prior to joining ARGONAS, Su build up experience in multiple positions in office management and as executive assistant as well as in the area graphics & design.

After completing school and starting to work early, Su completed various advanced trainings and certifications, partly alongside the job, inter alia in the areas graphics & design, media management and EDP.