Karsten Maschler

Managing Director

Karsten is a managing partner and executive board member at Oaklins Germany. In his role on the executive board, he is responsible for driving the firm’s operational development, with a focus on strengthening processes and governance structures to support the continued growth and increasing complexity of the business. As an operating partner, he leads the German energy, logistics and food & beverage practice. He has more than 20 years’ experience in M&A and corporate finance advisory, and has built a strong track record in advising entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses and investors on complex national and cross-border transactions. Karsten has in-depth industry knowledge across the energy value chain, including industrial products and related services, logistics and transportation, as well as consumer and food-related businesses. He has recently focused on energy transition and sustainable business models, particularly in the energy, infrastructure and industrial services segments, where he regularly advises on strategically driven sell-side and growth transactions. Through his operational responsibilities within Oaklins, Karsten works closely with international teams on cross-border mandates and sector development initiatives. His most recent M&A deals include the sales of L.E.T. Group to Gimv, Lehmann Marine to Sunlight, Lisega SE to Buhlmann, Bockholdt GmbH & Co. KG to Strabag and BBS Gebäudetechnik to a private equity-backed platform. In the logistics and transportation sector, he most recently advised Lexzau, Scharbau & Co. on the acquisition of the Coltrans Group. Many of his transactions reflect his broad experience across sell-side and buy-side mandates involving strategic buyers, financial investors and international acquirors. With a background in leading industry-specialized financial institutions and advisory firms, Karsten has extensive experience in logistics, shipping and asset-intensive business models as well as renewable energies. Over the course of his career, he has advised on a wide range of share and asset deals as well as debt- and mezzanine-related corporate finance mandates, giving him a deep understanding of capital structures, investor requirements and transaction execution in complex environments.

Prior to joining Oaklins, Karsten led the corporate finance business at Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, where he specialized in M&A advisory and complex financing solutions for mid-sized companies and larger asset transactions. Before that, he held several leadership roles at HSH Nordbank, including head of M&A, advising clients on numerous national and international M&A and debt transactions. His professional network extends across Europe, the Americas and Asia, where he also served as M&A advisor out of HSH Nordbank’s Singapore branch. Karsten began his career as an M&A consultant at Ernst & Young in Berlin and Frankfurt. He studied at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, USA, and has a degree in economics and business administration.