Vita

Maximilian Bühler

Maximilian Bühler has been a part of the investment team at PREMIUM since February 2023. Prior to this, he spent two years working at a family office in Munich, which primarily invests in medium-sized companies. Starting from 2017, Maximilian was a part of the deal team at PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit Firm (PwC) in Munich, where he advised financial and strategic investors on M&A transactions and accompanied several restructuring projects.

Previously, he was part of the investment team of a Munich family office, focusing on investments in medium-sized companies.

Senior Associate in the Transaction Services and Business Recovery Services department at PwC.

Studied Quantitative Economics at the University of Konstanz and the University of Essex.

Vita

Kristina Mickerts

As Finance Director, Kristina Mickerts has been part of the PREMIUM team since April 2018. From 2013 to 2018, she worked for the auditing firm Mazars GmbH & Co. KG. As senior auditor she was responsible for the execution of audits of stand-alone and consolidated financial statements for companies of different legal forms and sizes, in accordance with German accounting regulations (HGB) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

• Mazars GmbH & Co. KG in Frankfurt am Main: Senior auditor from 2013 to 2018.

• Ernst & Young GmbH auditors in Eschborn.

• Master of Laws (LL.M.) at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management; specialising in: Mergers & Acquisitions, Finance & Accounting.

Vita

Dr. Thomas Duhnkrack

As a founding partner, Thomas Duhnkrack has been Managing Partner of PREMIUM since 2011 and Senior Advisor since 2024. He worked at Deutsche Bank for over 20 years (including seven years in Japan) before joining the Board of Managing Directors of DZ BANK in 2003.

• Operating Partner at Advent International (2010-2013). Member of the Supervisory Board at Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank AG (2011-2023) and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG (2015-2023). Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees of WWF Germany (2011-2019).

• DZ BANK AG: Board Member for Corporate Clients, Corporate and Structured Finance, Foreign Branches and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Asset Finance subsidiaries (real estate, ships and aircraft, leasing) and at VR Equity Partner.

• Deutsche Bank AG: most recently as Divisional Board Member responsible for the German corporate client business and international sales financing. Member of the Corporate and Investment Banking Board, London. Supervisory Board mandates at various industrial Mittelstand companies.

• Banking apprenticeship, business studies and doctorate at the University of Hamburg.

Vita

Marcel van Wijk

Marcel van Wijk was one of the founders of PREMIUM in 2011. With his extensive 30 years of experience in the investment business, he has analysed, supervised, successfully executed and divested more than 25 transactions. During this time, he has been involved in initiating and structuring management buy-outs and acquiring majority and minority interests in various medium-sized companies, has set up several SME funds and cultivated international investor relations.

• Before co-founding PREMIUM in Frankfurt, he was a partner of the Halder Group.

• Halder Germany: 1998-2010 finishing as partner; Halder Netherlands 1993-1998.

• Fundraising for four medium-sized funds.

• Degree: Business Administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Vita

Philipp Väth

As Investment Manager, Philipp Väth is part of the PREMIUM investment team. Until April 2019, Philipp Väth worked as Manager in the Transaction Services division at the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH (PwC) in Frankfurt am Main. Having joined PwC in 2013, he primarily supported private equity companies with their due diligence and numerous buy- and sell-side mandates.

• PwC: Manager in Transaction Services, previously in the Transaction Graduate Program.

• Graduate in business administration with a focus on banking, finance and auditing.

• Studied business administration at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, which included a study visit to the Grande École de Commerce (INSEEC) in Paris.

Vita

Pieter van Halem

Active in the investment business for over 25 years, Pieter van Halem joined the PREMIUM partnership in April 2021. In recent years, he has launched several funds, completed, managed and successfully sold over 15 buyout transactions, growth financing and an equal number of add-on acquisitions. He has also held numerous supervisory and advisory board positions at medium-sized companies.

• Human Med AG: Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

• CornerstoneCapital Group: Executive Board, Managing Partner, co-founder since 2001.

• Investment Director at 3i, previously held positions at Arthur Andersen management consultancy and Citibank.

• Degree: Business Administration at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, MBA from the University of Virginia/Darden School of Business.

Vita

Konstantin Skora

Konstantin Skora has been with PREMIUM since June 2017 and, as Investment Director, has extensive experience in the field of private equity – including deal origination and execution as well as in the development of portfolio companies. From 2008 onwards, he worked in the Transaction Services division, then from 2010 onwards in the medium-sized investment business for L-EA Private Equity and Cross Equity Partners in Switzerland, where he worked with Fabian Walesch.

• Cross Equity Partners: Investment Manager from 2014 to 2017, previously an investment professional at L-EA Private Equity GmbH.

• AMR International: Consultant Transaction Services/Commercial due diligence.

• Degree: International MBA and Master in Research Methodology at the Instituto de Empresa, Madrid; Master in Strategic Management at the University of Tilburg.

Vita

Fabian Walesch

Fabian Walesch has been a partner at PREMIUM since August 2015. He began his private equity career by joining the HALDER Group, where he completed several buy-out transactions together with Marcel van Wijk from 2005 onwards. Before joining PREMIUM, he spent four more years working for the Swiss private equity fund, Cross Equity Partners, for which he generated, executed and supervised several medium-sized investments in Switzerland and Germany. 

• Cross Equity Partners: Senior Investment Manager, formerly Halder Germany: Investment Manager 2005-2011.

• M&A Boutique, Boehm-Bezing, Sieger & Cie in Stuttgart, previously a Private Equity Placement Agent at Triago.

• MBA (Imperial College, London, also Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA); degree: International business administration at the Munich Business School.

Vita

Franziska Haug

As Investment Associate, Franziska Haug has been part of the investment team at PREMIUM since September 2023. Prior to this, she spent over five years at ALANTRA, an investment bank focussing on mid-market companies, where she has primarily supported private equity firms in the execution of various buy- and sell-side as well as debt advisory mandates.

• Corporate Finance Professional at ALANTRA

• MSc in Finance at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona

• Dual study programme in business administration at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University and at Commerzbank