Winfried M. Carli

Winfried Carli serves as the chair of Goodwin's Munich office and is a partner in the firm’s Private Equity group in the Debt Finance practice. Winfried’s practice focuses on finance and restructuring matters, with a particular focus on leveraged finance. He represents national and international private equity firms, financial institutions, debt funds, and companies on all types of debt transactions.

Winfried’s client base is extensive and includes Allianz Global Investors, Arcmont, Ardian Debt, Ares, Armira, Auctus, Aurelius, Bencis, Berenberg, capiton, Capmont, Capza, Commerzbank, Crescent, CVC Credit, DPE, ECM, EMERAM, EMZ, EOS Partners, Equistone Partners, Eurazeo, FLEX Capital, Genui, Gilde Healthcare, Gimv, Greenpeak, Hayfin, Investcorp, Investec, KKA, LEA, Maguar, Marlin, Muzinich, Nalka, NPM, OLB, Paragon, Pemberton, Pictet, PINOVA, Rantum, Rivean, Sophora, Tikehau, Trill, UniCredit, and many others.

He has earned widespread recognition for his practice work and is consistently recognized as one of Germany’s leading banking and finance lawyers. Handelsblatt Best Lawyers named him Lawyer of the Year for Banking & Finance in 2023 and 2025. WirtschaftsWoche awarded him the Legal All Star title in 2021 and 2024. He is ranked Band 1 for Banking & Finance by Chambers Germany 2025 and has been recognized by Chambers in the Banking & Finance category for the past 15 years. Legal 500 Europe 2026 recognizes him in its Hall of Fame for Lending and Borrowing. He has also been ranked for many years by JUVE as a Leading Lawyer in Lending and Acquisition Financing and is recognized in the Best Lawyers in Germany 2027 edition.

Since joining Goodwin, Winfried has represented

• EMZ Partners on the financing of its acquisition of a minority stake in SBH Tiefbautechnik GmbH.
• Gilde Healthcare on the financing of the acquisitions of BENTEC Endoscopy GmbH and Hermann Medizintechnik GmbH through its portfolio company Surgical Precision Instruments.
• Maguar Capital on the financing of its partnership with Schlafender Hase GmbH.
• EOS Partners Portfolio Company accompio on the financing of its acquisition of techbold, an Austrian IT solutions specialist.
• LEA Partners GmbH, on the acquisition financing of visoma tickets, the ticket system operations of visoma GmbH.
• EMZ Partners on the financing of their acquisition of a significant minority stake in Steinbach & Vollmann.
• Greenpeak Partners on an acquisition facility for AXAITRA Group.
• Vendis Capital, a leading pan-European consumer-focused private equity investor, on the refinancing of the existing financing arrangements of its portfolio company BlueBrixx.
• EOS Partners on the financing of their acquisition of a majority stake in Drooms.
• KKA Partners on the comprehensive expansion of the financing structure for Mühldorfer Group, a portfolio company of KKA Partners.
• Gilde Healthcare Partners on the acquisition financing for Physio CKI GmbH, a leading provider of high-quality physical therapy services.
• AURELIUS on the financing of the acquisition of the EMEA metering business from SIX Swiss Exchange-listed Landis+Gyr.
• Paragon Partners GmbH, on the provision of credit facilities for the refinancing of the acquisition of BALDUR-Garten GmbH and its subsidiaries.
• GREENPEAK Partners, on the financing of atania’s partnership with LKC Group.
• LEA Partners on the refinancing of its acquisition of TAC.
• AUCTUS Capital Partners, on the financing of the acquisition of the Heidersberger Group and Rudolf Schweiger Abdichtung und Isolierbau-GmbH & Co. KG.
• Capiton AG on the financing of the acquisition of a majority stake in SAPV Care GmbH.
• Gilde Healthcare’s Surgical Instrument Contract Manufacturing Group on the financing of the acquisition of Rudischhauser Surgical Instruments Manufacturing GmbH,
• EMERAM on the financing of the acquisition of Hochfrequenz Unternehmensberatung GmbH.
• Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG on the establishment of super senior facilities under the existing financing for Ortivity GmbH and its subsidiaries, a portfolio company of Apheon.
• EMERAM Capital Partners, on the refinancing of Frostkrone Food Group’s existing term debt and revolving credit facilities.
• Paragon on a financing made available by Partners Group for the refinancing of the acquisition of WEKA.
• FLEX Capital on the refinancing of the acquisition of Evo IT GmbH.
• LEA Partners GmbH, on the financing of its acquisition of docuFORM GmbH.
• Armira and portfolio company Salesfive on the financing of the acquisition of H+W CONSULT GmbH.
• GREENPEAK Partners’ new mid-market advisory platform atania on the financing of the partnership between atania and AC CHRISTES & PARTNER.
• Gilde Healthcare on the financing of the acquisition of MEG Medical Equipment GmbH.
• EOS Partners Portfolio Company accompio on Financing of r-rec IT Security Acquisition.
• Armira on the financing of its partnership With almapharm.
• Sophora on the refinancing of auxalia and the financing of the acquisition of ICN Group.
• LEA Partners on the financing of ORCA Software.
• VTC on the financing for the acquisition of a majority stake in Hürner Luft- Und Umwelttechnik.
• PINOVA Capital on the financing of the acquisition of NEUROMEDEX.
• Rantum Capital on the financing for the acquisition of Lyocontract.
• EMERAM on financing for the acquisition of Provital.
• LEA on a financing for easybill.
• Marlin Equity Partners on financing for the acquisition of a majority stake in Treasury Intelligence Solutions.
• Trill Impact on its partnership with TT medic.
• Sale of Equistone’s Portfolio Company Sport Group to KPS Capital Partners.
• EOS Partners GmbH on the financing of the acquisition of Swibox Holding AG with this addition, EOS strengthens its existing portfolio company Smart Building & Industrial Services Group.
• FLEX Capital on the financing of the acquisition of Omikron Systemhaus GmbH & Co. KG, a leading German provider of e-banking solutions.
• EMZ portfolio company FotoFinder Systems,a global leader in skin imaging solutions, on the financing of the acquisition of DermLite, a provider of handheld dermatoscopes.
• Bencis, a European private equity firm, on the financing of the acquisition of eurorad.
• Capmont on the financing of the acquisition of Tank & Becker Group by its portfolio company Brick Group.
• Armira on the financing of the acquisition of we speak fluent cx GmbH by Salesfive Holding GmbH.
• AURELIUS Wachstumskapital on the financing of the acquisition of Windhoff Group
• Ardian Private Credit on the financing for the acquisition of a majority stake in GBTEC Software AG and its subsidiaries by Carlyle.
• EMZ Partners on the financing for the add-on acquisition of certain WEKA companies by Aspire Education.
• NordLB and OLB in connection with the refinancing of BID Equity-backed JustRelate Group, including the financing of the acquisition of French Bmobile and SaaS Dartagnan.
• Capital Four AIFM A/S and its fund Private Debt V on the extension of credit facilities to Carton Group GmbH in connection with the refinancing of existing debt and the financing of the acquisition of Europoligrafico.
• Capmont on the financing of the acquisition of Wirtz Werkzeugbau GmbH
• Ares on the financing of the add-on acquisition of FLEXX Fitness GmbH by BestFit Group a portfolio company of NORD Holding.
• Gilde Healthcare Partners B.V. on the financing of the acquisition of Koscher & Würtz.
• EMZ Partners GmbH on the financing of the acquisition of imes-icore.
• GENUI and its portfolio company APELOS Therapie GmbH on a growth financing.
• Flex Capital Management GmbH and Evex Group on the financing of the acquisition of OPTIX Group Limited and Euronet Software AG and the refinancing of its existing financial indebtedness.
• EMZ Partners GmbH on the financing of the acquisition of a significant stake in H&Z Unternehmensberatung.
• Beyond Capital Partners GmbH on the acquisition of a majority stake in Holder Grelck Forstbaumschulen GmbH.
• Pictet on the financing of the acquisition of MLASE AG by Maxburg.
• Equistone Partners Europe in connection with the sale of its majority stake in Amadys to Netceed.
• Trill Impact on the financing of its investment in Delivery Associates Ltd (“Delivery Associates”), a global public sector consulting firm.
• EOS Partners GmbH portfolio company, accompio GmbH, on the financing of the acquisition of 100% of the shares of be-solutions GmbH, an IT-managed services and security provider.
• Equistone on the financing for TIMETOACT GROUP.
• Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG on the financing of the acquisition of HRworks Holding GmbH by Maguar Continuation Fund I GmbH & Co. KG. Berenberg is one of the leading private banks in Europe.
• JK-Gruppe on the completion of their refinancing. A leading premium platform for branded beauty, health, and wellness products and a portfolio company of VTC, on its refinancing to support the company’s future growth strategies.
• ECM on the financing of ONE HIRING Group.
• Sihl Group on acquiring Trichord through its subsidiary, Perigon GmbH. One of the world's first providers of a process for industrial, full-area printing of complex 3D objects, on the financing of the acquisition of Trichord Ltd.
• Sophora Unternehmerkapital on the financing of the acquisition of auxalia GmbH. Based in Munich, Sophora is an independent and owner-managed investment company with a focus on medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
• Nalka on the financing of the acquisition of the Norres Baggerman Group from Triton Partners, its first investment in the DACH market. Terms and conditions of the transaction were not disclosed. Nalka is an investment firm investing in market-leading small and medium-sized businesses based in the Nordic and DACH regions.
• Armira and Salesfive on the financing of the add-on acquisition of Integration Matters GmbH, a German software company focusing on the digitalisation of business processes.
• Bridgepoint Credit and other senior lenders in connection with an amendment to the financing for Studienkreis (an IK Partners portfolio company) in conjunction with the sale by IK Partners of Studienkreis, the market leader in centre-based tutoring in the DACH region, to GoStudent.
• Gimv on the financing of its investment in Rohrleitungsbau Münster GmbH & Co. Gimv is listed on Euronext Brussels and works with companies in five forward-looking sectors: Consumer, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Smart Industries, and Sustainable Cities. KG. Rohrleitungsbau Münster is a provider of engineering, construction, maintenance and service of pipeline and cable networks.
• PINOVA Capital GmbH on the financing of its investment in RIEPE GmbH & Co. KG. PINOVA is an independent private equity firm that manages funds investing in high-growth technology companies in German-speaking regions. RIEPE is a globally leading specialist in the field of finish-quality edge banding with headquarters in Bünde, Germany.
• Deutsche Invest Capital Solutions on the financing of its investment in GLOBOGATE concept AG. Founded in Switzerland in 2017, GLOBOGATE is the leading pioneer in the ethical recruitment of non-EU nursing professionals. As a provider of long-term strategic solutions, the company ensures that overseas recruitment is implemented in a predictable, safe and successful manner.
• PINOVA Capital GmbH on the financing of its investment in VTI Ventil Technik GmbH.
• EMZ Partners on the financing of its investment in Wishcard Technologies Group. EMZ Partners, together with IK Partners and existing investor Oakley Capital, is investing in Wishcard Technologies Group, the leading provider of B2C multi-brand gift vouchers and B2B gift cards in the DACH region.
• Equistone Partners Europe on the financing of the acquisition of a majority stake in BUKO Infrasupport and BUKO Waakt.
• Triton on the sale of German dogado Group to Cinven. dogado is part of Triton's portfolio company EDSA Group and one of the leading hosting providers in the DACH region. The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms and conditions of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals.
• EMZ Partners on the financing of the acquisition of a majority stake in Aspire Education Group.
• EMZ Partners on the financing of a management-sponsored transaction for koenig.solutions, where EMZ is acquiring a minority stake in KS.
• EOS Partners (EOS) on the financing of their acquisition of the majority stake in FLEXiCODE GmbH and FLEXiCODE Schweiz AG, a Germany- and Switzerland-based IT services provider focused on the IFS ecosystem.

• Legal 500 2026 Germany noted that “Winfried Carli is probably one of the most sought-after personalities in the German market, which is not surprising given his commercial mindset and pragmatic approach.”
• Legal 500 2026 Germany noted further that “Winfried Carli is simply the smartest and most commercially astute finance lawyer in Germany. In addition to his outstanding legal expertise, he has a unique business instinct that makes him a valuable sparring partner when it comes to important decisions.”
• Chambers Global 2026 noted that “Winfried Carli has an excellent reputation in the market. He is extremely experienced, has very good market knowledge and sees a vast number of deals - more than anyone in Germany.”