FRANKFURT — Global advisory firm Teneo has opened its first office in Germany and hired former Hering Schuppener partner Felix Schoenauer to lead the new business.

Schoenauer will serve as CEO of Teneo in Germany, reporting to Phillippe Blanchard, president of Teneo’s Continental Europe operations, who joined from Brunswick last month after more than 12 years leading its Brussels office.

The firm will be opening an office in Frankfurt with “ambitious plans to grow the business over the coming weeks and months,” it said in a statement. Teneo already has European bases in the UK, Ireland, France and Belgium.

Schoenauer left Hering Schuppener in January this year after more than a decade, as the agency merged with Finsbury to form Finsbury Glover Hering. In his time at the agency, he specialised in strategic advice on positioning, capital-market related transactions and reputation management for publicly-listed and privately-owned companies, as well as private equity clients.

Before joining Hering Schuppener, Schoenauer worked for eight years at Handelsblatt, Germany’s business and financial daily, including four years as its financial markets correspondent in London.

The move follows something of a tumultuous year for Teneo in terms of leadership, including CEO Declan Kelly resigning in June after allegations of inappropriate behaviour. This was swiftly followed by the appointment of ex-Xerox CEO Ursula Burns as chairwoman.

The firm has also refreshed its UK leadership team in the past year, with Nick Claydon, a former managing partner at Brunswick, taking over as chief executive of the UK strategy and communications business.

In Asia, Teneo has recently appointed Yvonne Koh as its new Singapore managing director and Patricia Heiberger as Hong Kong MD.

Teneo has lost a number of major clients in recent months, including General Motors, which cancelled its $250,000-per-month contract after news of Kelly’s behaviour surfaced. The firm also lost its Facebook and WhatsApp accounts in the UK, both of which went to Edelman after competitive pitches.

The agency sold a majority stake to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners in 2019, after which co-founder Doug Band quit the firm.