Month: June 2024

Blumenthal Richter & Sumet (BRS)’s Corporate / Mergers & Acquisitions practice, under the leadership of Senior Partner Andreas Richter, has been acknowledged for the 11th consecutive year by The Legal 500.

The Corporate / Mergers & Acquisitions team, which has a strong focus on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) advisory work, is led by Andreas Richter, a Germany trained lawyer with over 30 years of expertise in guiding multinational companies conducting business in Thailand. With his team, Andreas positions clients for success in the Thai market, by efficiently navigating Thailand’s foreign investment and corporate law framework, assisting  clients of various sizes and industries.

Andreas is supported by Partner Stefan Riedl, the team’s veteran in contract drafting and negotiations, who celebrated 10 years with Blumenthal Richter & Sumet in 2023.

Moreover, Andreas recently established BRS’ Japan Desk and China Desk that provide specialized legal assistance to corporate clients from Japan and China in connection with their inbound activities in Thailand. The Japan Desk, a cooperation with leading Japanese law firm Momo-O Matsuo & Namba, is led by Mr. Ryo Sakata, a Corporate and Mergers & Acquisitions attorney based in Tokyo. The China Desk is led by foreign legal experts Ms. Shuang Huang and Ms. Akemi Xie, the latter is a partner at Shanghai-based law firm Zhonglun W&D.

Contributing to the team’s success was also Ekkarat Ritthiplang who was promoted to partner and co-leader of the team in the fall of 2023. In his new role, Ekkarat manages the team’s project-based activities, and also plays a critical role in advising clients on the nuances of Thai law.

With his team of Austrian, Thai, Chinese, and Japanese attorneys, Andreas has acted on a variety of significant corporate matters over the past year, including:

• Providing one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies with comprehensive legal and strategic advice in connection with  establishing a chemical production facility in Thailand.
• Advising China’s largest automobile producer by sales on entering the Thai market and obtaining investment promotion.
• Assisting a European food producer with revenue of EUR 7 billion in acquiring a leading Thai premium food ingredients wholesaler.

Andreas Richter commented, “2023 was a year of growth for our practice, particularly with the addition of Ekkarat and Akemi to our team’s leadership. I sincerely thank our clients for placing their continued trust in our dynamic team as their trusted partner in Thailand. I also thank the Legal 500 for, again, recognizing the success of our last year’s hard work.”

The Legal 500 recognition results from rigorous research conducted by The Legalese, a leading directory for the highest caliber of legal services globally. This involves analysis of corporate, general commercial, mergers & acquisitions, and related matters, as well as interviews with clients and competitors.