Top triple-qualified corporate lawyer and dealmaker joins Edinburgh's Anderson Strathern

Anderson Strathern, the Edinburgh-headquartered legal firm, has hired a top European dealmaker as a director in its corporate practice.

Max Scharbert is a former corporate partner at Rooney Nimmo and is the longstanding chairman of the German British Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Scotland. He is qualified in German, English and Scots law – making him what is thought to be the only such triple-qualified corporate lawyer in Scotland.

Working out of Frankfurt, London and Edinburgh Scharbert has advised clients, from multinationals to start-ups on a wide range of corporate transactions with a focus on private equity, and mergers and acquisitions.

He said: “Anderson Strathern has gained a reputation for working on really interesting deals, with both UK and international clients and investors, and it is an opportune time to be joining the firm as we look to expand our offering and increase our levels of deal activity.

Max Scharbert and Bruce Farquhar of Anderson Strathern. Picture: Chris Watt

“While the pandemic has been a challenging time, what it has also showed is that investors continue to invest in and support innovative companies and that is reflected in terms of the firm’s client activity in recent times.”

Anderson Strathern, which has 54 partners and 280 employees across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Haddington and Lerwick, works closely with investment firms including Scottish angel syndicates Tricapital and Equity Gap, and private equity investment manager Foresight Group.

Through its investment arm, AS Capital, the firm has also invested in Scottish start-ups such as software compliance specialist Amiqus.

Over the last 12 months, the legal firm’s investment team has advised Foresight in relation to three Scottish Growth Fund investments, supported various management teams and investee companies on equity transactions and assisted venture capital syndicates complete a number of investments in high-growth start-ups across Scotland and the north of England.

Recent investment syndicate deals include advising the incoming management team of FIS Chemicals around the company’s £4 million management buy-in and Tricapital’s £1m investment in Ten Bio, a University of Dundee spin-out aiming to commercialise the human skin culture system it has developed to provide an alternative to animal testing.

Scharbert joins the firm’s 20-strong corporate and commercial practice, a team previously strengthened by the hire of partner Euan Tripp, a corporate finance, private equity and M&A specialist, from rival Brodies in 2019.

Bruce Farquhar, Anderson Strathern chair and corporate partner, said: “Max has been practising law in the UK and Europe for over 20 years, and his depth of experience and range of contacts across the investor community mean he is an excellent addition for the firm as we look to build out our investment and dealmaking team.

“While Anderson Strathern is a Scottish independent legal firm, we have spent recent years establishing stronger international links and Max will further enhance our credentials here.”

In 2019, the firm was selected as the first Scottish legal practice by the Meritas global network that numbers more than 180 firms from some 90 countries.

Last month, Anderson Strathern announced a merger with Shetland-based legal firm Neil Risk Solicitor and Estate Agent.

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