Anderson Strathern hires European dealmaker Max Scharbert
Anderson Strathern has hired European dealmaker Max Scharbert as a director in its corporate practice. Mr Scharbert is a former partner at Rooney Nimmo and is the longstanding chairman of the German British Chamber of Industry & Commerce in Scotland, and is qualified in German, English and Scots law – the only such triple-qualified corporate lawyer in Scotland.
Working out of Frankfurt, London and Edinburgh, he has advised clients, from multinationals to startups on a wide range of corporate transactions with a focus on private equity, and mergers and acquisitions.
Anderson Strathern works closely with investment firms including Scottish angel syndicates Tricapital and Equity Gap, and private equity investment manager Foresight Group. Through the firm’s investment arm AS Capital, Anderson Strathern has itself since invested in innovative Scottish based startups such as software compliance specialist Amiqus.
Over the last 12 months, Anderson Strathern’s investment team has advised Foresight Group 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 Limited around the company’s £4 million management buy-in and Tricapital’s £1 million investment in Ten Bio, a University of Dundee spin-out aiming to commercialise the human skin culture system it is has developed to provide an alternative to animal testing.
Mr Scharbert 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. 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.”
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.”