Thomas Gierath Bio

Thomas Gierath joined the Munich office of Baker McKenzie in January 2020. Thomas has extensive and long-standing experience in German and international tax law. Before joining the firm, Thomas was head of tax at other US law firms in Munich. Thomas' practice focus is tax advice on domestic and international transactions of all kinds (mainly M&A, private equity, real estate and financing), tax structuring of transactions, domestic and cross-border tax planning for corporates, sponsors and/or investors and general tax planning. Thomas advises German and international private equity investors on buy-out transactions and minority investments and real estate investors buying or selling real estate portfolios. Part of his advice is the setting up of management incentives structures (such as sweet equity and any type of option plans). He also advises German and global corporates on M&A transactions both on the sell or buy side and on the structuring of domestic and cross-border reorganizations (e.g. mergers, spin offs, carve outs, business or share contributions) and start-up companies and venture capital investors on VC financing rounds at all stages and in relation to exits and restructurings (including US flips). Finally, he is also experienced in the structuring of private equity and real estate funds and on investments into such funds by institutional and private investors. Thomas' clients include private equity, venture capital, strategic and real estate investors as well as German and global corporate groups. Thomas is considered as "trusted advisor" by several international corporate clients and real estate funds and has been awarded Best Lawyer in Germany for the 2022 edition of Best Lawyers.