From left: Ekachai Chotpitayasunon and Peerasanti Somritutai
Ekachai Chotpitayasunon and Peerasanti Somritutai, former partners at Kudun and Partners, have launched independent local firm Mediums to respond to cross-border and domestic clients’ needs for activities such as M&A and business rehabilitation.
“We foresee that foreign investors are looking to purchase or invest in assets in Thailand at a significantly lower price later this year or the next as Thailand’s businesses are drowning in debt, and Thai banks are no longer able to help them,” Mediums partner Somritutai told Asia Business Law Journal.
Somritutai said that despite some economic stimulation plans, many Thai operators had not yet admitted they were drowning in debt, but they would come around later when they saw no more funding would become available.
At that point, rehabilitation or distressed M&As would become the firm’s main focus, said Somritutai.
Mediums will officially begin operating on 1 October, led by partners Somritutai and Chotpitayasunon, together with five associates who have also joined from the corporate M&A, capital markets, foreign direct investment, and dispute resolution teams at Kudun.
Somritutai was a partner at Kudun and served as the firm’s co-head of the real estate,banking and finance practices. His expertise spans corporate matters, private and public M&A, project and corporate financing, and real estate transactions. He has handled numerous domestic and cross-border deals, including acting for one of the largest US private equity firms and construction company Cornerstone Management on the divestiture of 100% of their equity and debt investments in the multipurpose development CAS Centre Office in a transaction valued at THB6.9 billion (USD216 million).
Chotpitayasunon also practised as a partner and served as co-head of the real estate practice at Kudun. He focuses on capital markets, M&A, and banking and finance. He has experience with initial public offerings, debt and equity offerings and corporate restructuring. His track record includes facilitating debenture and debt instrument offerings for Thai companies through private placements targeting institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Chotpitayasunon’s diverse roster of clients ranges from SMEs and state-owned enterprises to large multinational corporations, with experience in the real estate and property development sectors. He advised Thai conglomerate B.Grimm Power on its international IPO valued at THB11.5 billion.
The firm wouldbe based in the Rama 9 area of central Bangkok and focus on six areas, comprising corporate M&A, capital markets, dispute resolution, foreign direct investment, real estate, and finance and projects, said Chotpitayasunon.
When appropriate, Mediums planned to expand gradually but strongly, said Somritutai. However, the firm was not hiring as the size of its current team was already suffiencientfor existing clients, added Chotpitayasunon.
