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Thomas Schirmer

Partner, Dr. Mag., LL.M. (Tulane)
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Thomas Schirmer is a partner in the Corporate/M&A Team and has more than 25 years of experience in advising on domestic and cross-border transactions. His clients include Austrian and foreign strategic investors, private equity funds, state and pension sponsors and financial institutions. He also practices company law and advises boards of directors, supervisory boards and shareholders.

He focuses on

  • acquisition and disposal of (mostly) Austrian-based companies
  • private equity and venture capital investments
  • joint ventures, syndications and shareholder agreements
  • start-ups and financing rounds
  • asset deals and cross-border contracts
  • international auction proceedings

Thomas is listed as a "Market Leader" in the 2025 edition of the IFLR1000 Edition. JUVE (Edition Austria 2025) counts him among the leading names for Corporate/M&A in Austria. He is also listed as a leading lawyer in the Corporate/M&A area by Chambers Global 2025 and The Legal500 EMEA 2022. 

Thomas started his career with Binder Grösswang in 1995, where he was made partner in 2000. Between 2012 and 2020, he was managing the firm as Co-Managing Partner. Thomas studied law (Dr. iur. 1994; Mag. iur. 1989) and business sciences (Mag. rer. soc. oec. 1991) in Innsbruck and obtained a postgraduate degree (LL.M.) at the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans in 1993. He has been licensed as a lawyer in Austria since 1998.

Thomas is deputy chairman of the supervisory board of CPB Software AG, supervisory board member of Trimetis AG, supervisory board member of red-stars.com data AG (since 2025), managing director of NOVA Chemicals Holding GmbH and managing director of IPIC Holdings GmbH and MPP Holdings GmbH.  He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Six Payment Services Austria GmbH from 2013-2018 and of gamma II Beteiligungs-AG and ilab24 Mittelstandsfinanzierungs AG from 2012-2017. He is also a member of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee and the Banking Law Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA), of which he was also Chairman.

  • Advising Waterland on its acquisition of Netconomy GmbH
  • Advising MiddleGround Capital on its acquisition of ZOERKLER Gears GmbH & Co KG
  • Advising Raiffeisen Bank International on the sale of its stake in card complete Service Bank AG to EAVISTA.
  • Advising Aptiv PLC on the sale of its stake in TTTech Auto AG to Dutch chip manufacturer NXP Semiconductors NV.
  • Advising ORLEN S.A. on the acquisition of the entire Turmöl petrol station network from Doppler Holding
  • Advising Anadi Bank AG on the transfer of its branch network and the majority of its SME business to Bank Burgenland AG of the GRAWE banking group
  • Advising Interritus Limited and Attestor Capital LLP on the sale of their shares in Kommunalkredit Austria AG to Green Opera Finance BidCo AB, owned by financial investor Altor
  • Advising Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws) on the launch of a venture capital fund for innovative Austrian start-ups, and previously on the establishment of the Gründerfonds I start-up fund
  • Advising Northern Data AG on its entry into an Austrian cryptocurrency start-up
  • Advising PAI Partners on the acquisition of NovaTaste (formerly Savory Solutions Group) from International Flavors & Fragrances
  • Advising C E Beteiligungs Holding GmbH on its entry into the Gartner Group
  • Advising BNP Paribas on the sale of Hello bank! to BAWAG P.S.K.
  • Advising Mubadala on the sale of a 39% stake in Borealis AG to OMV AG
  • Advising Danaher Corporation on the acquisition of a minority stake in SUS GmbH from the founding companies and on the subsequent sale of SUS GmbH to Novo Holdings A/S
  • Advising Habeco Handelsgesellschaft m.b.H. on the sale of 49% of the United Souvenirs Group to German financial investor VTC GmbH & Co. KG, as well as on several subsequent strategic acquisitions
  • Advising GTCR and its investment company Corza Health on the acquisition of TachoSil Surgical Patch from Takeda and the establishment of Corza Medical, as well as the subsequent acquisition of the TachoSil production facility
  • Advising Mutares SE & Co KGaA and its subsidiary BEXITY GmbH on the acquisition of the entire transport logistics and warehouse company from Q Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of ÖBB Holding AG, and the subsequent sale of BEXITY to the Raben Group
  • Advising private equity investor Gilde Buy Out Partners (now Rivean Capital) on the sale of the Powerlines Group to French company Engie S.A.
  • Advising the SIX Group on the spin-off of the issuing business of SIX Payment Services (formerly Pay Life Bank AG) and its subsequent sale to easybank/BAWAG P.S.K.
  • Advising private equity investor Greenbriar Equity Group on the acquisition of Frauscher Sensor Technology Group and its subsequent sale to Delachaux S.A.
  • Advising Canada Pension Plan on the acquisition of Sportradar AG
  • Advising private equity investor Mutares on the acquisition of Steyr Motors Betriebs GmbH and Steyr Motors Immo GmbH from Thales Group
  • Advising ARDIAN on the acquisition of the Competence Call Center Group from Silverfleet Capital
  • Advising Castic Capital on the acquisition of a majority stake in inet-logistics from Gebrüder Weiss
  • Advising the administrative cooperative of start:gruppe on the sale of 100% of the shares in start:bausparkasse and IMMO-BANK to BAWAG P.S.K.
  • Advising ImmobilienScout24 on the acquisition of the Austrian real estate portals Immosuma GmbH, IMMOBILIEN.NET, and immodirekt.at, and advising Autoscout24 on the acquisition of gebrauchtwagen.at
  • Advising Wendel SA on the acquisition of Constantia Flexibles from One Global Equity (volume: €2.3 billion) and the subsequent spin-off of the labels business and its sale to Multi-Color Corporation, as well as the subsequent sale of the Constantia Flexibles Group to One Rock Capital Partners
  • Advising ARDIAN on the acquisition of ESIM Chemicals GmbH from DPx Fine Chemicals Austria and the subsequent resale to SUN Capital
  • Advising Vertellus and Pritzker Private Capital on the acquisition of IM Chemicals from SUN Capital
  • Advising Contour Global on the acquisition of several wind farms and photovoltaic plants in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia from the Raiffeisen Group
  • Advising IPIC and aabar Investments PJSC (now Mubadala), sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi, on the acquisition and structuring of various industrial investments, including Borealis AG, AMI AG, Daimler AG, MAN Ferrostaal AG, Atlantia S.p.A, NOVA Chemicals Canada, and OMV

Thomas Schirmer is a partner in the Corporate/M&A Team and has more than 25 years of experience in advising on domestic and cross-border transactions. His clients include Austrian and foreign strategic investors, private equity funds, state and pension sponsors and financial institutions. He also practices company law and advises boards of directors, supervisory boards and shareholders.

He focuses on

  • acquisition and disposal of (mostly) Austrian-based companies
  • private equity and venture capital investments
  • joint ventures, syndications and shareholder agreements
  • start-ups and financing rounds
  • asset deals and cross-border contracts
  • international auction proceedings

Thomas is listed as a "Market Leader" in the 2025 edition of the IFLR1000 Edition. JUVE (Edition Austria 2025) counts him among the leading names for Corporate/M&A in Austria. He is also listed as a leading lawyer in the Corporate/M&A area by Chambers Global 2025 and The Legal500 EMEA 2022. 

Thomas started his career with Binder Grösswang in 1995, where he was made partner in 2000. Between 2012 and 2020, he was managing the firm as Co-Managing Partner. Thomas studied law (Dr. iur. 1994; Mag. iur. 1989) and business sciences (Mag. rer. soc. oec. 1991) in Innsbruck and obtained a postgraduate degree (LL.M.) at the Tulane University Law School in New Orleans in 1993. He has been licensed as a lawyer in Austria since 1998.

Thomas is deputy chairman of the supervisory board of CPB Software AG, supervisory board member of Trimetis AG, supervisory board member of red-stars.com data AG (since 2025), managing director of NOVA Chemicals Holding GmbH and managing director of IPIC Holdings GmbH and MPP Holdings GmbH.  He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Six Payment Services Austria GmbH from 2013-2018 and of gamma II Beteiligungs-AG and ilab24 Mittelstandsfinanzierungs AG from 2012-2017. He is also a member of the Corporate and M&A Law Committee and the Banking Law Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA), of which he was also Chairman.

  • Advising Waterland on its acquisition of Netconomy GmbH
  • Advising MiddleGround Capital on its acquisition of ZOERKLER Gears GmbH & Co KG
  • Advising Raiffeisen Bank International on the sale of its stake in card complete Service Bank AG to EAVISTA.
  • Advising Aptiv PLC on the sale of its stake in TTTech Auto AG to Dutch chip manufacturer NXP Semiconductors NV.
  • Advising ORLEN S.A. on the acquisition of the entire Turmöl petrol station network from Doppler Holding
  • Advising Anadi Bank AG on the transfer of its branch network and the majority of its SME business to Bank Burgenland AG of the GRAWE banking group
  • Advising Interritus Limited and Attestor Capital LLP on the sale of their shares in Kommunalkredit Austria AG to Green Opera Finance BidCo AB, owned by financial investor Altor
  • Advising Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws) on the launch of a venture capital fund for innovative Austrian start-ups, and previously on the establishment of the Gründerfonds I start-up fund
  • Advising Northern Data AG on its entry into an Austrian cryptocurrency start-up
  • Advising PAI Partners on the acquisition of NovaTaste (formerly Savory Solutions Group) from International Flavors & Fragrances
  • Advising C E Beteiligungs Holding GmbH on its entry into the Gartner Group
  • Advising BNP Paribas on the sale of Hello bank! to BAWAG P.S.K.
  • Advising Mubadala on the sale of a 39% stake in Borealis AG to OMV AG
  • Advising Danaher Corporation on the acquisition of a minority stake in SUS GmbH from the founding companies and on the subsequent sale of SUS GmbH to Novo Holdings A/S
  • Advising Habeco Handelsgesellschaft m.b.H. on the sale of 49% of the United Souvenirs Group to German financial investor VTC GmbH & Co. KG, as well as on several subsequent strategic acquisitions
  • Advising GTCR and its investment company Corza Health on the acquisition of TachoSil Surgical Patch from Takeda and the establishment of Corza Medical, as well as the subsequent acquisition of the TachoSil production facility
  • Advising Mutares SE & Co KGaA and its subsidiary BEXITY GmbH on the acquisition of the entire transport logistics and warehouse company from Q Logistics, a wholly owned subsidiary of ÖBB Holding AG, and the subsequent sale of BEXITY to the Raben Group
  • Advising private equity investor Gilde Buy Out Partners (now Rivean Capital) on the sale of the Powerlines Group to French company Engie S.A.
  • Advising the SIX Group on the spin-off of the issuing business of SIX Payment Services (formerly Pay Life Bank AG) and its subsequent sale to easybank/BAWAG P.S.K.
  • Advising private equity investor Greenbriar Equity Group on the acquisition of Frauscher Sensor Technology Group and its subsequent sale to Delachaux S.A.
  • Advising Canada Pension Plan on the acquisition of Sportradar AG
  • Advising private equity investor Mutares on the acquisition of Steyr Motors Betriebs GmbH and Steyr Motors Immo GmbH from Thales Group
  • Advising ARDIAN on the acquisition of the Competence Call Center Group from Silverfleet Capital
  • Advising Castic Capital on the acquisition of a majority stake in inet-logistics from Gebrüder Weiss
  • Advising the administrative cooperative of start:gruppe on the sale of 100% of the shares in start:bausparkasse and IMMO-BANK to BAWAG P.S.K.
  • Advising ImmobilienScout24 on the acquisition of the Austrian real estate portals Immosuma GmbH, IMMOBILIEN.NET, and immodirekt.at, and advising Autoscout24 on the acquisition of gebrauchtwagen.at
  • Advising Wendel SA on the acquisition of Constantia Flexibles from One Global Equity (volume: €2.3 billion) and the subsequent spin-off of the labels business and its sale to Multi-Color Corporation, as well as the subsequent sale of the Constantia Flexibles Group to One Rock Capital Partners
  • Advising ARDIAN on the acquisition of ESIM Chemicals GmbH from DPx Fine Chemicals Austria and the subsequent resale to SUN Capital
  • Advising Vertellus and Pritzker Private Capital on the acquisition of IM Chemicals from SUN Capital
  • Advising Contour Global on the acquisition of several wind farms and photovoltaic plants in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia from the Raiffeisen Group
  • Advising IPIC and aabar Investments PJSC (now Mubadala), sovereign wealth funds from Abu Dhabi, on the acquisition and structuring of various industrial investments, including Borealis AG, AMI AG, Daimler AG, MAN Ferrostaal AG, Atlantia S.p.A, NOVA Chemicals Canada, and OMV

Thomas Schirmer: strong private equity knowledge, probably best PE lawyer in Austria, commercial reasoning, very nice guy to work with.

Legal 500, Corporate/M&A

Mr. Schirmer is a brilliant lawyer and is at the same time extremely responsive.

Chambers Global, Corporate/M&A

Thomas Schirmer has great overview and is hands-on.

Legal 500, Corporate/M&A

Smart, quick and reliable.

IFLR1000, Corporate / M&A

He is highly international focused, always understanding the nuances when a client comes from another culture/jurisdiction.

IFLR1000

He is a well-respected negotiator in the market and always feels truly responsible for his clients’ matters.

Chambers Global, Corporate/ M&A

Law Blog

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All publications of Thomas Schirmer
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