Blumenthal Richter & Sumet Ltd.

Real Estate and Construction, Hospitality and Lifestyle

Senior Partner

Robert Schuler is a Senior Partner and head of the firm’s Real Estate and Construction practice group. He is a U.S.-licensed attorney with over 20 years’ experience working in real estate and real estate finance in Southeast Asia. He has handled some of the most significant real estate transactions and development projects in Thailand and Southeast Asia and his efforts have been key to transforming BRS into one of the most trusted independent providers of real estate legal services in the region. 

Robert advises a wide range of clients on transactions involving all types and classes of real estate assets. He provides advice to multinational corporations, institutional investors, private equity funds and entrepreneurs on hotel and resort development, F&B and lifestyle, residential development, industrial acquisitions, mixed-use property development, project restructuring, agriculture and recreational development. In the context of these transactions, Robert represents buyers, sellers, owners, operators, developers, equity investors and lenders. He possesses in-depth knowledge of local and regional real estate markets, and assists clients with navigating the complexities and nuances of real estate transactions in Thailand and the region.

Robert has spearheaded Blumenthal Richter & Sumet’s new Hospitality and Lifestyle Practice advising hospitality entrepreneurs and businesses of all types and sizes, from investors and high-net-worth individuals, institutional investors and private equity funds to locally owned boutique hotels, leisure facilities, restaurants and F&B operations, international hotel chains and resorts on all aspects of the industry.

His highlight experiences include advising: - Simon Property Group, Inc., a global leader in premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations based in the United States, on its joint venture with Siam Piwat, one of Thailand’s leading retail and real estate developers, to form Siam Piwat Simon for developing the Siam Premium Outlets Bangkok, an outlet near Suvarnabhumi Airport that delivers luxury designer brands and restaurants, valued at THB 4 billion - a Thai private equity fund on strategy development, management, mechanics and deployment of liquidity financing principally in the resort real estate market. The fund has allocated in excess of THB 3 billion, which is THB 750 million tranches - a family office based in Europe on an asset split involving the restructuring of a portfolio of assets, including real estate assets, valued at THB 1.5 billion - on the development and deployment of a yield bearing stable digital currency that is collateralized against real estate. We are advising on asset selection methodology, risk mitigation protocols and fund raising. Secondary fund raising is principally taking place on a DeFi Platform - Cars24 Group, a used-vehicle sales platform unicorn startup company headquartered in Gurgaon, India that sells more than 150,000 cars annually with a valuation of over USD 1 billion, on the formation of its subsidiary to operate its business in Thailand. Cars24 is considered as one of the four major organized players in the used car segment in India. They have chosen Thailand for their next country of operations. We are also providing a full range of services to the client in order to complete the business set up such as assisting in obtaining the relevant licenses for their business, advising on the capitalization procedure and providing other general advice on business operations in Thailand

Educated at the prestigious University of Wisconsin–Madison in the United States, Robert is one of Thailand’s few leading real estate practitioners and is recognized in legal directories for his expertise in this area.

English.

Robert is admitted to practice law in the state of Wisconsin and is a member of the Wisconsin State Bar. He is also the exclusive member for Real Estate, Banking and Finance and Corporate Law in Thailand of IR GLOBAL, which is listed by The Legal 500 and ranked by Chambers & Partners in its global-wide list of “Leading Law Firm Networks”.

Robert’s qualifications include a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000), a Master of Science (M.S.) in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2000) and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science from Morehouse College (1996).