FTI Consulting Germany adds three Senior Managing Directors

FTI Consulting has in recent weeks added three new Senior Managing Directors to its leadership team in Germany.

Based in Berlin, Mathias Samson has been appointed a Senior Managing Director and leader of the firm’s German Public Affairs practice, which is a service line within its Strategic Communications segment. He leads a team of consultants that helps clients with stakeholder engagement strategies and with managing their media, investor, regulatory and reputational challenges.

The appointment comes at a time when it is more important than ever for companies and governments to safeguard their public affairs, said Lutz Golsch, Head of FTI Consulting’s Strategic Communications division in Germany. “In times of crisis and increasing polarisation, it is even more important for organisations to find smart, long-term strategies for dealing with their stakeholders.” 

Mathias Samson is a high-profile expert in the world of public affairs, bringing over two decades of experience in the field. The past five years, he was State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development, responsible for implementing economic and environmental policy projects, particularly in the fields of energy, mobility and digitisation. Between 2000 and 2013, he worked at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, serving as Office Manager for then-State Secretary Rainer Baake, and then as Head of the Environment, Transport and Electromobility Division from 2004. 

“Issues such as the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, social inequality or good corporate governance present managers with enormous challenges. Together with the team of one of the leading strategic communications consultancies, I am convinced I can make an impactful contribution to success in these times of uncertainty and change,” said Samson. Meanwhile, FTI Consulting expanded its Economic Consulting division with Senior Managing Directors Ekaterina Lohwasser (Munich) and Heiko Ziehms (Frankfurt). “We are delighted that they Heiko and Ekaterina have joined us. They both have extensive experience working as valuation and damages experts,” said Mark Bezant, Head of the Economic & Financial Consulting division for the EMEA and APAC regions. 

Lohwasser joins FTI Consulting from Accuracy, having previously served PwC, and has 18 years of experience in economic consulting under her belt. She is regularly appointed as an expert to assess damages and complex valuation issues, especially in international arbitration proceedings (ICC, DIS, LCIA, SCC, UNCITRAL, ad hoc) and has testified as an independent valuation expert in German court proceedings.

She has led numerous cross-border contentious projects with regard to the assessment of damages arising predominantly from breaches of sale and purchase agreements, investment treaty claims, commercial contracts, joint venture and shareholder agreements in matters with claims amounting to several billion euros.

Ziehms joins FTI Consulting with over 20 years’ experience in expert work focused on the quantification of damages and forensic accounting in complex commercial disputes, as well as transaction advisory services. This includes breach of contract, M&A, joint venture, infrastructure, and insolvency-related matters. Ziehms has worked on matters in ICC, ICSID, DIS, LCIA, Swiss rules, and SIAC arbitration forums, ad hoc arbitrations and the courts.

He joins FTI Consulting from Berkeley Research Group, where he was a Managing Director, and previously he worked for Accuracy in Germany and KPMG in its Frankfurt, London and Chicago offices. Ziehms has worked on some of the most high-profile corporate disputes in Europe, with values up to several billion euros. He also has advised on several hundred transactions, providing transaction advisory services.

In Germany, FTI Consulting also supports its clients through its Corporate Finance & Restructuring, Forensic & Litigation Consulting and Technology divisions.