14 | Acquisition International, November 2025 Unrivalled Experience in Peru’s Legal Landscape Established in 2019, Damma Legal Advisors was built on the foundational pillars of positive community impact, industry-high levels of integrity, and professional excellence. These cornerstones are reflected across its services, which span everything from transaction and project/infrastructure advisory through to tax advice, corporate counsel, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, fintech and blockchain, and intellectual property. Across this service suite, there is an emphasis on tailored and transparent advice. This is something embodied to the full by Walther Belaúnde, one of the leading professionals behind the firm, who joined forces with his fellow experts to set a new standard for tax and corporate advisory services in Peru through the formation of Damma six years ago. Alongside an executive team comprising seven partners, a director, and almost 20 associates and senior associates, Walther’s role is to go above and beyond in the pursuit of positive outcomes for clients, something this leading adviser has made a career out of. Taking a deep dive into this journey, Walther explained: “I believe that the professional training I received in my first three roles was decisive in my future success. Beginning with an internship at Bafur, Walther joined Deloitte as tax manager at just 28 years old (unheard of at the time), before moving to the Southern Peru Copper Corporation as its tax director by the time he was 35. Across these roles, Walther told us: “I gained a combination of complementary knowledge and discovered new, different ways of working.” Deloitte in particular was crucial to Walther’s professional development, and one of the most important things he learnt across this tenure was the importance of getting to know the client – which is essential in advising them effectively. “I reinforced this belief during my time at Southern Peru”, Walther added, “allowing me to be successful and well regarded within the company.” This belief has continued to guide Walther through to the present day, and his clients at Damma continue to benefit from being understood and put first. Innovation has been a similar theme over the years for Walther, who has taken novel approaches to his work and never been afraid to challenge the status quo. Again, this dates back to Deloitte, especially when Walther was expected to carry out tax planning for his clients, despite lacking in both knowledge and experience as a result of his youth. Embracing the challenge, Walther not only put together a multidisciplinary team, he also completed the first tax planning for Backus and Johnston, one of Peru’s largest groups. Discussing yet another career highlight, Walther reflected: “At Southern Peru, I arranged information exchanges and visits to the head office, allowing for more efficient information sharing. We also took advantage of a significant tax benefit for the first time, whereby the company could reinvest 80% of its profits from the previous two years and save 33% in income tax on the reinvested amounts. This enabled the head office to offset taxes paid in Peru in previous years against its US tax liability, thereby saving money.” On the back of an illustrious career in the field, Walther told us that things have changed a lot since his first role several decades ago, with a different set of skills and greater specialisation today being required. As an example, Walther told us how lawyers today need a broader understanding across business and economics to attract clients and compete with major companies. Significant changes are also being brought about as a result of the legaltech trend, which spans clear idea conveyance as well as the application of the tech. Walther has been studying and applying this approach over the last few years, and – despite now being 65 years old – has taken to it like a duck to water, largely as a result of his fabled experiences across Deloitte and Southern Peru and an ability to quickly adapt to the world around him. With this expertise to boot, Walther Belaúnde remains the perfect man to nurture success for Damma Legal Advisors, and it is our pleasure to recognise him in this feature as the Leading Tax & Corporate Structuring Adviser of the Year 2025 – Peru. Contact: Walther Belaúnde Company: Damma Legal Advisors Web Address: https://www.damma.com.pe/ For more than six years now, Damma Legal Advisors has been establishing itself as an innovative and versatile law firm, famed for its provision of simple, practical solutions delivered with a personal service. Damma’s own Walther Belaúnde – its founding partner – has been recognised here as the Leading Tax & Corporate Structuring Adviser of the Year 2025 – Peru, and we had the pleasure of catching up with him on the back of this for more about his esteemed career. P
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