Switzerland

On February 10, 2026, UBS Group AG successfully completed its issuance of (i) USD 2 bn in aggregate principal amount of Fixed Rate/Floating Rate Callable Senior Notes due April 2030, (ii) USD 1.5 bn in aggregate principal amount of Fixed Rate/Floating Rate Callable Senior Notes due August 2037, (iii) USD 1.25 bn in aggregate principal amount of Fixed Rate/Floating Rate Callable Senior Notes due August 2032, and (iv) USD 500 m in aggregate principal amount of Floating Rate Callable Senior Notes due April 2030 under its Senior Debt Programme. The Notes are bail-inable (TLAC) bonds that are eligible to count towards UBS Group AG's Swiss gone concern capital requirement. The Notes are governed by Swiss law, and the Notes have been provisionally admitted to trading, and application will be made for definitive admission to trading and listing of the Notes, on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Homburger advised UBS Group AG with respect to all regulatory and transactional aspects of Swiss law. The Homburger team was led by Stefan Kramer and Benedikt Maurenbrecher and included Lee Saladino and Daniel Hulmann (both Capital Markets), as well as Stefan Oesterhelt (Tax).

Bär & Karrer successfully represented a client before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in a significant intercantonal double taxation dispute concerning the allocation of profits for large construction sites on the Gotthard Base Tunnel project. The Cantonal tax court had upheld the Ticino tax authority's decision not to follow a tax ruling agreed upon with the taxpayer (as well as with other involved Cantons of Uri, Nidwalden and Zurich), providing for a profits allocation based on wages. The Ticino tax authority did not consider itself bound by the tax ruling and deemed that profits should be allocated based on the length of the railway tracks on the territory of the Cantons involved. In its decision of 29 December 2025 (published on the court's website on 5 February 2026) in case 9C_231/2024, the Court annulled the Ticino cantonal tax court’s judgment. It agreed with the appellant and held that the profit allocation based on wages, as agreed in the tax ruling, was correct. The team was led by Paolo Bottini and Matthias Bizzarro and included Christina Rüdisühli and Sébastien Di Natale (all Tax).

On 10 February 2026, Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google LLC, successfully placed bonds in Switzerland in the aggregate amount of CHF 3.055 bn. The CHF offering was comprised of CHF 905 m aggregate principal amount of 0.4270% senior notes due 2029, CHF 700 m aggregate principal amount of 0.8900% senior notes due 2032, CHF 575 m aggregate principal amount of 1.2525% senior notes due 2036, CHF 455 m aggregate principal amount of 1.5823% senior notes due 2041, and CHF 420 m aggregate principal amount of 1.8675% senior notes due 2051. BNP PARIBAS, Paris, Lancy/Geneva Branch is acting as representative of the initial purchasers for the CHF offering, which include Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch, Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Securities plc, and Merrill Lynch International. The CHF offering is scheduled to close on or around March 3, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. The Homburger team consists of Benjamin Leisinger and Eduard de Zordi.

Homburger is advising Transocean Ltd (NYSE: RIG), a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells, on Swiss law matters in connection with its pending acquisition of Valaris Limited (NYSE: VAL), an industry leader in offshore drilling services across all water depths and geographies. On February 9, 2026, Transocean and Valaris announced the signing of a definitive agreement to combine the two companies under which Transocean will acquire Valaris in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately USD 5.8 bn. The enterprise value of the pro forma company is approximately USD 17 bn. The transaction brings together highly complementary, premium offshore assets. On a pro forma basis, the company will own 73 rigs able to serve customers in deepwater, harsh environment, and shallow water basins around the world. Under the terms of the all-stock transaction, Valaris shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 15.235 shares of Transocean stock for each common share of Valaris. Upon completion and on a fully diluted basis, Transocean shareholders will own approximately 53% of the combined company, with Valaris shareholders owning the remaining 47%. The transaction will be carried out by way of a court-approved scheme of arrangement under Bermuda law and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, and approvals by the shareholders of each company. The Homburger team advising Transocean was led by David Oser, Micha Fankhauser and Kaiyan Yeo (all Corporate / M&A) as well as Reto Heuberger (Tax).