Bär & Karrer Ltd.

Communardo Group GmbH, a portfolio company of funds advised by Bregal Unternehmerkapital, has purchased all shares in Mibex Software GmbH.

The Swiss vehicle manufacturer Aebi Schmidt has announced that it will merge with the U.S. specialty vehicle manufacturer The Shyft Group (NASDAQ: SHYF).

Bär & Karrer advised funds advised by Equistone on the sale of Nokite EcoSmart Water Heating Systems (Guangdong) Co., Ltd.,

The Empira Group, a leading vertically integrated investment manager specialising in real estate and managing USD 10 billion in assets, will become part of Partners Group,

Raben Group N.V., a European logistic provider specializing in transport and warehousing solutions,

The UK-listed Diploma PLC, a global value-added distributor specializing in controls, seals, and life sciences,

On 19 November 2024, DSM-Firmenich closed the sale of the majority of its indirect stake in Robertet S.A. (EPA: RBT), a manufacturer of flavours,

GBA Group (GBA) acquired a majority stake in Niutec Holding AG, one of Switzerland's leading private chemical testing laboratories,

Netrics, a portfolio company of funds advised by Bregal Unternehmerkapital and one of the largest Swiss providers of cloud and modern workspace solutions, has entered into a partnership with Solify.

SCIL is a leading pigment solutions provider with a strong global outreach of 85+ countries in the production of high-performance colorants.

United Grinding Group purchases Georg Fischer AG's business unit GF Machining Solutions.

On 10 October 2024, the City of Bellinzona successfully completed its inaugural issuance of CHF 125 million 1.05 percent bonds due 2035.

xFarm Technologies, a European leader in the digitalisation of the agri-food sector, has raised approximately €36 million in a Series C financing round.

On 11 October 2024, UBS Group AG closed the sale of its indirect 62% holding in Credit Suisse Investment Partners (Schweiz) AG ("CSIP") to the asset manager Bantleon AG.

On 30 September 2024, UBS Group AG closed the sale of its 100% holding in Credit Suisse Insurance Linked Strategies Ltd ("CSILS") to the CSILS management team led by Niklaus Hilti.

Summa Equity, a Stockholm-based private equity firm that invests in companies solving global challenges, has acquired NetGuardians, a Swiss-based company specialising in AI-driven fraud prevention and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions.

TE Connectivity announced the completion of the cross-border merger of TE Connectivity Ltd., a stock corporation organised under the laws of Switzerland listed on the NYSE,

Vontobel has signed an agreement to acquire the client book of IHAG Privatbank (IHAG), in Zurich.

EQT, together with its co-shareholders, has agreed to sell Open Systems to Swiss Post.

Bär & Karrer has advised the Hero Group on the successful sale of its production facility in Lenzburg. 

Circet Europe, the leading provider of telecom infrastructure services in Europe, headquartered in France, has successfully acquired Isen Tiefbau Group from its founders.

BuildTec Software, a portfolio company of funds advised by Bregal Unternehmerkapital, acquired all shares in SORBA EDV, a leading provider of specialist construction software in Switzerland.

Bär & Karrer is acting as Swiss legal counsel to Société Générale in the proposed sale of its Swiss private banking unit Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) SA to Union Bancaire Privée (UBP).

The publicly listed Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) is investing in the internationally established consulting firm UNITY AG - Aktiengesellschaft für Unternehmensführung und Informationstechnologie (UNITY AG).

The publicly listed Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) is investing in the internationally established consulting firm UNITY AG - Aktiengesellschaft für Unternehmensführung und Informationstechnologie (UNITY AG).

Bär & Karrer advises Paragon on the sale of Condecta Group to Swiss Life Asset Managers. Condecta, headquartered in Winterthur, is the market leader for modular systems in Switzerland. The company operates 14 locations in Switzerland as well as additional locations in Germany and Italy.  

EQT X fund acquires a majority stake in Acronis, a leading IT solutions vendor for Managed Service Providers, offering a natively integrated, highly efficient cybersecurity and data protection platform.

L’Oréal, the world leader in beauty, acquires a 10% stake in Galderma Group AG (Galderma),

BSI Software, a leading provider of innovative customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience (CX) software,

BSI Software, a leading provider of innovative customer relationship management (CRM) and customer experience (CX) software,

Following the completion of the acquisition of Credit Suisse Group AG by UBS Group AG on 12 June 2023, and the completion of the merger between UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG ("Parent Bank Merger") on 31 May 2024,

MediaMarktSaturn and Migros concluded an agreement according to which MediaMarktSaturn will take over 20 melectronics stores.

Bär & Karrer advised lead investor Coatue in an oversubscribed USD 10.7 million seed financing round for DeepJudge. The round also saw participation from several well-known angel investors.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce its role as legal counsel to Banque Cantonale de Genève in the recent capital increase of La Foncière,

On 26 February 2024, JCDecaux SE (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide,

On 31 May 2024, majority shareholder Silvio Denz published a public tender offer for the publicly held registered shares of Lalique Group SA, Zurich,

Following the completion of the acquisition of Credit Suisse Group AG by UBS Group AG on 12 June 2023, the boards of directors of UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG approved the merger between UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG ("Parent Bank Merger").

Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to a FINMA-accredited fund management company within the sale of three tenement residential properties in Zurich-Oerlikon to a professional investor,

Axpo Holding AG has entered into a committed EUR 7.0 billion sustainability linked credit facilities agreement with a broad international consortium of banks.

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with Lansons Communications Holdings Limited to expand its consultancy alliance "Team Farner".

Wüest Partner AG acquired a majority stake in Signa-Terre Ltd. and 100% of Khephren Ltd. Founded in 2008 in Geneva, Signa-Terre has successfully established itself in the fields of collecting and processing energy consumption data from real estate properties and in the planning of renovation cycles.

Fidinam Group Holding SA and Swiss Finance & Property Group AG (SFP) have acquired minority stakes and entered into a strategic partnership in relation to Erop Generation AG, a new real estate group founded in May 2023 by Andrea Blotti and Manuel Sassella.

Today, Novartis AG completed the spin-off of the Sandoz generics and biosimilars business, and Sandoz Group AG debuted as independent publicly traded company.

Heizkurier Group, a portfolio company of Nord Holding, has acquired Suter Group. Suter Group is a supplier of mobile pellet heating and dehumidification solutions.

Customs Support, a portfolio company of Castik, has acquired Zollimpex AG, a customs agency seated in Pratteln (Basel-Landschaft).

Fidinam Group Holding SA and Swiss Finance & Property Group AG (SFP) have acquired minority stakes and entered into a strategic partnership in relation to Erop Generation AG,

Vontobel has successfully placed new Additional Tier 1 bonds (AT1 bonds) with a nominal value of USD 400 million in two tranches of USD 200 million and a denomination of USD 200,000 each with funds managed by Apollo Global Management.

Energy Infrastructure Partners has signed an agreement to partner with Electra SAS, the first French pure player in the electric vehicle infrastructure industry.

IDAK Food Group has acquired the majority stake in the family business Romer’s Hausbäckerei. Romer’s Hausbäckerei, headquartered in Benken,

On 16 August 2023, Tyco Electronics (Schweiz) Holding II GmbH, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of TE Connectivity Ltd., Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and Schaffner Holding AG, Luterbach, Switzerland,

Starlab International GmbH, a subsidiary of Eppendorf SE, acquired all shares in Life Systems Design AG. Life Systems Design sells high quality consumables and instruments for life science research.

Engie New Ventures, Montrose Environmental Group, and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund have invested in TreaTech,

On 11 August 2023, ELANTAS LLC, a subsidiary of the specialty chemicals group ALTANA Ltd.,

The Gebrüder Meier Holding AG has acquired the UIKER Antriebstechnik AG, one of the largest technical trading companies in Switzerland, specialized in the production, trade and sale of machine components.

Wüest Partner AG, a leading service provider in the real estate industry, acquired 100% of QualiCasa AG's shares. 

Disruptive Capital Acquisition Company Limited, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listed on the Euronext Amsterdam Exchange,

The shareholders of terreActive and Post entered into and consummated a share purchase agreement regarding the sale of a majority stake in terreActive.

GRO, a leading Northern European private equity firm with an exclusive focus on high-quality B2B software companies with strong growth prospects,

On 22 May 2023, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. entered into an agreement with American International Group Inc. to acquire the treaty reinsurance business of American International Group Inc. for USD 2.985 billion.

On 19 March 2023, following discussions initiated jointly by the Swiss Federal Department of Finance,

Perigon GmbH, a Sihl Group entity, has entered into a purchase agreement regarding the acquisition of the shares of Trichord Ltd. from its shareholders.

Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (UBP) has acquired all the shares of Angel Japan Asset Management Limited (Angel Japan) from its founder.

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered withGFD Gesellschaft für Finanzkommunikation mbH to expand its agency alliance"Team Farner".

On 4 May 2023, Bär & Karrer was awarded "Law Firm of the Year" in the categories Banking & Finance as well as Healthcare & Life Sciences at the Legalcommunity Awards Switzerland 2023. In addition, Corrado Rampini won the award for "Lawyer of the Year – Real Estate".

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with The Skills Group to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". The Vienna-based The Skills Group including its subsidiaries datenwerk and All Channels Communication Austria is a full-service PR agency with a focus on strategic consulting and positioning as well as public relations and crisis communications.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that Dr. Claudia Götz Staehelin and Dr. Oliver M. Brupbacher will join the firm as Partners. Claudia and Oliver will substantially reinforce the capabilities in our Basel Office and of Bär & Karrer at large. We are convinced that we will be able to significantly increase our footprint in both the Internal Investigation field and in a key industry, the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector. Associates Djamila Batache and Marlen Schultze will be joining the firm alongside them.

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with SEMSEA to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". The Zurich-based SEMSEA Suchmaschinenmarketing AG specializes in online and search engine marketing.

Following discussions initiated jointly by the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA and the Swiss National Bank, UBS has entered into an all-share transaction for the acquisition of 100% of Credit Suisse. Under the terms of such transaction, Credit Suisse shareholders will receive 1 UBS share for every 22.48 Credit Suisse shares. The combination will further strengthen UBS's position as the leading Swiss-based global wealth manager (with more than CHF 3.1 trillion of assets under management) and reinforce its standing as the leading universal bank in Switzerland. In order to facilitate a timely implementation of the transaction, the Swiss Federal Council has decided that it would not be subject to shareholder approval by enacting an emergency ordinance to that effect. 

CIMO Compagnie industrielle de Monthey SA entered into an agreement with the Swiss Confederation, under which the latter may use the thermic power plant Thermatel in Monthey as strategic backup source in case of electricity shortfalls. The power plant is already available in winter 2022/23 and currently provides approx. 40 MW of power. After a planned overhaul, the plant is expected to provide approx. 50 MW of power.

The Eastman Group, an internationally operating manufacturer of musical instruments, acquired the music manufacturing business from WILLSON Band Instruments Switzerland AG.  Willson is a Swiss manufacturer of handmade, high-quality musical instruments.

Horn & Company, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, has entered into a quota purchase agreement in order to acquire GEM Consulting GmbH from its founders. This transaction enables Horn & Company – in cooperation with the founders – to expand and strengthen its management consulting services in the banking and insurance sector in Switzerland as well as in Germany and Austria. The transaction will be completed in the upcoming weeks.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ("CD&R"), Stone Point Capital LLC and Focus Financial Partners Inc. (NASDAQ:FOCS) ("Focus"), a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms, announced on 27 February 2023 that Focus and CD&R have entered into a definitive agreement for Focus to be acquired by affiliates of CD&R in an all-cash transaction valued at an enterprise value of over USD 7 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023. Focus will cease to be a publicly traded company upon consummation of the transaction. Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Cavotec SA successfully placed 12,452,830 shares at a subscription price of SEK 13.25 per share, entailing raising proceeds of approximately SEK 165 million. The subscription price was determined through an accelerated book building process. The proceeds of the placement will be used to increase financial flexibility to sup-port the company to execute on its strong order book, growth plans and in addi-tion strengthen the Company’s financial position by reducing net debt. Skandina-viska Enskilda Banken AB acted as the sole bookrunner. The capital increase is subject to approval by an extraordinary general meeting of Cavotec. 

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with Affective Advisory to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". Affective Advisory is a leading behavioural science consultancy, applying the latest insights from behavioural economics, social psychology and decision science.

The shareholders of Norline AG have entered into a share purchase agreement regarding the sale of the majority in Norline Group to Argos Wityu, an independent European private equity firm. Norline is the largest provider of outsourcing services in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and plumbing (HVAC) sector in Switzerland. The transaction will be completed in the upcoming weeks.

RQM+, the world's leading MedTech service provider, announced the acquisition of Giotto Compliance from Giotto.ai. Giotto Compliance is a global, all-in-one artificial intelligence (AI) platform designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of regulatory reports and filings across the product development lifecycle for medical device and in vitro diagnostics manufacturers.

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with the German agencies komm.passion and Kirchhoff Consult to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". The komm.passion specializes in the interface between creative agency and management consultancy. The Hamburg-based Kirchhoff Consult offers financial and corporate communications services with a focus on capital markets, reporting, investor/public relations, IPO advisory and sustainability.

Bär & Karrer advised Medbase (a group company of Migros) on the acquisition of the Swiss business of Zur Rose Group AG. Zur Rose is a leader in online pharmacy and pharma distribution.

The Swiss headquartered start-up Mister Loo has completed its Series A financing round over five million USD through the investors Silverhorn SPC Ltd and responsibility Investments AG. The company offers digital public sanitary and healthcare solutions and has facilities in 70 areas of Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, preparing to expand into further regions in Asia.

We are pleased to announce that Pascal Hachem has been appointed as the new Co-Head of Bär & Karrer's Arbitration practice, taking over from Pierre-Yves Gunter. Pascal will co-lead the division alongside Nadja Jaisli.

Migros-Group invests in the Swiss start-up Revendo, the Swiss market leader in the field of upcycling electronic devices.

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with the BlueGlass group to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". The Zurich-based BlueGlass group specializes in the fields of digital strategy consulting, search engine optimization, digital campaigns as well as content marketing.

The owner of Plastic Surgery Group sold the company to Affidea Cancer Treatment Centres. Affidea is Europe's leading provider of advanced diagnostic imaging, cancer therapies and outpatient services.

Bär & Karrer advised the Helsinn Group on its financing agreement with Oberland Capital Management LLC. The Helsinn Group is a fully integrated, global biopharma group with a track record of over 40 years of commercial execution and a strong focus in oncology and rare diseases.

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with Jim&Jim to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". Jim&Jim specializes in NextGen marketing, the development of strategic marketing concepts and campaigns, and the positioning of brands and products in the "Hyperconnected Generation".

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with the VIM Group and the Kobza Media Group to expand its agency alliance "Team Farner". The Dutch-based VIM Group is a market leader in topics such as brand change and improving brand performance. The Vienna-based Kobza Media Group operates in the fields of strategy, branding, advertising, design, digital, PR content, video production and platforms.

ELCA Cloud Services SA, a fully-owned subsidiary of the ELCA Group, founded in 2020 to become one of the leading providers of Cloud computing services in Switzerland, has concluded a merger with EveryWare AG, a B2B cloud, data center and network infrastructures provider in German-speaking Switzerland. ELCA Cloud Services and EveryWare are joining forces to create one of the leading independent Swiss Cloud and IT service providers for private and public companies in Switzerland. The two business entities will continue to be independent and led by their current management and keep all of their employees in their respective teams.

Bär & Karrer advised Deutsche Invest Capital Solutions on its investment in GLOBOGATE concept AG, a pioneer and leader in the market for recruitment and placement of nursing professionals.

Investindustrial – a leading European group in the field of private equity has signed an agreement through one of its investment vehicles for the entry of QuattroR SGR into the capital of MTD - Medical Technology and Devices Group, an international group active in the design and manufacture of medical devices for home and professional care. Investindustrial and QuattroR will support MTD in expanding its product offerings and strengthening its presence in Europe and strategic markets in the United States.

BeyondBytes Invest Ltd acquired Moobility Telecom International Holding Ltd, which is engaged in the provision of mobile telecommunications services as an international virtual mobile network operator.

After the settlement of the public tender offer by Liechtensteinische Landesbank Aktiengesellschaft, for all publicly held registered shares of Bank Linth LLB AG, Liechtensteinische Landesbank on 24 May 2022 filed, based on art. 137 FMIA, a claim for the cancellation of all Bank Linth shares remaining in public with the competent commercial court of the Canton of St. Gallen. With judgment dated 9 December 2022, the commercial court of the Canton of St. Gallen declared all Bank Linth shares remaining in public cancelled and the judgment came into legal force on 15 December 2022.

Duck Creek Technologies (Boston, USA) has entered into a share purchase agreement regarding the acquisition of the shares of Imburse AG from its founders and investors. Imburse is a Swiss based developer and provider of a modern payments platform for the insurance industry.

Bär & Karrer advised Gi Group Holding, specialized in global staffing and recruitment through an HR ecosystem based in Milan (Italy), on the acquisition of Eupro Holding AG, a Swiss-based human resources and recruitment company, and its subsidiaries.

The long-term equity strategy fund of Interogo Holding is a foundation-owned international investment group based in Switzerland. Bär & Karrer advised the fund in connection with an investment related to the CHF 200 million pre-IPO placements of ABB E-Mobility. ABB E-Mobility is a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions.

Lagardère acquires Marché International AG, a global multi-concept operator in the catering industry. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce the election of Matthias Bizzarro and Massimo Chiasera to the firm's partnership and Martina Athanas as counsel, effective as of 1 January 2023. With these appointments, the practice areas litigation, internal investigations, tax, private clients and white collar crime will be strengthened and benefit from the deep know-how and excellent reputation of these three lawyers.

On 16 November 2022, MET Holding AG (MET Group), a Swiss based integrated European energy company, and Keppel Infrastructure Holding Pte Ltd (Keppel), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, a Singapore flagship multinational company providing solutions for sustainable urbanization, announced that they have formed a Swiss joint venture company to pursue renewable energy opportunities in Western Europe. The joint venture serves as the next phase of the strategic partnership since 2020 between MET Group and Keppel and was seeded with an initial portfolio of 213 MW of early-stage solar projects in Italy from MET Group. The joint venture will invest in both greenfield and brownfield solar and onshore wind assets across Western Europe with a target to scale up rapidly to at least 1 GW of operating and ready-to-build renewable energy projects.

Arab Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., a Geneva-based bank created by Jordanian shareholders in 1960, and Gonet & Cie SA, a Swiss private bank founded in Geneva in 1845, entered into a strategic business partnership. Arab Bank Switzerland will acquire a majority stake in the family holding company owning Gonet & Cie and the two banks will combine their offer of products and services, while remaining autonomous banks with their respective name, staff and banking license. The new banking group will be a major actor in the Swiss wealth management industry, with assets under management in excess of CHF 10 billion. The transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant regulatory bodies and is expected to close during the first quarter of 2023.

Bär & Karrer advised funds advised by Equistone on the acquisition of SF-Filter Group, a European market leader in the distribution of industrial and mobile filters.

Learning Pool Limited, a portfolio company of Marlin Equity Partners, has acquired all shares in People-Analytix AG. People-Analytix develops and sells an AI-powered skill management platform.

Bär & Karrer advised the Harting entrepreneurial family on the acquisition of Studer Cables AG. A strategic partnership with the HARTING Technology Group is forming part of the acquisition of Studer Cables' parent company HC Holding Epsilon AG by the Harting entrepreneurial family. Both parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

On 5 September 2022, Lupa Investment Holdings, LP, New York, USA, and MCH Group AG, Basel, Switzerland, have entered into a commitment agreement in which Lupa committed to purchase a certain number of new shares in connection with a rights offering of MCH Group. The capital increase was completed on 12 October 2022 and MCH Group raised gross proceeds totalling CHF 76.9 million. Upon completion of the capital increase, Lupa's shareholding in MCH Group increased to 38.52%.

The founders of Chojuu AG, a digital health startup and spin-off from ETH Zurich, working in the field of behavioral health interventions to improve people's lives, sold their shares to Virtusan AG.

Farner Consulting, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, has acquired Yoveo AG. This transaction enables Farner Consulting to expand its communication offering with video consulting, video content and video technology.

Infront AS has signed an agreement for the acquisition of Assetmax AG. Assetmax is a leading Swiss service provider for independent asset managers, family offices and banks developing software for integrated multi-custody portfolio management, client relationship management, invoicing and reporting. The acquisition represents an important milestone for Infront as the company further strengthens its product offering for wealth management customers across Europe. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September at the latest and is subject to customary conditions.

Bär & Karrer Advises Intershop on the Sale of «AuPark» in Wädenswil Intershop sold the development property "AuPark" in Wädenswil to Swiss Life AG on 19 August 2022 for a purchase price of CHF 190 million. A development with five residential and commercial buildings and around 230 apartments is planned on the site. The building permit for the project has already been granted. In addition, the Canton of Zurich is planning to build a new cantonal school on the neighbouring plot. Bär & Karrer provided legal and tax advice to Intershop on this transaction. The team included Corrado Rampini and Kilian Müller (both Real Estate) as well as Cyrill Diefenbacher and Elena Kumashova (both Tax). For further information please contact: Media Relations, Eric Stupp Tel: +41 58 261 50 00 Email: [email protected]

Netrics, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, has acquired PageUp AG, a provider of cloud, edge computing and modern workplace services.

Archroma, a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, has entered into a definitive agreement with Huntsman Corporation to acquire Huntsman's Textile Effects division. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first half of 2023.Bär & Karrer acts as Swiss legal advisor to Archroma in this transaction.

Sportradar Group AG (NASDAQ: SRAD) (Sportradar), a global leading provider of sports data and content, established a joint venture with Ringier AG (Ringier), a Swiss technology and media company. With the joint venture, Sportradar and Ringier aspire to put sports fans in Africa, a dynamic market with high potential in the global sports industry, closer in touch with their favorite sports. The joint venture combines Ringier's media competence with Sportradar's sports data and product portfolio and builds upon a long-standing cooperation between the two Swiss-based companies.

Two former UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspectors have been acquitted in a lawsuit against the former president of a European football club and another person close to the club. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court confirmed the acquittal decision of the Cantonal Court of Vaud issued within the ambit of the fight against match fixing, which followed a criminal complaint from the two abovementioned individuals against two UEFA ethics and disciplinary inspectors. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court recognized that the former ethics and disciplinary inspectors were not guilty of defamation when they had identified these individuals as organizers of match-fixing in a disciplinary investigation report to the attention of UEFA.

H2 Energy Europe AG, a Swiss pioneer in the fields of renewable energies and hydrogen technology, and Phillips 66 closed on a 50-50 joint venture to set up and operate a network of hydrogen refueling retail sites in Germany, Austria and Denmark.

On 15 July 2022, Romande Energie Holding SA made its first green bond issuance. The bonds are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, in an aggregate amount of CHF 100 million, with a maturity in 2037. The issuance was made according to the Green Bond Principles published by the International Capital Market Association. The proceeds of the bond issue are to be applied according to the Green Finance Framework published by the issuer on its website.

Novartis Pharma Stein AG sold a building right on part of its industry area in Stein to Lonza AG. Lonza plans to construct a large-scale, commercial drug product fill & finish facility, which is expected to be completed in 2026. Lonza invests approx. CHF 500 million in its new facility.

On 4 July 2022, Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (FEMSA), Monterrey, Mexico and Valora Holding AG, Muttenz, Switzerland, have entered into an agreement on the terms and conditions of a combination by way of a public tender offer by FEMSA for all publicly held registered shares of Valora. FEMSA offers CHF 260 in cash for each registered share of Valora, which corresponds to a transaction volume of around CHF 1.1 billion. The board of directors of Valora recommends to its shareholders to accept FEMSA's public tender offer.

OiOiOi Ltd. has successfully raised its first Pre-Seed financing round. The Swiss Startup offers a circular infant clothing rental service for parents.

Zurich, 28 June 2022 The shareholder of Home Service has sold his shares to Investis Holding. Home Service is a Swiss based company active in the facility service sector. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to the shareholder of Home Service. The team included Christoph Neeracher, Philippe Seiler, Thomas Rohde and Luca Tarzia (all M&A) as well as Susanne Schreiber and Julian Hodel (both Tax).

On 31 May 2022, DSM and Firmenich announced a cross-border merger-of-equals which unites two iconic companies into a leading creation and innovation partner in nutrition, beauty and well-being. The new parent company will be located in Switzerland and listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

Quaestor Coach, an independent private equity group specializing in a buy-and build in discretionary wealth management, announced today that Investarit, a Zurich-based international wealth management boutique and partner for comprehensive asset management services, joins forces with Diem Client Partner, a Zurich-based independent wealth management boutique for high net-worth individuals and institutional investors. The investment in Investarit follows Quaestor Coach's initial acquisition of Diem Client Partner in December 2021.

Guess Europe Sagl have entered into a EUR 250 million sustainability-linked revolving credit facility with UBS Switzerland AG as Mandated Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner, Sustainability Coordinator, Agent and Lender and with Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG as Mandated Lead Arranger, Joint Bookrunner and Lender as well as additional international banks as part of a syndicate.

Sumex AG, a fully-owned subsidiary of the ELCA Group, the Swiss leader in engineering, development and business solutions, has concluded a strategic partnership with Secon AG, a process and data specialist for core insurance business. Sumex is acquiring a controlling stake in Secon to create the leading technology solution provider in Switzerland for the health insurance market.

Sumeru Equity Partners acquired 100% of the share capital of beqom SA, a Swiss-based provider of employee compensation management and performance software solutions for large companies of various industry sectors.

The owners of Confinale Corp. sold Confinale, a Swiss-based consulting specialist for digital banking and solution for wealth management, to the strategic buyer HCL Technologies. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, which are expected to be completed in the next few weeks.

Netrics Group is focusing on cloud and modern workplace in the future and has sold its data center and connectivity division to the NorthC Group, which specializes in the operation of data centers in Europe.

The owners of Brust-Zentrum Zurich have entered a strategic alliance with Affidea, Europe's leading provider of advanced diagnostic imaging, cancer therapies and outpatient services.

The start-up kooky has completed financing round of over six million Euro. In addition to lead investor UVC Partners various other investors have joined. kooky focuses on replacing single-use with reusable products. The Swiss start-up developed the first intelligent reusable cup system with its own digital return infrastructure.

AS Equity Partners acquired the SPS Group from Die Schweizerische Post AG (Swiss Post). SPS is a global full-service provider of physical and digital document management and provides a comprehensive suite of Document Processing and Business Process Services. AS Equity Partners exclusively targets control investments in the lower to middle-market for software, technology, and technology enabled businesses across Europe.

The entrepreneurial couple Dr. Sara and Christoph Hürlimann as well as Peter Huber acquired the Werap Group headquartered in Bubikon from its founder Konrad Frischknecht as part of a succession planning arrangement. The Werap Group is a center of excellence for electronic products (EMS), rewinding goods, cable assembly and trading in power supplies.

Eppendorf, a leading life science company that develops, produces and distributes products and services for the use in laboratories worldwide, made an investment in BigOmics Analytics, a Swiss biodata analytics start-up company, as part of their Pre-Series A financing round.

IWG Plc, a global leading supplier of flexible workspace solutions, has entered into the merger of certain of its digital and technology assets with The Instant Group, a leading independent provider of flexible workspace platforms and services. IWG Plc is investing GBP 270 million to acquire the shares, with Instant management expected to invest a further GBP 50 million into the combined business. The merger is taking place with the aim of listing the merged company on the US or UK market by the end of 2023.

ZAPI Group, a leader in electrification and manufacturer of electronic speed controllers, electric motors, battery chargers, and associated products for electric and hybrid vehicles acquired BlueBotics, a leader in navigation for automated guided vehicles and autonomous mobile robots, including the shares held by investor Forestay Capital. The transaction closed on 21 December 2021.

Bregal Unternehmerkapital sold ATP Group to Arsenal Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on healthcare and industrial companies. Headquartered in Wollerau, Switzerland, ATP adhesive systems is an international developer and manufacturer of industrial adhesive tapes.

Axpo Holding AG has entered into a EUR 2.5 billion sustainability linked credit facilities agreement with a broad international consortium of banks, led by ING as sole coordinator. The interest margin of the facilities will among others depend on Axpo's expansion of its renewable energy portfolio.

The founder of SMSup Sàrl, a fast-growing business messaging startup in Switzerland, sold SMSup Sàrl to F24 Schweiz AG.

Xebia, a worldwide IT consultancy company with seat in the Netherlands and portfolio company of Waterland, has entered into a share purchase agreement regarding the acquisition of SwissQ Consulting AG from the founders. SwissQ Consulting AG is a Swiss company active in IT consulting services and related training services.

The OLX Group, classifieds business of Prosus, a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world, sold its investment in Encuentra24.com AG, a leading general classifieds marketplace in five key LATAM markets, to Frontier Digital Ventures Pte Ltd, a leading owner and operator of online marketplace businesses in fast growing emerging markets.

The current owners of Hoffmann SE agreed to contribute 100% of the shares of Hoffmann SE to the SFS Group, which is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Hoffmann SE is a leading international systems partner for quality tools which is active in over 50 countries with around 3,000 employees. A part of the purchase price will be paid in the form of SFS shares. Thus, the current owners of Hoffmann SE will become significant shareholders of SFS.

ERNI Real Estate AG and its subsidiary ERNI Liegenschaften AG own a property of approximately 16,000 m2 in Wangen-Brüttisellen. The property comprises two buildings and an area of 12,000 m2 with development potential. The shareholders of ERNI Real Estate AG have sold their shares to Mobimo Holding AG.

AgEagle Aerial Systems Inc. ("AgEagle"), an industry-leading provider of drones, sensors and software listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and Parrot, a leading European drone group, entered into an agreement under which AgEagle acquired senseFly, a Parrot Group wholly-owned subsidiary, in a cash and stock transaction. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Lausanne, senseFly employs approximately 90 people and develops and produces a proprietary line of eBee-branded, high performance, fixed wing drones for professional use.

IBM Switzerland spun off its managed infrastructure services business to Kyndryl Switzerland in support of the separation of that business globally from IBM to Kyndryl. Kyndryl is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

On 3 November 2021, Novartis agreed to sell 53.3 million Roche bearer shares in a bilateral transaction to Roche for a consideration of USD 20.7 billion.

The shareholders of SpecPage, a global provider of integrated software solutions and online tools for the recipe-based manufacturing industry, have sold their shares to Revalize, a worldwide provider of sector-specific revenue operations software for manufacturers, their distributors and their specifiers.

On 15 September 2021, Chubb INA Holdings Inc. has priced the offering of USD 600 million Senior Notes due 2051 with an interest rate of 2.850% and USD 1 billion Senior Notes due 2061 with an interest rate of 3.050%. The Senior Notes are unconditionally guaranteed by Chubb Limited, Zurich, Switzerland, and are registered on NYSE. The underwriters were represented by BofA Securities, Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC.

iRobot, a leading developer for consumer robots has acquired Aeris Cleantec Group. Founded in 2015, Aeris Cleantec is a rapidly growing company that develops and distributes high-quality air purifiers worldwide.

On 14 December 2021, global biotechnology leader CSL Limited announced a tender offer for all shares in Vifor Pharma Ltd, a global specialty pharmaceutical company with leadership in iron deficiency, nephrology & cardio-renal therapies. The offer values Vifor Pharma at USD 11.7 / CHF 10.9 billion.

FNZ, a leading global wealth management platform, has agreed to acquire Appway from its founding shareholders and Summit Partners. Appway is a leader in client onboarding and client servicing for financial institutions. The transaction is due to be completed early in the first quarter of 2022.

Armira and CEO Dr. Urs Spitz have agreed to sell Biosynth Carbosynth to KKR & Co. Inc. Biosynth Carbosynth is a leading life sciences reagents, custom synthesis and manufacturing services company. CEO Dr. Urs Spitz and senior managers of the group will retain a significant ownership stake in the group. Completion of the transaction is subject to merger control approval.

Customs Support Group B.V., a portfolio company of Castik Capital which is a leading independent, digital and neutral provider of Customs Services in Europe, acquired Balimpex AG from its founders. Balimpex is an international freight forwarding and customs company based in Switzerland.

Exceet Group, which is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, has entered into an agreement for the sale of its portfolio company GS Swiss PCB AG to AFINUM. GS Swiss PCB AG is a manufacturer of highly miniaturized printed circuit boards for the medical technology and aerospace sectors.

Bär & Karrer AG advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a professional investment management organization, as an investor in Sportradar in connection with Sportradar's initial public offering of 19,000,000 Class A ordinary shares at a price to the public of $27 per share. Sportradar is a leading global provider of sports betting and sports entertainment products and services. The shares are trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol 'SRAD'.

Blackstone, a leading global investment business investing capital on behalf of pension funds, large institutions and individuals, has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of a majority stake in VFS Global from EQT Private Equity. VFS Global is a pioneer in and the leading and world's largest provider of visa outsourcing services. EQT will retain a minority position in VFS Global alongside Blackstone and the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce the election of Dr. Vera Naegeli, Cyrill Diefenbacher, Dr. Joel Fischer and Dr. Christian Kunz to the firm's partnership. The new partners will strengthen the firm's tax, internal investigations, financial institutions, white collar crime, M&A/corporate as well as data and technology practices. The appointments are effective as of 1 January 2022.

Sandvik Materials Technology, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced stainless steels and special alloys, has acquired Accuratech Group. Accuratech Group is a niched medical component manufacturer headquartered in Switzerland.

Renaissance Capital, an investment firm with a focus on emerging markets, sponsored the repackaging transaction and acted as a dealer for the notes. E.M.I.S. Finance B.V., a Dutch limited recourse investment vehicle, issued secured notes in the aggregate amount of approx. USD 15 million and purchased the respective number of common shares in Acronis AG as the underlying securities.

The international music company BMG acquired Tina Turner's portfolio of music rights and will partner with her to maintain and develop her musical treasure-trove and safeguard her legacy. The transaction includes Tina Turner’s artist’s share of her recordings, her music publishing writer’s share, neighboring rights and name, image and likeness. A 12-time Grammy winner, Tina Turner has published ten solo studio albums, two live albums, two soundtracks and five compilations, which together have sold over 100 million copies. Tina Turner said, “Like any artist, the protection of my life’s work, my musical inheritance, is something personal. I am confident that with BMG and Warner Music my work is in professional and reliable hands.” Bär & Karrer advised Tina Turner and her husband Erwin Bach in this transaction. The team included Daniel Bader and Martin Leu (both Tax), Michael Trippel (M&A), Markus Wang (IP), Ignaz Müller and Michael Rohrer (both Notarial Services).

A Mubadala Investment Company has acquired a stake in Open Mineral AG in its latest $33 million series C financing round, which was led by Mubadala among further co-investors. Open Mineral AG operates a digital trading platform for base metal commodities.

The persistent low interest rate environment over the past few years has prompted changes in the life insurance industry. Against this backdrop, Allianz Suisse Lebensversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG and the reinsurance company Resolution Re Ltd. have agreed on an innovative reinsurance solution to hedge interest rate commitments. Under the agreement, Resolution Re Ltd. will take over the market and insurance risks of a legacy portfolio of individual life insurance products, within the framework of quota share reinsurance. The products in the portfolio, which has a reserve volume of around CHF 4 billion, have been discontinued.

Tecan Group Ltd. (SIX Swiss Exchange: TECN) has successfully placed 650,000 new registered shares in a private placement by way of an accelerated bookbuilding and completed a capital increase of approx. CHF 360 million to partially refinance the acquisition of Paramit Corporation. The offer price was set at CHF 550 per share. Credit Suisse Ltd. and Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG acted as managers in this transaction.

The shareholders of Montana Capital Partners, a European-based private equity secondaries asset manager, have entered into a share purchase agreement regarding the sale of all shares to PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. Completion is subject to regulatory approval.

Bär & Karrer advises Triton Fund V advised by Triton on the acquisition of Swiss IT Security Group, a leading cyber security services provider in the DACH and Benelux regions, from Ufenau Capital Partners. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

Deutsche Börse AG acquires a majority stake in Crypto Finance AG, a financial group under consolidated FINMA supervision that offers trading, storage, and investment in digital assets to institutional and professional clients.

The SIX Swiss Exchange listed Tecan Group entered into an agreement to acquire US-based Paramit Corporation for a total purchase consideration of USD 1.0 billion. Paramit, headquartered in Morgan Hill (California/USA), is a leading OEM developer and manufacturer of medical devices and life sciences instruments.

Deutsche Börse AG acquires the remaining 49% stake in Clearstream Fund Centre AG from UBS AG for CHF 390 million and becomes the sole shareholder of Clearstream Fund Centre, a leading European fund distribution platform. The acquisition of the initial 51% stake had closed on 30 September 2020.

Doctors and laboratory specialists, together with the investment firm GENUI, acquired labor team w ag, one of the leading private medical laboratories in Switzerland. The laboratory provides professional services for the prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of diseases throughout Switzerland.

Today, Lonza and Sanofi announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to build and operate a large-scale mammalian cell culture facility for monoclonal antibody production in Visp, Switzerland. The large-scale facility will be established through a joint venture with an initial investment of around CHF 290 million shared equally between Lonza and Sanofi. The initial construction phase of the facility will commence in 2017, pending necessary regulatory approvals. The facility is expected to be fully operational by 2020.

The owners of Fostag Formenbau AG (FOSTAG), a leading manufacturer of high performance injection moulds for medical, thin wall packaging and closure applications, have sold a majority in FOSTAG to a group of Swiss private investors led by BLR Partners.

The leading global schools group Cognita, whose majority owner is Jacobs Holding, has acquired a majority stake in the Swiss-based Obersee Bilingual School (OBS). With provision from nursery to Matura, OBS bilingually educates currently 375 children and young people of the international community in Schwyz. The school offers the IB curriculum and the Swiss Matura.

LEONI AG, a leading German wire, cable and harnessing manufacturing group, sold its subsidiary LEONI Schweiz AG to a consortium of buyers led by former board member Bruno Fankhauser and Helvetica Capital AG, an independent investor focusing on companies in Switzerland and neighbouring regions. LEONI Schweiz AG is the holding company of LEONI Studer AG, a specialist in high-quality cables and wires for complex applications in the industrial and infrastructure sectors.

Mobiliar, a leading Swiss insurance company, has completed the acquisition of flatfox AG, a Swiss IT company specializing in the real estate market. Flatfox is a leading Swiss real estate portal and offers a free marketplace for properties, as well as innovative tools around the rental process.

The Sage Group, a market-leading provider of business software products and solutions, has entered into an agreement for the sale of its Swiss business to Infoniqa, a provider of HR software solutions majority-owned by Warburg Pincus. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions and is expected to complete within the next twelve months.

Imaweb, a developer of software solutions for automotive manufacturers and dealers (a portfolio company of PSG), purchased all shares in Stieger Software AG, a provider of comprehensive software solutions for garages, motorcycle businesses and shipyards.

Gi Group, Italy’s largest multinational staffing company and one of Europe’s top 6 staffing companies, has completed the acquisition of Jobtome International SA, one of the world’s largest online job aggregators based in Switzerland with a presence in 35 countries.

Valtech S.E., a global digital agency specializing in business transformations, acquired all shares in Infocentric Research AG in December 2019. In addition, all shares in Codeflair AG were purchased in a follow-up transaction, which was completed in March 2021.

GTreasury, a treasury and risk management platform provider, has acquired Coprocess SA, the leading provider of intercompany netting solutions.

Bär & Karrer advises funds advised by Equistone on the acquisition of Franke Water Systems AG (KWC and WSC Groups), an international manufacturer of intelligent water solutions for residential bathrooms, residential kitchens and commercial washrooms, from Franke Group. The transaction is subject to approval by the competent merger control authorities.

The co-founders and further shareholders of PerfectHair.ch, a Swiss e-commerce platform for professional haircare and beauty products, have sold a majority stake in PerfectHair.ch to the Swedish private equity firm Storskogen.

QSR International LLC, a US based developer of research & educational software and a portfolio company of Rubicon Technology Partners, has acquired all shares in Swiss Academic Software GmbH, developer of the leading literature and knowledge management software Citavi.

On 8 February 2021, Lonza entered into a definitive agreement with Bain Capital and Cinven to sell Lonza's Specialty Ingredients business and operations for an enterprise value of CHF 4.2 billion. The divestment will allow Lonza to refocus its business as a pure-play partner to the healthcare industry.

Together with HRS, the Netrics group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, takes over the state-of-the-art data center in the Bözingenfeld industrial area of Biel, thus taking another logical step in its growth strategy.

CVC Capital Partners (CVC), one of the world's leading private equity firms, will partner with Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), the world governing body of the sport of volleyball, in the newly founded joint-venture VW Volleyball World SA. VW Volleyball World SA will be responsible for the commercial operation of key volleyball and beach volleyball events, including the World Championships, Olympic Qualifiers and the Volleyball Nations League. The partnership will particularly focus on event hosting, fan experience, media, data and digital opportunities, as well as sponsorship.

FE fundinfo, a global fund data and technology provider, acquired CSSP – Center for Social and Sustainable Products AG, an innovative business focusing on ESG and carbon investment reporting solutions.

In January 2021, Savex Capital AG started operating as a fully licensed Swiss asset manager of collective investment schemes.

Provinzial NordWest Holding AG and Provinzial Rheinland Holding AöR merged by way of a spin-off whereby Provinzial Rheinland Holding AöR transferred the part of its assets relating to the insurance business, in particular its holdings in the insurance companies of the group, to Provinzial Nordwest Holding AG. In return, Provinzial Rheinland Holding AöR received new shares in Provinzial Nordwest Holding AG and now has a stake in the merged company. By entry in the commercial register and conversion into Provinzial Holding AG on 31 August, the merger became as planned effective as of 1 January 2020.

The shareholders of Webnode AG sold their shares to team.blue, one of the largest hosting providers in Europe. Webnode is one of the leading website builder companies in Europe.

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, acquired a significant equity stake in Telepass S.p.A. ("Telepass"), a leading electronic toll collection services provider in Europe. Following the acquisition, Partners Group will be the joint owner of Telepass with its current investor Atlantia S.p.A. The transaction values Telepass at an enterprise value of over EUR 2 billion.

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, acquired a significant equity stake in Telepass S.p.A. ("Telepass"), a leading electronic toll collection services provider in Europe. Following the acquisition, Partners Group will be the joint owner of Telepass with its current investor Atlantia S.p.A. The transaction values Telepass at an enterprise value of over EUR 2 billion.

Bär & Karrer successfully represented a Turkish construction company against the State of Libya in setting-aside proceedings before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in connection with an ICC award issued in an investment treaty arbitration. The underlying claims arose out of construction projects commissioned by the State of Libya.

Castik Capital entered into a share purchase agreement with Carlyle Group regarding the sale of the Acrotec Group. Acrotec Group is an independent supplier of watch components for the Swiss luxury mechanical watch market, a main player in the European MedTech components market and a supplier of high precision components for various end markets such as automotive, aerospace, aeronautics, electronics and consumer goods. The transaction is subject to antitrust approval.

Bär & Karrer advised the forteq Group, a global supplier of complex plastic components, on the sale of the forteq Nidau AG (healthcare business) to Liberta Partners, Munich. The forteq Group will focus on its core activities in the automotive industry.

EMZ Partners, a European Private Equity company, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Assepro, a leading independent insurance broker group with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland covering a broad value chain including brokerage, insurance advisory, risk management, pension schemes, financial/pension planning and employee benefits.

Valora Holding AG completed a placement of shares by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process raising net proceeds of approximately CHF 70 million. Credit Suisse and UBS acted as Joint Bookrunners.

On 23 October 2020, Kuros Biosciences, a life science company focusing on the development and marketing of orthobiologics, completed a capital increase by way of a rights offering to its shareholders. 50.2% of the shareholders of Kuros Biosciences exercised their subscription rights in the rights offering. The remaining 4,192,530 offered shares were placed in the market and an additional tranche of 1,915,203 shares was sold to Optiverder B.V. The offer price was set at CHF 1.80 per share.

On 23 October 2020, Idorsia Ltd completed a capital increase by way of an at-market rights offering. The offer price was set at CHF 22.50 per share and the capital increase resulted in gross proceeds of approximately CHF 535.5 Million. Idorsia intends to use the net proceeds of approximately CHF 520 Million to support the regulatory filing and, if approved, commercial launch of daridorexant and to fund the further development of its diversified pipeline. Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan and BofA Securities acted as Joint Bookrunners in connection with the rights offering.

Syngenta Crop Protection AG, a global leading chemical crop protection company, acquired a production facility located on the GETEC PARK.SWISS area from Novartis Pharma Schweizerhalle AG.

OLX Group, a leading global marketplaces network, and Encuentra24, a leading marketplace and business solution provider in Central America, merged their business activities in Central America under the Encuentra24 brand.

Banca dello Stato del Canton Ticino (BancaStato) has agreed with EFG International to acquire its Ticino-based retail business lines, with around CHF 1.2 billion of client assets. The two parties are also committed to exploring further areas of collaboration in Ticino in the future. The operation, which is meant to enable both parties to focus on their core businesses in line with their strategic goals, is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.

On 18 August 2020 Crédit Agricole next bank (Suisse) SA established its first Covered Bond Programme, in a maximum aggregate principal amount of CHF 2 billion, guaranteed as to payments of interest and principal by CAnb (Suisse) Hypothèques SA. An initial series of covered bonds, in an amount of CHF 200 million, due in September 2029, was issued on 18 September 2020 and listed on SIX Swiss Exchange.

Bär & Karrer successfully assisted the current administration of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) in the restitution of more than CHF 36 million in the course of various Swiss criminal proceedings opened in connection with CONMEBOL’s former president, Nicolas Leoz and its former secretary general, Eduardo Deluca.

Bär & Karrer advised Swiss based Private Equity Fund Patrimonium on the acquisition of a majority stake in the ROTH GROUP, a Swiss provider of structural fire protection, technical insulation and coating solutions represented in all parts of Switzerland with 14 entities at 11 locations.

The shareholders of NEPLAN AG, a Swiss network planning software specialist, sold their shares to PSI group.

Sovereign Capital Partners, the UK private equity Buy & Build specialist, has backed the management buy-out of ACOLIN, a leading provider of regulatory and cross-border fund distribution services, with offices in Zurich, Geneva, London, Frankfurt and Belgrade, among others. Sovereign’s support is an important step towards ACOLIN becoming a leading one-stop-shop service provider along the entire investment funds distribution value chain.

Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, and other shareholders have sold their shares to NEC Corporation in an acquisition which valued Avlaoq at CHF 2.05 billion. Avaloq is an internationally leading FinTech company based in Switzerland.

Fideuram – Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking, the private banking division of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, and REYL & Cie SA have entered into a long-term strategic partnership, under which Fideuram will acquire a 69% interest in REYL and assign its Swiss subsidiary Intesa Sanpaolo Private Bank (Suisse) Morval SA to REYL.

Vifor Pharma, a global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies, has sold its OM Pharma business, which primarily focuses on therapies for respiratory and urinary tract infections and is active in the treatment of vascular diseases, to Optimus Holding Ltd., a company founded by Etienne Jornod together with long-standing Swiss entrepreneurs and the Turkish pharmaceutical company Abdi Ibrahim. Closing of the transaction is expected to take place within the next weeks.

Novartis Finance S.A., a subsidiary of Novartis AG, issued EUR 1,85 billion sustainability-linked bonds due 2028 with an interest rate of 0.000%. The bonds are the first of its kind in the healthcare industry and the first sustainability-linked bonds incorporating social targets, with bondholders entitled to receive a higher amount of interest if Novartis fails to meet its targets for expanding access to its innovative medicines. The Bonds are guaranteed by Novartis AG. They have been provisionally admitted to trading at the SIX Swiss Exchange and are expected to be listed there as well.

PSP Swiss Property purchased three directly adjacent commercial buildings in the CBD of Geneva for CHF 295 million (plus transation costs). The three properties at Rue de la Confédération 2 (8,100 m2 rental space), Rue de la Corraterie 5/7 (5,400 m2) and Rue de la Cité 6 (2,100 m2) were acquired as of 22 September 2020. The commercial buildings are located in a very well frequented location between the banking district, the historic city center and the prestigious Rue du Rhône. The main tenant remains the seller UBS, which will lease back the branch office and the spaces required for its business operations.

Ares Management Corporation ("Ares"), a global alternative investment manager, that invests across Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate, invested in Peach Property Group AG ("Peach") by subscribing to approx. CHF 150 million of a mandatory convertible bond issued by Peach, a real estate company listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. With a shareholding of approx. 30 percent, Ares will become the largest single shareholder of Peach and will receive tailored governance rights at Peach, subject to EGM approval. The investment enables the financing of Peach’s recently announced acquisition of 10,250 apartments in Germany.

The shareholders of Bluebox Shop AG, operator of the online erotic store Amorana.ch, have sold a majority of their shares to Lovehoney Limited, a portfolio company of Telemos Capital.

Swiss International Air Lines AG and Edelweiss Air AG have entered into a CHF 1.5 billion revolving credit facility agreement with Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG and UBS Switzerland AG as mandated lead arrangers, coordinators and lenders and additional banks as part of a syndicate. The Swiss Confederation, represented by the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, acted as surety provider covering 85% of the credit. The financing is linked to certain Swiss location policy measures. Deutsche Lufthansa AG and the German government have agreed to this financing as well.

Swiss investment firm Capvis has agreed to acquire a majority stake in BSI Business Systems Integration AG, a customer relationship management (CRM) software solution provider that operates primarily in Switzerland, Germany and Austria.

On 6 August 2020, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reached a decision on a dispute between the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF), to award the governance of the sport of Stand-Up Paddelboard (SUP) at Olympic Level to the ISA. Both International Federations claimed that the governance of SUP would fall into their respective fields of competence. The ISA welcomed the decision and will continue to work for the growth of the sport of SUP on an international level.

Molecular Partners successfully placed 5'528'089 new shares to institutional investors by way of an accelerated book-building process in a private placement. The offer price was set at CHF 14.50 per share. The gross proceeds from the placement amounted to CHF 80.2 million. The proceeds from the capital increase will be used to fund research & development activities as well as for general corporate purposes. SVB Leerink LLC, Cowen and Company, LLC, Van Lanschot Kempen Wealth Management N.V. and Credit Suisse AG acted as Joint Bookrunners. Bär & Karrer acted as legal counsel to the banking syndicate. The team included Thomas Reutter, Alexander von Jeinsen, Annette Weber and Audrey Benzow (all Capital Markets).

Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund sold the shopping center Glatt to Swiss Life AG. The Glattzentrum in Wallisellen (ZH) is one of Switzerland's largest and most popular shopping centers. Bär & Karrer advised the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund on the sale. The Team included Corrado Rampini and Kilian Müller (both Real Estate), as well as Christoph Neeracher and Raphael Annasohn (both M&A).

Schweizer Kraftwerksbeteiligungs-AG, a subsidiary of CSA Energy-Infrastructure Switzerland, acting in concert with Primeo Energy/KSM and EOS Holding, launched a public tender offer on all publicly held shares in Alpiq Holding, which was completed in October 2019. Subsequently a squeeze-out merger was resolved, which was completed on 29 June 2020. As a result of these transactions, Alpiq Holding now has a Swiss shareholder structure.

Pregnolia AG, a femtech startup company, has successfully raised over CHF 4 million in its Series A financing round. Pregnolia specialises in the early diagnosis of premature birth.

On 10 July 2020, MCH Group AG announced a comprehensive set of measures, including a new anchor investor, Lupa Systems LLC, an independent private investment company owned by James Murdoch.

Hg acquires a majority stake in F24 AG, a leading European SaaS provider of emergency notification, crisis & incident management und critical communications.

The Swiss Re group has recently updated its USD 10 billion Debt Issuance Programme, and thereunder has issued (i) EUR 800 million Guaranteed Subordinated Fixed Rate Reset Step-Up Callable Notes with a scheduled maturity in 2052 and (ii) SGD 350 million Guaranteed Subordinated Fixed Rate Reset Callable Notes with a scheduled maturity in 2035.

On 28 July 2020, Basilea Pharmaceutica completed the offering of approximately CHF 97 million 3.25% convertible bonds due 2027 to finance the repurchase of a part of Basilea's existing convertible bonds due 2022. With the repurchase of part of its existing bonds financed by newly issued bonds, Basilea was able to extend its debt maturity profile and to optimize its debt structure. The reference price for the conversion price of the new convertible bonds was set by the placement of shares in Basilea.

On 29 July 2020, Meyer Burger Technology AG completed a capital increase comprising a rights offering to its shareholders and a private placement to selected investors, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately CHF 165 million. Meyer Burger intends to use the proceeds to finance the strategic transformation from a supplier of photovoltaic production equipment to a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic cells and modules and the related ramp-up of production capacities. Credit Suisse acted as Global Coordinator and Joint Bookrunner and Zürcher Kantonalbank acted as Joint Bookrunner in connection with the rights offering.

Polyphor AG announced that it has entered into an equity-linked financing arrangement with the French company IRIS to raise a gross amount of up to CHF 19.3 million over a period of two years. Under the innovative financing instrument, IRIS will receive Polyphor shares to be created from the company's conditional capital based on an interest-free mandatory convertible bonds program.

Bär & Karrer Advises freenet in Connection with the Obligation to Sell its 24,42% Interest in Sunrise Communications Group in the Context of the Tender Offer Launched by Liberty Global

SIG Combibloc PurchaseCo S.à r.l., a subsidiary of SIG Combibloc Group, has issued EUR 450 million Senior Unsecured 1.875% Notes due 2023, as well as and EUR 550 million Senior Unsecured Notes 2.125% due 2025. Certain subsidiaries of SIG Combibloc Group have also entered into new sustainability-linked EUR 850 million loan facilities. The net proceeds from these transaction are used to refinance the existing group financing.

Tineo, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, has acquired netrics. netrics is a Swiss based cloud pioneer and managed services provider. The Tineo Group and netrics form a new cloud and ICT service provider in Switzerland. netrics brings to the joint portfolio specialist expertise in digitalization using the public cloud, as well as modern workplace services.

Bär & Karrer successfully represented the UEFA before the Swiss Federal Tribunal against the club KS Skënderbeu. The Swiss Federal Tribunal confirmed an important CAS decision within the ambit of the fight against game tampering. The club received a 10 year suspension in 2018 from all UEFA club competitions and was fined for EUR 1 million.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that it further strengthens the firm with the arrival of Raoul Stocker, who has rejoined Bär & Karrer as partner of 1 June 2020. 

Coty Inc. and KKR have entered into a strategic transaction for Coty Inc.'s Professional and Retail Hair business, including the Wella, Clairol, OPI and ghd brands, valuing the businesses at USD 4.3 billion on a cash- and debt-free basis. KKR will own 60% of this separately managed entity and Coty Inc. will own the remaining 40%.

Swiss Federal Railways SBB has sold a 35% stake in SBB Cargo AG to Swiss Combi AG, a joint venture of Swiss logistics service providers. SBB Cargo is Switzerland's leading rail freight transport company.

Bär & Karrer advised the initial purchasers in a USD 675 million offering of 13% Senior Secured Notes issued by the Viking Cruise Group. Viking, one of the world’s leading providers of destination-focused travel experiences, is the largest operator of river cruises in Europe, Russia and China, for North American passengers, and offers ocean, lake and river cruises worldwide. The notes are indirectly secured through collateral over 20 Swiss-registered river vessels.

The founders of the zahnarztzentrum.ch Group entered into a share purchase agreement with Medbase, a subisidiary of Migros, regarding the sale of a majority stake of the zahnarztzentrum.ch Group. The transaction is subject to approval by the Swiss merger control authorities.

The shareholder of Odlo, owned by private equity funds advised by Herkules Capital, has completed the sale of Swiss-based ODLO International AG and its subsidiaries to Monte Rosa Sports Holding AG. Odlo produces premium performance sportswear for year-round active individuals. The brand is distributed in more than 35 countries worldwide.

The shareholders of Swissbit entered into a share purchase agreement with Ardian regarding the sale of the Swissbit group. Swissbit is a global leader and the only independent European provider of NAND-flash based storage and embedded Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. The transaction is subject to approval by antitrust authorities.

EQT portfolio company Open Systems AG, a secure access service edge (SASE) pioneer, has acquired Born In The Cloud Inc. from its founders. BITC is an US-based leading Microsoft Azure Sentinel cyber security expert complementing Open Systems' Managed Detection & Response (MDR) offering.

Saint-Gobain's subsidiary Schenker-Winkler Holding AG ("SWH") successfully sold its 10.75% stake in Sika for CHF 2.56 billion. The shares were placed via a private placement to qualified institutional investors by way of an accelerated book-building process ("ABB").

Appway AG, its shareholders and Summit Partners, a global alternative investment firm, entered into an investment and share purchase agreement regarding a USD 37 million minority investment in Appway by Summit. Appway is a Swiss-based leading global provider of business process automation software focused on customer onboarding and customer lifecycle management for financial institutions.

Zur Rose Group is the largest e-commerce pharmacy in Europe. On 31 March 2020, Zur Rose Finance B.V. successfully placed CHF 175 million 0.275% bonds due 2025 guaranteed by and convertible into shares of Zur Rose Group AG. The bonds were issued at 100% of their principal amount and will mature on 31 March 2025. The proceeds will be used, among others, to rapidly adjust to the significantly increased levels of demand for vital medication offered by online pharmacies since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

Screening Eagle Technologies, a cloud-based technology platform connecting sensors, software, and data for intelligent inspection of assets and infrastructure, has raised CHF 55 million in its first institutional round of equity funding.

On 3 April 2020, ams AG completed a capital increase by way of a rights offering raising gross proceeds of approximately CHF 1.75 billion. The proceeds will be used to partially finance the acquisition of OSRAM Licht AG. The banking syndicate was led by HSBC and UBS acting as joint global coordinators.

Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG announced that it has entered into an equity-linked financing arrangement with IRIS (France) in the initial gross amount of up to CHF 12 million over 12 months, with the option to extend by another CHF 12 million over another 12 months. This innovative financing instruments provides Santhera with a liquidity line which can be tapped if certain conditions are satisfied.

Nouryon, a global chemical company, divested its redispersible polymer powders (RPP) business, offered under the Elotex brand, to Celanese Corporation.

Maxburg Beteiligungen III GmbH & Co. KG ("Maxburg"), advised by Maxburg Capital Partners has purchased saracus group, an IT consultancy firm based in Germany and Switzerland.

La Foncière, a real estate fund governed by articles 58 et seq. of the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act, completed from 16 to 25 March 2020 an increase by 10% of the number of its units (parts) listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The 1'237'107 additional units were fully subscribed to, in spite of most challenging market conditions. These additional units have been listed on 31 March 2020.

Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic investor focused exclusively on the health care industry, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to invest in Solvias AG, one of the largest independent pharmaceutical laboratory platforms in Europe.

In connection with the acquisition of NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company The Medicines Company for USD 9.7 billion, Novartis AG and Novartis Finance Corporation entered into a USD 7 billion short-term (bridge) credit agreement and completed a USD 5 billion four-tranche SEC-registered bond offering. Bär & Karrer acted as Swiss legal advisor to Novartis in this transaction.

EQT portfolio company Open Systems AG, a secure access service edge (SASE) pioneer, has acquired Sqooba (Schweiz) AG from its founders. Sqooba is a Swiss-based leader in big data analytics.

La Mobilière acquires a stake of 25% of the shares in Ringier AG. The share purchase is to be completed in the first half of 2020.

Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (MGB) sold Magazine zum Globus AG along with eight associated real estate properties to a joint venture of SIGNA and CENTRAL Group. SIGNA and CENTRAL jointly own Germany’s KaDeWe Group and CENTRAL Group currently owns Italy’s Rinascente and Denmark’s Illum, all leading luxury department stores in Europe. The transaction is subject to approval by the competent merger control authorities.

The von Finck family successfully placed 960,000 shares (approx. 12.7%) in SGS SA by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process. The overall transaction volume amounts to CHF 2.3 billion. In light of its long-term investment strategy and planning, the family decided to divest a majority of its stake in SGS.

CSS Versicherung AG is selling its corporate business to Zurich Switzerland. Approximately 30,000 customers of CSS Versicherung with policies in the mandatory accident insurance under the Federal Law on Accident Insurance, supplementary accident insurance under the Federal Law on Insurance Contracts, and collective daily sickness benefit insurance under the Federal Law on Insurance Contracts will transfer to Zürich Versicherungs-Gesellschaft AG. Further, 68 employees of CSS will change to Zurich Switzerland. With this transaction, CSS is creating the conditions for focusing on its core business in the future and advancing its position as a health partner. The transaction is subject to approval by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and merger control clearance by the Competition Commission (COMCO).

Waters Corporation, a leading specialty measurement company, has announced the acquisition of Andrew Alliance, a Switzerland based company specializing in laboratory automation technology.

Far Point Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: FPAC; "Far Point"), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) co-sponsored by the institutional asset manager Third Point LLC, and Swiss-based Global Blue, a strategic technology and payments partner empowering global merchants to capture the growth of international shoppers, have announced that they will merge, as a result of which Global Blue will become a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The new public company will be incorporated in Switzerland. Far Point and new investors, including Ant Financial Services Group, the operator of Alipay, will invest a total of approximately USD 1.0 billion reflecting a total enterprise value of EUR 2.3 billion of Global Blue. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.

The majority shareholder of SHL Medical AG and EQT VIII Fund have entered into an agreement regarding the acquisition of a minority stake in SHL Medical.

In January 2020, AON Schweiz AG, a leading global service provider for risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokers as well as adviser on human resources, has acquired 100% of the shares of Assimedia SA, an all-branch insurance broker based in Locarno, Switzerland. This transaction will allow AON Switzerland to extend its market presence, by expanding its insurance and re-insurance broking business in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland.

Syngenta sold its global R&D center in Stein/Sisseln (AG) in a 30-year sale and leaseback. The site of 180'000 sqm was acquired by Schroder ImmoPlus, a fund managed by Schroders.

DHL Logistics (Schweiz) AG sold its Swiss supply chain business to Fastlog AG, a Swiss service and logistics provider.

07.01.2020 Private equity investor Hg has acquired Personal und Informatik AG (P&I), a leading provider of cloud-based HR software. The company was sold by funds advised by Permira, the global private equity firm, who remain invested with a substantial minority stake. The transaction represents the 4th investment from the Hg Saturn 1 Fund, which had its first close in early 2018 and focuses on software businesses with enterprise values of more than GBP 1 billion.

Terna, an Italian listed company operating the biggest electricity transmission grid in Europe, purchased from BRUGG GROUP 90% of the shares in Brugg Kabel, which is producing industrial cables and provides related services.

Polhem Infra, a company formed in 2019 by the First, Third and Fourth AP Fund (Swedish National Pension Funds), acquired 21 per cent of the shares in Solör Bioenergi Holding from existing shareholders. Solör Bioenergy is a leading provider of renewable energy based on wood fuel and district heating in Sweden and Norway.

The German specialty chemicals group ALTANA is taking over the Swiss overprint varnish specialist Schmid Rhyner AG from Swiss listed Conzzeta AG. Schmid Rhyner, founded in 1880 and employing around 80 people, specializes in print finishing solutions and sells its products in over 100 countries worldwide.

Elvaston Capital Management GmbH, an entrepreneur-led private equity firm, purchased all shares in Informing AG through its acquisition vehicle Step Ahead Group GmbH. Informing develops and supports business software (ERP) and provides professional IT-Services.

Ardian and other sellers agreed to sell the Competence Call Center Group to TELUS International.

Pharmalys Invest Holding AG, which is controlled by Amir Mechria, owned49% of Pharmalys Laboratories SA, Pharmalys Africa Sarl and Pharmalys TunisiaSA and has now purchased the remaining 51% of the shares in these companiesfrom Hochdorf Holding AG.

Valyo AG, a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Switzerland, has developed an innovative digital platform for issuances of exchange listed bonds geared towards institutional investors. The Valyo platform, intended to be launched in the first quarter of 2020, enables issuers to carry out all steps from the initial registration of a planned issuance through the book building process to closing and listing of the bond issuance in an integrated digital process.

Priora Suisse AG sold a total of 36 properties (buildings and land) to the Flughafen Zürich AG, which are located directly adjacent to the airport perimeter. The properties include, amongst others, hangars, the catering building including car parking and multiple buildings for engine maintenance.

Capvis, a leading Swiss investment firm, has agreed to acquire the Tertianum group from Swiss Prime Site AG. Tertianum is a market leader for elderly care and assisted living in Switzerland with over 80 residential and care centres as well as residences distributed throughout Switzerland.

Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), Germany's largest public pension group, acquired, through a fund managed by Universal-Investment (UI), a real estate portfolio comprising of 14 mainly commercial properties in Switzerland, partially financed by a banking syndicate. With this transaction, BVK enters the Swiss real estate market.

On 6 December 2019, Kuros Biosciences, a life science company focusing on the development and marketing of orthobiologics, completed a capital increase by way of a rights offering to its shareholders. 36.3% of the shareholders of Kuros Biosciences exercised their subscription rights in the rights offering. 2,818,718 of the remaining shares not subscribed were preferably allocated to Optiverder B.V. and further remaining shares were placed in the market. The offer price was set at CHF 1.95 per share.

Keppel Infrastructure Holdings Pte Ltd, through Keppel Energy Switzerland Holding AG, an indirect wholly owned Keppel Infrastructure subsidiary to be incorporated in Switzerland, is acquiring a 20% stake in MET Holding AG, an integrated European energy company headquartered in Switzerland. In addition, the two companies will enter into a strategic partnership to jointly explore investment opportunities focusing on European energy infrastructure assets. The transaction is subject to customary merger clearance requirements.

At the Mergermarket European Awards Ceremony held in London on 4 December 2019, Bär & Karrer was recognized as "Switzerland M&A Legal Adviser of the Year" for the second time in a row.

Summer Capital, an Asia based investment company, has entered into a strategic partnership regarding Swiss Education Group Holding AG through a sale and reinvestment transaction. Swiss Education Group Holding is the holding company of Swiss Education Group, a leading hospitality management education group that operates numerous schools in Switzerland.

A group of investors represented by the multi-family office Verium AG acquired a significant minority stake in DSwiss AG, a provider of highly secure digital services.

The Swiss start-up company xFarm raises EUR 3 million in a financing round involving United Ventures and TiVenture. xFarm SA operates a SaaS (Software as a Service) platform that aims to facilitate the digitalization of agricultural businesses, simplifying data collection and analysis, improving the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural fields.

On 28 November 2019 the Canton of Geneva issued green bonds listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in an aggregate amount of CHF 660 million. The issuance was made according to the Green Bond Principles published by the International Capital Market Association, and divided into three respective tranches of CHF 175 million with a maturity in 2028, CHF 200 million with a maturity in 2039 and CHF 285 million with a maturity in 2032.

Jacobs Holding AG successfully placed 550,000 shares (approx. 10%) in Barry Callebaut AG by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process and a simultaneous private placement. Jacobs Holding thus diversified its portfolio while remaining Barry Callebaut's reference shareholder with a stake of approximately 40%. Jacobs Holding is an investment company founded by entrepreneur Klaus J. Jacobs. The only economic beneficiary of Jacobs Holding is the Jacobs Foundation, one of the world's leading charitable foundations for the promotion of development opportunities for children and young people.

Xonnel AG sold its timber trading business "Küchler" to Woodpecker Holding AG, a group of leading timber trading companies in Switzerland. Küchler is a heritage brand in the timber trading sector since 1832.

Banque Cantonale de Genève successfully completed the placement of CHF 135 million perpetual additional tier 1 subordinated bonds. The additional tier 1 subordinated bonds were issued at 100% of their nominal amount with an interest of 1.875%. Banque Cantonale de Genève, UBS AG, Bank Vontobel AG and Bank J. Safra Sarasin acted as Joint Lead Managers.

The owners of 3 Plus Group sold the Swiss broadcasting group to CH Media, one of the largest media companies in Switzerland.Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to the sellers in this transaction.

Farner Consulting has acquired Rod Kommunikation, a Zurich-based communication agency.

Private equity funds managed by Blackstone acquired the European distribution business of CRH plc, a global leading group in the building material industry, from CRH plc for an enterprise value of €1.64 billion.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that it further strengthens the firm with the arrival of Nora Teuwsen, who has decided to join Bär & Karrer as partner and member of the management as of 1 January 2020.

Tineo, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, has acquired nexellent. Both Tineo and nexellent are providers of IT infrastructure and related services. The nexellent management has reinvested into the Tineo group. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to Tineo in this transaction.

The Specken Drumag group has been sold by its owner to Halder Beteiligungsberatung GmbH, an independent German investment company. The Specken Drumag group has more than 100 years of experience as a developer and producer of systems and solutions in the pneumatics, hydropneumatics, hydraulics and proportional technology sector and is present in Switzerland, Germany and Lithuania.

Colombo Wealth SA (previously Colombo Wealth Management SA, Heron Holding SA and Heron Asset Management SA), a financial service provider in the canton Ticino for institutional and private HNWI clients, is the first FINMA licensed asset manager of collective investment schemes with presence in all three main language areas in Switzerland, with headquarter in Lugano and branches in Zurich and Geneva. After obtaining the relevant authorisations from FINMA, Colombo Wealth (previously Heron Asset Management) successfully completed the mergers with Colombo Wealth Management and Heron Holding.

THI Investments has acquired from The Riverside Company and co-investors the RE Panels group (incl. EPCO and TECSEDO), a European leader in the manufacture of sandwich panels for residential, commercial and industrial sectional overhead doors.

Bär & Karrer successfully defended a large, international fintech company and its management in Swiss criminal proceedings which have been initiated due to the misuse of the company's platform by various unknown fraudsters. The proceedings led to the arrest of the company's chairman following an arrest warrant issued by a Swiss prosecutor. The arrest warrant and other coercive measures were held unlawful by the competent cantonal court of appeal following complaints lodged by the chairman of the fintech company. The chairman was awarded indemnity and compensation for costs incurred in connection with the criminal proceedings and the arrest warrant. All criminal proceedings have been closed by the prosecutor in charge.

MSCI Inc., a New York-based provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, has announced that its subsidiary, MSCI Barra Suisse Sàrl, has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Carbon Delta AG, a Swiss based environmental fintech and data analytics firm.

Acrotec acquired Diener AG Precision Machining, a company specialized in the area of medical technology and precision mechanics, and Diener Precision Pumps, a company producing high quality precision pumps, from its owners. With these acquisitions, Acrotec extends in particular its medtech sector. Completion is subject to merger control approval.

Farner Consulting acquires a majority stake of the Zurich-based data and technology agency DU DA Group. This move will enable Farner Consulting to combine its communication offering with smart technology and data solutions to create commtech – communication technology.

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The proceedings concerned an appeal filed by the Albanian football club KS Skënderbeu against a decision issued by UEFA.

Cembra Money Bank has agreed to acquire cashgate. The purchase price for the acquisition of cashgate and the refinancing of cashgate's loan portfolio is partly backed by a bridge facility and is financed and refinanced by the sale of treasury shares (gross proceeds of CHF 112.8 million) in an accelerated bookbuilding, the placement of CHF 150 million perpetual additional Tier 1 bonds and CHF 250 million net share settled convertible bonds.

Acushnet Holdings Corp., the worldwide leader in the design, development, manufacture and distribution of golf equipment and wear, has announced the acquisition of KJUS, a Swiss-based ski and golf sportswear company.

Bär & Karrer successfully represented a company acting under the trademark of PNK Group, a major developer of industrial facilities in Russia, against a Western European concrete plant engineering and manufacturing company in a SCAI-arbitration concerning the delivery of (defective) equipment. After full-fledged proceedings including a hearing with several technical experts, the client was awarded partial rescission of the contract (as requested) with returning of certain defective equipment against refund of its cost, a substantial price reduction with regard to the rest of the equipment, as well as a contractual penalty payment and reimbursement for 75% of all legal costs. Team members were Matthew Reiter and Désirée Schreyer (both arbitration).

Zurich Insurance Company Ltd (Zurich) invests in the Swiss start-up autoSense. Zurich will further develop autoSense's business together with Swisscom and Amag. autoSense operates a digital service portal which connects vehicles through an app and provides real-time information and services to car owners.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, an international specialty biopharmaceutical company listed in Sweden, agreed to acquire, from Novimmune’s shareholders, a newly established company owning emapalumab and related assets, giving Sobi access to world-class R&D capabilities in the field of Immunology. The acquisition supersedes the previously announced exclusive licence agreement with Novimmune. In addition, Sobi agreed with Novimmune on options for the shared financial rights to NI-1701 and NI-1801, two product candidates in the field of immuno-oncology. The transaction value is CHF 515 million, of which CHF 400 million was previously committed in the exclusive license agreement for emapalumab.

Light Chain Bioscience AG, a Swiss biotech company, agreed to purchase all shares in NovImmune SA, a company focused on the discovery and development of antibody-based drugs for the targeted treatment of inflammatory diseases, immune related disorders and cancer. Patinex and BZ Bank are the selling majority shareholders of NovImmune.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that it has received the award “Law Firm of the Year - Switzerland” at the Citywealth Magic Circle Awards in London. This award recognizes Bär & Karrer as the Swiss law firm with the best private client team.

Ashcroft Inc., headquartered in Stratford, CT, USA, a subsidiary of Tokyo Stock Exchange listed Nagano Keiki Co., Ltd, has announced the completion of the acquisition of Swiss-based Rüeger Holding SA (Rüeger) and Dutch-based STIKO Meetapparentenfabriek B.V. (Stiko), both manufacturers of specialty temperature and pressure measurement products, from their previous owners, Bernard and Jean-Marc Rüeger.

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Industry-led InsurTech B3i Services AG successfully raised additional funds from current shareholders and new investors to further develop and grow its blockchain-based insurance transaction platform. B3i was founded in October 2016 as an insurance industry consortium which then formed B3i Services AG as an independent company. The shareholder group includes some of the world's largest insurers and reinsurers from across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. B3i intends to further expand its shareholder base over the next several months.

Bär &Karrer is pleased to announce that it further strengthens its Financing and Sports practices with new partners Lukas Roesler and Dr. Jan Kleiner, both of whom have worked with the firm previously.

Primeo Energie, EOS Holding SA (EOS) and Électricité de France (EDF) have entered into a share purchase agreement relating to the purchase by Primeo Energie and EOS of the 25% interest held by EDF in Alpiq Holding SA. The purchase by Primeo Eergie and EOS will be financed through mandatory exchangeable loan agreements made by CSA Energie-Infrastruktur Schweiz (CSA) as lender, the biggest investment pool for Swiss energy infrastructure with 135 Swiss pension funds acting as investors. At maturity the mandatory exchangeable loan agreements will be converted into shares in Alpiq. Primeo Energie and EOS thereby pave the way for a Swiss shareholder structure of Alpiq.

Today, Novartis AG completed the spin-off of the Alcon eye care devices business, and Alcon Inc. debuted as independent publicly traded company. The Alcon shares were successfully listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd. and the New York Stock Exchange. They are also included in the Swiss Market Index (SMI), which comprises the 20 largest Swiss listed stocks.

Bär & Karrer was awarded „Most innovative law firm of the year - Switzerland", the national award for Switzerland given in the IFLR European Awards. The most innovative law firm of the year award recognizes Bär & Karrer as the Swiss law firm with the best track record in 2018 giving advice on the most innovative cross-border deals covering all award practice areas. It is already the third prize of this kind in period of six years awarded to Bär & Karrer.

On 1 April 2019, DSV A/S, Hedehusene, Denmark and Panalpina Welttransport (Holding) AG, Zurich, Switzerland, have entered into an agreement on the terms and conditions of a combination by way of a public exchange offer by DSV for all publicly held registered shares of Panalpina for approximately CHF 4.6 billion. The board of directors of Panalpina has resolved to support the public exchange offer by DSV and to recommend the acceptance of DSV's public exchange offer to its shareholders.

On 2 April 2019, Lonza, a leading pharma contract manufacturing company, and Chr. Hansen, a leading global bioscience company, announced that they have signed an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture to pioneer the live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) industry and position themselves as the leading contract development and manufacturing partner (CDMO) for biotech and pharma customers. The joint venture brings together best-in-class, complementary capabilities and will be the first CDMO globally to provide a full supply chain that offers manufacturing of bacteria strains for therapeutic use. The joint venture will be a 50/50 controlled legal entity that will operate from its headquarters in Basel (CH) and have production facilities in Denmark and Switzerland. A phased investment of approximately EUR 90 million will be deployed over three years to build cGMP-compliant pharma production capabilities. The joint venture will upgrade existing facilities in Hørsholm (DK) and equip new facilities in Basel (CH) to serve pre-clinical to phase II projects. Further facilities for phase III and commercial manufacturing will be developed as the pipeline matures. The joint venture is expected to be largely self-funding after the production set-up has been established. Bär & Karrer acts as legal advisor to Lonza. The team includes Urs Kägi, Nadina Duss, Michael Bänziger, Matthias Tanner (all M&A/Corporate and Commercial) and Markus Wang (IP).

Computacenter Group, a leading European IT service provider listed on the London Stock Exchange, acquired PathWorks, a well-established hardware reseller in the Swiss market.

Addtech Group, a leading Swedish publicly listed technology trading group, acquired a majority stake in Omni Ray AG, a well-established Swiss trading company and service provider for automation solutions, mainly focused on industrial applications, infrastructure, transportation and medical industry. By this transaction, Addtech aims at strengthening its position in the European automation market.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that partner Paolo Bottini has been recognized by Lexology and the International Law Office (ILO) as the Client Choice Winner 2019 in the Corporate Tax category in Switzerland.

On 11 October 2018, the board of directors of CEVA Logistics AG announced that the Danish transport and logistic company DSV submitted a non-binding letter of interest with an indicative offer price of CHF 27.75 per CEVA share and that the board of directors of CEVA came to the conclusion that the offer was not in the best interest of the company and its shareholders. This was in particular because at that point in time, CEVA was already in discussions regarding an intensified cooperation with its main shareholder CMA CGM S.A., which shall exploit the full potential of CEVA.

On 10 January 2019, Cavotec SA completed a capital increase by way of a rights offering to its shareholders in the amount of approximately CHF 22.4 million. The Cavotec group, with its Swiss holding company listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, is a leading engineering group that designs and manufactures automated connection and electrification systems for ports, airports and industrial applications worldwide. 80.5% of the shareholders of Cavotec SA exercised their subscription rights in the rights offering. The remaining new shares not subscribed were allotted to investors who had subscribed for shares without subscription rights, pursuant to the allocation procedure described in the prospectus of 6 December 2018. The offer price was set at SEK 13 per share. ABG Sundal Collier acted as Sole Global Coordinator and Bookrunner. Bär & Karrer acted as Swiss legal adviser to the Issuer in this transaction. The team included Massimo Vanotti, Matthias Bizzarro (both Corporate), Alexander von Jeinsen (Capital Markets), Rocco Rigozzi (Notarial Services) as well as Paolo Bottini, Daniel Lehmann and Lukas Scherer (all Tax).

On 18 October 2018, Zur Rose Group AG, Europe's leading e-commerce pharmacy which is listed on SIX Swiss Exchange, announced that it is acquiring the e-commerce activities of Germany's third largest pharmacy medpex. The transaction was subject to regulatory clearances and closed on 4 January 2019. Bär & Karrer advises medpex as Swiss legal counsel, while Gütt Olk Feldhaus, Munich, acts as EU legal counsel. The Bär & Karrer team includes Mariel Hoch and Fabienne Perlini-Frehner (both M&A), Thomas U. Reutter and Daniel Raun (both Capital Markets).

Combell acquired switchplus, a company for internet presence and domain names, from SWITCH.

Santhera Pharmaceuticals Holding AG (Santhera) placed 3,133,334 new shares at an offer price of CHF 7.50 per share. The shares were placed by way of an accelerated bookbuilding procedure in a public offering in Switzerland, in private placements outside of the United States and Switzerland and in private placements within the United States to qualified institutional buyers. The shares were issued under exclusion of the existing shareholders' subscription rights through an ordinary capital increase resolved by an extraordinary shareholders' meeting. The gross proceeds from the placement amounted to CHF 23.5 million. Santhera intends to use the proceeds primarily to pay the cash component of the consideration to Idorsia Ltd for the acquisition of the option for the exclusive sub-license of vamorolone, a drug candidate for the treatment of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Bär & Karrer acted as Swiss legal advisor to UBS AG (Global Coordinator and Bookrunner) and Mirabaud Securities Limited (Co-Manager). The team included Thomas U. Reutter, Daniel Raun, Annette Weber and Anna Capaul (all Capital Markets) as well as Christoph Suter (Tax).

EOS Group, which is part of Otto Group, has entered into an agreement on the sale of Health AG and Zahnärztekasse AG to BAWAG Group. Health and Zahnärz-tekasse are two leading dental factoring market players in Germany and Switzer-land. Bär & Karrer acted as Swiss legal advisor to Otto Group in this transaction. The team included Christoph Neeracher, Luca Jagmetti, Philippe Seiler, Raphael Eg-ger, Jonatan Riegler and Arnold Romero (all M&A), Daniel Flühmann (Regulatory) as well as Markus Wang and Jonas Bornhauser (both IP/IT). Hengeler Mueller acted as international legal advisor to Otto Group in this transaction.

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Maxwell Technologies, Inc. sold its subsidiary Maxwell Technologies SA to Renaissance, a Swiss investment foundation for pension funds. Maxwell Technologies SA is a world leader in the manufacturing of high voltage capacitors used to ensure safety and reliability of electrical infrastructure and other applications such as transportation, distribution and metering of high voltage energy. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to Maxwell Technologies, Inc. in this transaction. The team included Christoph Neeracher, Thomas Rohde, Raphael Annasohn and Arnold Romero (all M&A), Susanne Schreiber (Tax), Ralph Malacrida and Faton Aliu (both Financing) as well as Charles Gschwind (Real Estate).

At this year's Mergermarket European Awards Ceremony on 6 December 2018 in London, Bär & Karrer has been awarded as the "Switzerland M&A Legal Adviser of the Year 2018". Mergermarket, an independent mergers and acquisitions intelligence and data service, honors the work of leading law firms and financial advisers across Europe every year. The selection is based on a comprehensive analysis of transaction data from the Mergermarket's M&A deals database with consideration of key criteria such as complexity, structure as well as groundbreaking and strategic nature of the deals. The judging panel including leading European M&A practitioners chose Bär & Karrer already for the fourth time from among six shortlisted law firms that were particularly active in the Swiss M&A market in 2018.

Cowen Inc., a NASDAQ listed, diversified financial services firm, agreed to acquire the Quarton group, a global financial advisor serving the middle market. Closing is expected in early 2019.

On 19 November 2018, ARYZTA, a global food business with a leadership position in speciality bakery, completed a capital increase by way of a rights offering structured as a volume underwriting in the amount of approximately CHF 900 million. 97.4% of the shareholders of ARYZTA exercised their subscription rights in the rights offering. The new shares not subscribed were placed in the market. The banking syndicate comprised BofA Merrill Lynch and UBS as Process Banks and Joint Global Coordinators, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and HSBC Bank plc as additional Joint Global Coordinators and Crédit Agricole CIB, Mizuho International plc and Rabobank as Joint Bookrunners. Bär & Karrer acted as legal adviser to the syndicate banks in this transaction. The team included Thomas U. Reutter, Michael Trippel, Alexander von Jeinsen, Annette Weber, Carlo Hunter and Manuela Cassano (all Capital Markets), Dieter Dubs (Listed Companies/Takeover Law) as well as Susanne Schreiber and Lukas Scherer (both Tax).

The owners of Briner AG Winterthur sold the company. Briner is a leading family-owned trading and service company operating in the fields of construction services, steel services, supply systems and building services as well as heating and energy systems.

GfK has sold four global divisions (Customer Experience, Experience Innovation, Health and Public Affairs) to Ipsos. The sale included GfK's respective businesses in 25 countries.

On 14 September 2018, the Federal Council extended the transition period for the reporting of derivative transactions by small non-financial counterparties (NFC-) until 1 January 2024 under the Financial Market Infrastructure Act (FMIA). The amendment to the Financial Market...

The Swiss National Council approves the proposed tax reform package! On 12 September 2018 the larger chamber of parliament adopted the proposal of the Economic Affairs and Taxation Committee of the Council of States on the Federal Act on Tax Reform and AHV Financing (formerly Tax Proposal 17), which is largely in line with the legislative bill adopted by the Council of States, the smaller chamber of parliament. Although slight differences regarding the capital contribution principle remain to be settled, the majority of member of the National Council sees the adopted text of the bill as a viable compromise.

In a recent decision 6B_689/2016 of 14 August 2018, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held that the failure to disclose adequately retrocessions may constitute an act of criminal mismanagement. After a short summary of the legal framework governing the disclosure of retrocessions, the present briefing analyses this decision and its practical impact in particular for Swiss financial institutions dealing with external asset managers.

Waterland Private Equity invested in Tineo AG after the carve-out from Quickline Holding AG. Tineo is an integrated enterprise solution provider of data centres, glass-fiber connections, high-speed internet and VoIP services with state-of-the-art infrastructure

Bär & Karrer has announced the election of Ruth Bloch-Riemer, Daniel Raun and Philippe Seiler to the firm's partnership. The appointment is effective as of 1 January 2019.

On 28 September 2018, Swiss Prime Site, the largest publicly listed real estate investment company in Switzerland, completed a capital increase by way of a rights offering to its shareholders in the amount of approximately CHF 320 million. 97,7% of the shareholders of Swiss Prime Site exercised their subscription rights in the rights offering. The remaining new shares not subscribed were placed in the market. The offer price was set at CHF 74.00 per share. Credit Suisse and UBS Investment acted as Joint Global Coordinators, J.P. Morgan and Zürcher Kantonalbank acted as Joint Bookrunners.

Nestlé Holdings, Inc. completed an offering of USD 1,000,000,000 3.100% Notes due 2021, USD 1,500,000,000 3.350% Notes due 2023, USD 900,000,000 3.500% Notes due 2025, USD 1,250,000,000 3.625% Notes due 2028, USD 1,250,000,000 3.900% Notes due 2038 and USD 2,100,000,000 4.000% Notes due 2048. The notes were offered and sold by the Joint Bookrunners in the United States in reliance on Rule 144A and in transactions outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. Each series of notes is guaranteed by Nestlé S.A.

SIG Combibloc, a leading provider of aseptic carton packaging solutions for the food and beverage industry, successfully priced its IPO and listed its shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange, where trading commenced on 28 September 2018. With a market capitalization of CHF 3.6 billion and a generating total gross proceeds of CHF 1.5 billion, this is considered as the largest IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange in the last years. In connection with the IPO, SIG Combibloc Group Holdings S.A., the holding company of SIG Combibloc Group, migrated its legal seat and the place of management of the company from Luxembourg to the Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland by way of a cross-border relocation and thereby became a stock corporation governed by Swiss law prior to the first day of trading. Bär & Karrer advises SIG Combibloc Group as Issuer and Onex as Selling Shareholder in this transaction. The team includes Thomas U. Reutter, Sandro Fehlmann, Daniel Raun, Alexander von Jeinsen, Manuela Cassano and Carlo Hunter (all Capital Markets), Urs Kägi, Roland Truffer and Annina Hammer (all Corporate), Michael Rohrer (Notary), Dieter Dubs (Listed Companies), Laura Widmer and Fanny Sutter (both Employment), Ralph Malacrida and Micha Schilling (both Financing), as well as Susanne Schreiber, Daniel Lehmann, Cyrill Diefenbacher and Hanna Brozzo (all Tax).

Aduno Group has increased its participation in Swiss payment solutions specialist Accarda AG from 30% to 100% following an auction process for the acquisition of the 70% stake from Maus Frères SA.

E. Schubiger & Cie. AG sold its weaving mill site in Uznach, Switzerland to Fortimo Group AG. The development project that will be realized in and around the historic factory building comprises 130 rental and condominium apartments, 6,000 sqm of office and retail area and as well as 280 parking spaces. Bär & Karrer advised E. Schubiger & Cie. as seller in this transaction. The team included Corrado Rampini and Oliver Rüdlinger (both real estate).

The owners of Astes4 SA, a company based in Balerna, Switzerland, which is engaged in development, production and sales of patented automated sorting solutions for sheet metal laser processing machines, sold their interests in the company to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. Mitsubishi Electric is active in the manufacture, marketing and sales of electrical and electronic equipment used in information processing and communications, space development and satellite communications, consumer electronics, industrial technology, energy, transportation and building equipment. By acquiring Astes4, Mitsubishi Electric will further strengthen its lineup of automation systems together with sorting solutions for sheet metal laser processing machines to provide its valued customers with integrated solutions that require less manual loading, unloading and sorting to realize higher productivity and efficiency. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor of the Sellers of Astes4 SA in this transaction. The team included Paolo Bottini and Edoardo Buzzi (both M&A).

On 23 July 2018, Constellium Valais SA, a company of the Constellium group engaged in the aluminium plate and extrusions businesses for industry, aerospace and transportation applications, successfully completed the sale of its aluminium rolling business assets in Sierre, Switzerland, to Novelis Switzerland SA for EUR 200 million. The assets, consisting of real estate, machinery and equipment, were previously leased by Constellium Valais to Novelis Switzerland and both parties will continue to operate in Sierre following the transaction. Concurrently with the asset sale, Constellium Valais contributed the Sierre site's shared infrastructure to a newly established 50-50 joint venture with Novelis Switzerland. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to Constellium Valais in this transaction. The team included Peter Hsu, Daniel Flühmann, Thomas Rohde, Urs Kägi, Daniel Küpfer, Marcel Züger, Annina Hammer, Tiffany Ender and Matthias Tanner (all Corporate), Corrado Rampini, Charles Gschwind and Grégory Pauli (all Real Estate), Mani Reinert (Competition), Laura Widmer (Employment), Ruth Bloch-Riemer (Pension), Raima Sherifoska (Notarial Services) as well as Nadja Jaisli Kull and Kaspar Projer.

On 20 June 2018, the Cantonal Bank of Basel, which already holds 77.52% of the share capital and the voting rights of Bank Cler Ltd., published the preannouncement for a public tender offer for all publicly held bearer shares of Bank Cler, which is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Subsequently, Bank Cler concluded a transaction agreement with the Cantonal Bank of Basel regarding the public tender offer. The Cantonal Bank of Basel offers CHF 52 per share of Bank Cler. Taking into consideration the results of the Fairness Opinion of an independent Expert, the board of directors of Bank Cler recommends to its shareholders to accept the offer. Bär & Karrer advises Bank Cler in connection with this transaction. The team of Bär & Karrer includes Urs Brügger, Dieter Dubs, Fabienne Perlini and Marc Poltéra (all M&A).

On 11 May 2016, the French tax authorities requested administrative assistance from the Swiss Federal Tax Administration. The request was made based on lists containing several thousand UBS Switzerland AG account numbers which are or were held by persons presumed to be French residents for tax purposes. The French tax authorities were asking for Switzerland to provide names and dates of birth of the persons connected to the accounts as well as the account balances. UBS Switzerland AG (which the Federal Administrative Court ("FAC") had granted party status in its judgment A-4974/2016 of 25 October 2016) and private individuals directly affected lodged appeals with the FAC against the Federal Tax Administration’s final decisions, which were issued on 9 February 2018.

PSP Swiss Property sold a commercial property in Petit-Lancy, Geneva. The property at the Av. des Morgines 8/10 (approx. 14'000 m2 of rentable space) was sold for CHF 55 million to an affiliate company of Epic Suisse AG.

BZ Bank Aktiengesellschaft, through its acquisition company LEMRO AG, purchased the United Grinding Group from Körber Beteiligungen GmbH. The United Grinding Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of precision grinding machines.

Idorsia Ltd successfully placed 11,912,000 new shares by way of an accelerated bookbuilding in a private placement with institutional investors. The placed shares are sourced from the company's existing authorized share capital and the pre-emptive rights of the existing shareholders have been excluded. The offer price was set at CHF 25.62 per share. Additionally, Idorsia successfully placed CHF 200 million of senior unsecured convertible bonds due 2024 in a private placement with institutional investors.

Vontobel Holding AG successfully completed the placement of CHF 450 million perpetual additional tier 1 subordinated bonds. The additional tier 1 subordinated bonds were issued at 100% of their nominal amount with an interest of 2.625% until 2023. The proceeds of this capital market transaction will be mainly used to finance the acquisition of Notenstein La Roche Private Bank.

Swiss Re Ltd (Swiss Re) has completed an offering of USD 500 million, 6-year senior exchangeable notes, which may be stock settled at the option of Swiss Re or may be exchanged at the option of noteholders for registered shares of Swiss Re, unless Swiss Re elects to settle the exchange of notes in cash. Swiss Re has purchased call options on its own shares, which allow it to settle an exchange by noteholders without issuing new shares.

Klingelnberg Ltd, a global leader in developing and manufacturing premium machine tools for bevel gear and cylindrical gear machining and precision measuring centers for gears, successfully priced its IPO and listed its shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Trading in the shares started on 20 June 2018. The shares of Klingelnberg were priced at CHF 53 per share, near the upper end of the price range, corresponding to a base offer of CHF 241 million. The offer price implies a market capitalization of approx. CHF 470 million leading to a free float of 56.6% (assuming full exercise of the over-allotment option), whereas the remaining 43.4% remain with the Klingelnberg family as anchor shareholder.

Summer Capital, an Asia based investment management company, has acquired, by means of an affiliate, all shares of Swiss Education Group Holding AG, the holding company of the SEG group, a leading hospitality management education group that operates several schools in Switzerland.

The software company SAP bought all shares of Coresystems FSM AG. Coresystems FSM develops and runs workforce-management software based on a Crowd Service platform which uses artificial intelligence and allows finding available field-service technicians in real time.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that it further strengthens its M&A and banking practice with new partners Martin Anderson and Frédéric Bétrisey. They will join the firm with their team of associates as of 1 August 2018.

XO Holding AG sold Priora FM SA, a leading Swiss facility management company, to ENGIE Energy Services International S.A., a subsidiary of ENGIE SA, which is listed on the Euronext exchange in Paris and Brussels. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to XO Holding. The team included Ralph Malacrida, Faton Aliu (both M&A), Mani Reinert (Competition), and Daniel Lehmann (Tax).

Andermatt Swiss Alps Ltd has successfully completed a transaction comprising a real estate portfolio sale to Taurus Andermatt Ltd, a newly established real estate joint venture. The portfolio consists of 25 properties located in the Holiday Village Andermatt Reuss in Andermatt (Switzerland). Andermatt Swiss Alps will participate in future sales profits exceeding the list price of the properties.

This morning, Sika and Saint-Gobain have announced the signing of agreements which terminates all disputes around the purchase by Saint-Gobain of a controlling stake in Sika dated 5 December 2014.

Vyaire Medical, Inc., a global leader in respiratory care, completed the acquisition of all shares in imtmedical AG, a Swiss company, which is a developer, manufacturer and distributor of mechanical ventilation products.

Polyphor Ltd, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative antibiotics and other specialty pharma products, successfully priced its IPO and listed its shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Trading in the shares started on 15 May 2018. The shares were priced at the upper end of the price range, resulting in gross proceeds of CHF 165 million. The IPO of Polyphor is considered the largest biotech IPO in Switzerland in over 10 years and one of the top three in Europe within the last three years in terms of proceeds raised by an issuer in order to finance the development of its pipeline.

CEVA Logistics, one of the world's leading third-party logistics companies, successfully priced its IPO and listed its shares on the SIX Swiss Exchange, where trading commenced on 4 May 2018. With a market capitalization of CHF 1.6 billion and generating gross proceeds of CHF 821 million, this is so far considered as the largest IPO on the SIX Swiss Exchange for 2018. In addition, CMA CGM, the third largest container shipping group in the world, has committed to make a strategic cornerstone investment in CEVA Logistics by purchasing CHF 379 million of mandatory convertible securities which will convert into shares of CEVA Logistics once certain regulatory approvals have been obtained. Simultaneously with the IPO, CEVA Holdings, the former holding company of the CEVA group, migrated from the Marshall Islands to Switzerland by way of a cross-border merger with CEVA Logistic as the surviving company.

Centrais Elétricas de Sergipe S.A. (CELSE) has successfully issued bonds for approx. USD 1 billion equivalent in local currency at a fixed, long-term rate in international capital markets. The innovative bond issue is guaranteed by the Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV), the export credit agency of Switzerland. The bonds are part of a financial package to finance the development, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a thermoelectric power plant by CELSE in the state of Sergipe in the northeast region of Brazil. Besides the bond issue for approx. USD 1 billion, the transaction includes a USD 200 million loan from the International Finance Corporation and a financial package of the Inter-American Development Bank in the amount of approx. USD 300 million. Once operational expected for in 2020, CELSE will sell electricity to 26 distribution companies in Brazil, becoming the largest and most efficient thermoelectric plant in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On 21 September 2017, an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the SIX Swiss Exchange listed lastminute.com N.V. authorized the board of directors to repurchase up to 33 1/3% of the company's share capital by means of a partial self-tender offer. The resolution adopted under Dutch law contained detailed information, among others regarding the period for which the authorization is granted, the manner in which the shares are repurchased and the price range within which the offer price must be set.

Vyaire Medical, Inc., a global leader in respiratory care, acquired all shares in the Acutronic Medical Systems group, a Switzerland and Germany-based leader in the design and manufacture of neonatal ventilation equipment.

Porterhouse Group AG, a family owned investment holding company based in Lucerne, has been accepted by the creditors’ committee to acquire the clinic group Paracelsus. The clinic group Paracelsus is a private hospital operator with 40 facilities in 22 locations. Completion is subject to the approval of the insolvency plans by the creditors’ committees and merger control approval by the German Federal Cartel Office.

Clearstream International S.A., a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse, acquired all shares in the London based Swisscanto Funds Centre Limited. The deal allows Clearstream to expand its services in the funds space with the management of distribution contracts and data processing. The purchase agreement was signed on 23 April 2018. The transaction is expected to close within the third quarter of 2018, subject to approval of the relevant authorities.

Bär & Karrer was awarded "M&A deal of the year" on the IFLR European Awards in London last night. Based on a comprehensive analysis, Bär & Karrer received the award for the M&A Deal of the Year for the merger of ChemChina and Syngenta. The deal is considered as one of the largest all cash transactions ever. Bär & Karrer acted in this transaction as adviser to Syngenta. The team was led by Rolf Watter, Partner and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions.

Copernicus Group is a financial service provider in the canton Ticino for institutional and private UHNWI clients, offering also family office and wealth planning services. The group consists of Copernicus Asset Management SA and Copernicus Wealth Management and Services SA. On 20 March 2018, Copernicus Asset Management started operating as a fully licensed Swiss asset manager of collective investment schemes.

On 3 April 2018, Allianz Suisse Versicherungs-Gesellschaft AG has acquired all shares in DAS Rechtsschutz-Versicherungs-AG. Through this acquisition Allianz Swiss becomes one of the largest providers of legal protection insurance in the Swiss market.

The Danish private equity company Axcel has acquired all shares in Invima AB, a Swedish corporation, with its subsidiaries including two Swiss subsidiaries. Under the IsaDora brand, Invima AB is one of the Nordic region's leading manufacturers and distributors of cosmetics, with sales in approximately 5,000 stores in forty different countries. The seller Ingvar Vigstrand with family will remain as a minority owner in the new group.

XO Holding AG sold Priora AG, a leading Swiss project developer and general / total contractor (GC/TC), to Eiffage Construction SA, a French company forming part of the Euronext listed Eiffage group.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce Prof. Dr. Andrea Opel as a new counsel to the firm. She joined the tax team in Zurich on 1 March 2018. Andrea Opel studied Law at the University of Basel and then worked as academic assistant before completing her doctorate in 2008. She habilitated in 2015 at the University of Basel. Besides her counsel role at Bär & Karrer, Andrea Opel continues to act as professor for tax law at the University of Lucerne. She is a member of the board of the Institute of Business Law at University of Lucerne as well as a member of the Swiss Association of Tax Law Professors.

Orior AG successfully placed 592,499 new shares by way of an accelerated bookbuilding in a private placement with institutional investors. The placed shares are sourced from the company's existing authorized share capital and the pre-emptive rights of the existing shareholders have been excluded.

On 1 March 2018, financial technology innovator HQLAx together with Credit Suisse and ING completed the first live securities lending transaction using R3's Corda blockchain platform. The transaction included a basket swap between Credit Suisse and ING of value EUR 25 million using the HQLAx Corda-based collateral lending application. During the transaction, Credit Suisse and ING transferred legal ownership of Dutch and German government securities on the platform using HQLAx Digital Collateral Records (DCRs) while the underlying securities remained static.

Novartis Finance S.A. completed the placement of EUR 750,000,000 Guaranteed Notes due 2023, EUR 750,000,000 Guaranteed Notes due 2030 and EUR 750,000,000 Guaranteed Notes due 2038. The 2023 Notes were issued at 99.655% of their principal amount with an interest of 0.500% and will mature on 14 August 2023 at their nominal value. The 2030 Notes were issued at 99.957% of their principal amount with an interest of 1.375% and will mature on 14 August 2030. The 2038 Notes were issued at 99.217% of their principal amount with an interest of 1.700% and will mature on 14 August 2038. The Notes are guaranteed by Novartis AG. They have been provisionally admitted to trading at the SIX Swiss Exchange and are expected to be listed there as well.

EGS Beteiligungen AG (EGSB) has acquired all shares in Bauwerk Boen AG held by ZM Opportunity II L.P. (a fund advised by Patrimonium Private Equity) and is thus majority shareholder of the company. The Bauwerk Boen Group is a leading manufacturer of premium parquet flooring.

Tamedia AG announces an all cash public tender offer for all publicly held shares of Goldbach Group AG listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Tamedia offers CHF 35.50 per share of Goldbach Group, representing a transaction amount of around CHF 216 million. The board of directors of Goldbach Group recommends to its shareholders to accept the offer. >

On 30 November 2017, AON Schweiz AG, a leading global service provider for risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokers as well as adviser on human resources, has acquired 100% of the shareholding in Unidelta AG, an all-branch insurance broker based in Rapperswil, Switzerland. Unidelta is specialized in risk management and has particular designed services in personal injury management.

The owners of AWK Group AG sold the company to Deutsche Private Equity GmbH, an independent German investment company. AWK Group is one of the largest independent Swiss consulting firms for information technology and digitalization.

KKR, a leading global investment firm, together with other investors, has closed an investment to increase its minority stake in GetYourGuide AG. GetYourGuide is the world's largest online platform for tours, activities and attractions and offers over 31,000 activities in nearly 7,300 destinations.

Valora Holding AG completed a capital increase raising net proceeds of approximately CHF 166 million. The capital increase was executed as an "at market" rights offering. The offer price for the new shares was determined following a bookbuilding process for the shares not taken up by existing shareholders. Valora will use the proceeds from the capital increase to refinance its recent acquisition of BackWerk, to finance the expansion of production capacities, to refinance existing capital market instruments and for general corporate purposes. Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan acted as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners.

On 29 August 2017, Talbot Holding AG, an entity controlled by investment company Actium AG, launched an all cash public tender offer for all listed shares in ImmoMentum AG, a Swiss real estate company listed on BX Berne eXchange invested primarily in residential real estate. With the satisfaction of all offer conditions, the offer was successfully settled on 10 November 2017. As a result, Talbot Holding holds 99.67% of the voting rights and share capital of ImmoMentum.

On 3 October 2017, Dr. Thomas Muhr and Muhr und Bender KG sold their entire stake in Feintool International Holding AG (Feintool) amounting to 616,500 shares of Feintool corresponding to 13.81% of the total share capital of Feintool. The shares were sold to institutional investors through an accelerated bookbuilding process led by Bank Berenberg.

Orior AG successfully completed the placement of its CHF 110 million inaugural bond issue. The bonds carry a coupon of 0.625% and will mature on 26 September 2023 at par. They have been provisionally admitted to trading at the SIX Swiss Exchange and are expected to be listed there as well. The issue was lead-managed by UBS AG and Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Valora has signed an agreement to acquire BackWerk from Swedish financial investor EQT. BackWerk is a German-based food service company with over 340 locations mainly in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Completion is subject to merger control approval.

Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited, an investment company based in Singapore, sold its stake in Dufry AG through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary to the HNA Group. Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to Temasek. The team included Thomas U. Reutter, Roland Truffer, Annette Weber and Rebecca Schori (all M&A).

The global power leader Cummins Inc. announced that it successfully completed the formation of a joint venture with the power management company Eaton, concerning the design, manufacture, sale and support of automated transmissions for heavy-duty and medium-duty commercial vehicles (named Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies). As part of the transaction, the Swiss company Eaton Cummins Automated Transmission Technologies Sàrl was formed earlier this year and Cummins acquired a 50% participation on 31 July 2017.

Colosseum Dental Group, a fully owned portfolio company of Jacobs Holding AG, has acquired 70% of OdontoSalute, an Italian dental clinics group providing dental treatments of any kind through a national network. Colosseum is a leading provider of private dental care in the Scandinavian area, which is now operating in more than 150 clinics in Norway, Sweden, UK, Switzerland, Italy and Denmark and aiming at building a leading pan-European dentistry group. With this acquisition, Colosseum further expands into continental Europe and becomes one of the leading dentistry clinic operators in Italy.

The owners of Rotronic AG, which develops and manufactures measuring technologies, sold the company to funds managed by Battery Ventures. Bär & Karrer acted as legal adviser to the sellers in this transaction. The team included Christoph Neeracher, Thomas Rohde, Philippe Seiler, Yves Suter and Sarah Nyfeler (all M&A), Susanne Schreiber and Cyrill Diefenbacher (both tax) as well as Corrado Rampini and Charles Gschwind (both real estate).

On 13 June 2017, CliniHolding S.à r.l. (CliniSciences) acquired the entire stake in BIOTREND Chemicals AG (BIOTREND) from its founders. BIOTREND is a leading distributor of high-quality reagents and biochemicals for the life science research community in Switzerland, Germany and USA.

Banque Cantonale de Genève successfully completed the placement of CHF 90 million perpetual additional tier 1 subordinated bonds and CHF 110 million tier 2 subordinated bonds due 2027. The additional tier 1 subordinated bonds were issued at 100% of their nominal amount with an interest of 2.00%. The tier 2 subordinated bonds were issued at 100.024% of their nominal amount with an interest of 1.125% and will mature on 28 June 2027 at their nominal amount. Both bonds have been provisionally admitted to trading at the SIX Swiss Exchange and are expected to be listed there as well. UBS AG, Zürcher Kantonalbank and Banque Cantonale de Genève acted as Joint Lead Managers.

Bär & Karrer is pleased to announce that partner Tina Wüstemann, who heads the private clients team, won the title 'Best in trusts & estates' at the Europe Women in Business Law Awards ceremony on 15 June 2017 in London. This is the second time Tina Wüstemann wins this award. In addition, partner and dispute resolution specialist Nadja Jaisli Kull was shortlisted as 'Rising Star Litigation'.

Groupe Acrotec SA, a high precision manufacturer of small components and specialised service provider for the watchmaking and industrial sectors, has completed the placement of CHF 70 million 3.75% bonds due 2023. The bonds were issued at 100% of their principal amount and, unless previously redeemed or repurchased and cancelled, will mature on 14 June 2023 at 100% of their principal amount. The bonds are guaranteed by a number of subsidiaries of the issuer, among them Finacrotec SA, which as substitute guarantor fulfills certain requirements under the listing rules of SIX Swiss Exchange in the place of the issuer. Credit Suisse AG acted as Lead Manager and Bookrunner.

Through a series of transactions which were completed for the most part in early June, UBS AG and other UBS group companies transferred group shared services functions, which are mainly based in Switzerland, in the UK and the US, to UBS Business Solutions AG and other related service companies. UBS Business Solutions AG now operates as the group service company of UBS and is a wholly owned subsidiary of UBS Group AG. The implementation of UBS Business Solutions AG enables UBS to maintain operational continuity of critical services should a recovery or resolution occur. It represents an important step towards improved resolvability, and is in line with global guidance defined by the Financial Stability Board.

Bär & Karrer announces that Christoph Suter has been elected as partner to lead the tax practice in Geneva as of 1 October 2017.

On 22 May 2017, SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX) listed Clariant AG and Huntsman Corporation, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), announced that their Boards of Directors approved a definite agreement to combine in a cross-border merger of equals through an all-stock transaction. The combination of both companies will create a leading global specialty chemical company with a combined enterprise value of approximately USD 20 billion at announcement.

CVC Fund VI has agreed to acquire an 80% stake in Breitling, a leading independent, family-owned manufacturer of Swiss luxury watches. As part of the transaction, Théodore Schneider will re-invest for a 20% shareholding in Breitling. Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities. Bär & Karrer acted as Swiss legal advisor to CVC in this transaction. The team included Christoph Neeracher, Luca Jagmetti, Beda Kaufmann, Philippe Seiler, Yves Suter, Charles Gschwind, Célia Jimenez, Sabrina Schalcher and Raphael Egger (all M&A), Till Spillmann and Adrian Koller (both Financing), Susanne Schreiber and Laurent Riedweg (both Tax), Markus Wang and Jonas Bornhauser (both IP) as well as Mani Reinert (Competition).

Bär & Karrer successfully defends the interests of its long standing client EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG in a CHF 1 billion ad hoc-arbitration proceeding in Zurich instituted by a German entrepreneur four years ago. In its final award, the tribunal dismissed the plaintiff's claim in its entirety and awarded Bär & Karrer's client full compensation for its legal costs. Bär & Karrer's team led by Matthew Reiter and included Cinzia Catelli, Alain Grieder, Roman Huber and David Liatowitsch.

Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd, owned by EQT VII, a fund of the private equity group EQT, and the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation, has entered into a binding agreement on the sale of its GTD business division (GTA) to Hotelbeds Group, owned by a consortium led by Cinven und Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB). The shareholders of Kuoni Group will roll-over a large portion of their participation in GTA into the combined Hotelbeds/GTA business and upon completion, will hold a substantial minority stake in the combined Hotelbeds/GTA business. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including merger control filings and approvals.

On 7 March 2017 Hellman & Friedman and GIC acquired Allfunds Bank, S.A. from Intesa Sanpaolo Group, Santander Group, General Atlantic and Warburg Pincus. Allfunds Bank is a leading financial technology business. The transaction is valued at EUR 1.8 billion and is subject to customary closing conditions. Bär & Karrer acted as Swiss legal advisor to Hellman & Friedman and GIC. The team included Eric Stupp and Stephanie Walter (all Banking & Insurance). Freshfields acted as lead counsel to Hellman & Friedman and GIC.

Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm, has entered into an agreement to acquire approximately 35% shareholding in the Avaloq Group AG. Avaloq is an internationally leading FinTech company based in Switzerland. With its integrated business process outsourcing services, Avaloq is the only independent provider for the financial industry that does both, developing and operating its own software. Closing of the transaction is expected in the second quarter of 2017.

On 28 February 2017, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Chemtrade Logistics Inc. (Chemtrade) announced an agreement under which Mitsui will acquire the entire stake in Chemtrade Aglobis AG (Aglobis), subsidiary entirely owned by Chemtrade. Aglobis is a leading distributor of sulphur and sulphuric acid in Europe. The transaction is subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

Today, Lonza and Sanofi announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership to build and operate a large-scale mammalian cell culture facility for monoclonal antibody production in Visp, Switzerland. The large-scale facility will be established through a joint venture with an initial investment of around CHF 290 million shared equally between Lonza and Sanofi. The initial construction phase of the facility will commence in 2017, pending necessary regulatory approvals. The facility is expected to be fully operational by 2020. The partnership provides both parties with substantial flexibility by using an innovative setup enabling them to optimize biologics production capacity across the whole industry.

Bär & Karrer Advises Valora on the Acquisition of Pretzel Baron

Earlier this month Mergermarket published its review on the 2016's most prolific individual DACH legal advisors. We are pleased to be ranked with Christoph Neeracher and Luca Jagmetti on the top of the table on rank one and two. Both are associated for 2016 with 11 completed deals and a total value of EUR 3 bn. The Mergermarket Profiler App lists Christoph Neeracher in total with 54 deals and Luca Jagmetti with 35 transactions.

Bär & Karrer Advises Priora on Acquisition of Large Minority Stake in Galenica

Bär & Karrer Advises Sanofi on Exchange Transaction with Boehringer Ingelheim

Bär & Karrer Advises Alpine Select on Public Share Buy-back. On 10 January 2017, Alpine Select Ltd, Zug, invited to an extraordinary shareholders' meeting which will take place on 7 February 2017. At this shareholders' meeting, the shareholders will, among other things, vote on a capital reduction through the cancellation of shares which have been repurchased under a share buy-back program at a fixed price.

Bär & Karrer Advises Pax Anlage on the Public Takeover Offer of Baloise