On August 22, 2023, Novartis (SIX: NOVN) announced that it had agreed to transfer its real estate and certain infrastructure-related assets and services pertaining to the Life Science Park Rhine Valley in Stein,

Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, to the industrial park operator Getec. Currently, almost 2,000 employees work in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on the Life Science Park Rhine Valley.

Upon completion of the transaction, the management and further development of the life science park will be taken over by Getec. The transfer is expected to be completed by the end of 2023 and 25 employees will move from Novartis to Getec.

Homburger advises Novartis alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on the Swiss law and tax aspects of the transaction. The Homburger team is led by Daniel Häusermann (Corporate / M&A, Real Estate) and includes Olivier Bühlmann, Daniel Kuhn (both Corporate / M&A, Real Estate), Stefan Gäumann (Real Estate), Oriana Schöni (Corporate / M&A), Reto Heuberger, Peter Müller and Philippe Weber (all Tax), Jürg Frick (Financing and Investment Products), Gregor Bühler and Marc Bircher (both Employment), Andri Hess (IP / IT, Healthcare / Life Sciences), Allegra Arnold and Katharina Bratvogel (both Competition, Regulatory), as well as other professionals.