Weber & Co. Attorneys-at-Law

The firm: WEBER & CO. is a leading Austrian law firm. Its lawyers are highly specialised and committed to the highest standards of legal service and proficiency.

On the basis of this long-standing tradition, WEBER & CO. offers legal services in all areas relevant to businesses, with a focus on corporate & M&A, banking and finance, real estate and construction and litigation and arbitration.

The firm’s approach is creative and pragmatic, helping its clients to assess and effectively manage legal risks and to find practical solutions in the relevant legal, business and, when necessary, political environments.

WEBER & CO. has extensive experience of the legal management of projects in Austria and in foreign jurisdictions. Partners of the firm have written numerous articles and books on domestic and international business law, and they teach in leading European law schools. They are regularly consulted by the Austrian legislature on legislative matters.

Areas of practice
Arbitration: WEBER & CO. advises and represents domestic and foreign clients in international and Austrian arbitration proceedings, in particular under Vienna, ICC, UNCITRAL or DIS rules. Partners serve as arbitrators or chair arbitral tribunals. Services offered include arbitration agreements, pre-arbitral negotiations, the conduct of arbitral proceedings, advocacy at trial, as well as the challenge and enforcement of arbitral awards. Lawyers of the firm also appear before courts to prosecute or defend applications for interim measures in support of arbitration proceedings.

Banking and finance: In addition to financial regulation and capital market law, private debt finance advice is one of the main pillars of our corporate finance and banking practice. WEBER & CO. regularly advises borrowers and lenders on the structuring of syndicate loans and refinancings, acquisition and project financings and straight loan projects. A true area of specialization of our firm is the structuring and implementation of security structures under Austrian law. We are also regularly advising on bonded loan (Schuldscheindarlehen) transactions.

Capital markets: WEBER & CO. assists issuers and financial intermediaries in equity and debt financing in the capital markets (eg stock issues including IPOs and rights issues, secured and unsecured bond issues, high-yield bond and convertible bond issues, ABS and Tier 1 financing, hybrid and mezzanine financing). The firm’s services include the legal implementation, the international structuring of the product (eg via off shore facilities), the drafting of general terms and conditions for the securities, advice on regulatory matters, due diligence investigations, the drafting of private placement memoranda and prospectuses, the drafting of the legal documentation such as underwriting agreements, as well as support in selecting the stock exchange (in particular Vienna, Frankfurt, Luxembourg) and the preparation of road shows.

Financial regulation: WEBER & CO. has recognised experience in advising on the supervision and regulation of banks, insurance companies, investment firms, brokers, exchanges and clearing houses and supports in all areas supervised by the Austrian Financial Market Authority. The firm’s financial regulation practice encompasses the legal structuring of new and innovative products, regulatory capital, eg Basel III, the establishment of financial services businesses such as banks and insurance companies, and e-banking structures.

Litigation: WEBER & CO. has extensive experience in representing industrial clients, banks and insurance companies before civil and criminal courts, regulatory authorities, the European Commission, the European courts, and in arbitration proceedings. The main emphasis lies in complex disputes in commercial, criminal and corporate law matters. The firm provides investigations of economic crime or other violations of law, particularly where the integrity of board members has been called into question (forensic services).

M&A/corporate: WEBER & CO. is active across the whole range of corporate and mergers and acquisitions, including public takeovers, acquisition finance, management buyouts and buyins, as well as private equity and venture capital for Austrian and foreign corporate and financial institutions. Services include pre-acquisition restructuring, process planning and schedule coordination, legal due diligence reviews, labour law aspects, corporate structures, and merger clearance proceedings before the Austrian and EU authorities.

Real estate: WEBER & CO. offers real estate investors strategic assistance in all issues related to the acquisition, financing, and on-going administration of real estate. The firm regularly acts on behalf of listed real estate corporations, banks, insurance companies, investors, and developers and also assists domestic and foreign real estate funds in setting up fund structures and buying and selling real property located in Austria. Further, WEBER & CO. also assists clients on public construction law and construction law contracts.