About

Bradley Chait is the sole legal financial advisor for all of OSRAM’s subsidiaries, a position the company has created when preparing its de-merger from Siemens in 2012. Chait advises the CFO comprehensively on all finance law matters, including external financings with banks, among them the group’s new global syndicated loan. In addition, he covers all financial aspects of ongoing commercial and project financings, and in a globally operating company such as OSRAM, ‘there isn’t one single repetitive day’. Unsurprisingly, the de-merger from Siemens has been a highlight, including the ‘necessary preparations in order to set up a company as a legally independent entity’. OSRAM, historically financed through Siemens, had to develop internal structures in order to be ‘fully operational from its first day of listing on the stock exchange’. Chait had to consider issues such as cash flows and determine the strategy of the highest possible risk minimisation, a situation where ‘a lawyer acts as part of a commercially and economically operating team’. Chait has mastered this challenge, partly drawing on previous experience with large scale company transactions such as his work in the legal finance department of the then newly created telecoms joint venture between Siemens and Nokia, namely Nokia Siemens Networks. Chait has played a vital role in the inception of the new legal entity OSRAM, something he describes as ‘immensely fulfilling’. He enjoys the job most when he manages to place his company in ‘the best position possible to negotiate with banks’. When working with outside counsel, he emphasises the role of the in-house department: ‘If you take the time to precisely outline all parameters, a firm is usually able to meet requirements on time and in a commercial manner’.