The Legal 500

Within Geneva, Bär & Karrer AG is a second tier firm,

Bär & Karrer SA provides ‘very good quality, clear and helpful’ advice to clients including UBS, Credit Suisse and Bank Sarasin & Co. It advised the arrangers in a $3.5bn pre-export facility agreement for a borrower in steel products, and assisted a borrower in the oil and gas industry on a $2.8bn new facility. Regulatory expert Cédric Chapuis is recommended along with team head Christophe Buchwalder, who is strong in general finance and has particular expertise in debt financing.

Within Zurich, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

‘Top-tier firm’ Bär & Karrer AG gives ‘outstanding advice’ to domestic and international banks, insurers and other financial institutions. It acted for Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Holdings on Swiss regulatory and corporate matters relating to restructuring of Swiss and Asian private wealth management activities. It also advised Renova Group on closing a CHF2bn international refinancing. Other clients include Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Urs Brügger is ‘a market leader’ in financial regulatory matters, Thomas Reutter and Rolf Watter ‘think outside the box’ and have valuable ‘experience and seniority’. Other recommended individuals include Eric Stupp in general finance and Peter Hsu in insurance.

Within Capital markets, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG’s ‘excellent, very responsive’ team provides ‘in-depth know-how and experience’. It acted for ENEL Finance International on its bond issuance and for Swiss Prime Site on its CHF190m convertible bond placement. Other clients include Novartis, Credit Suisse and UBS. Thomas Reutter is ‘experienced, business-oriented and available’, and Ralph Malacrida is also recommended.

Within Dispute resolution, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG’s ‘brilliant and synergistic’ team represents clients in arbitrations, litigation and internal investigations, including cross-border proceedings. It acted for Areva in arbitration against Siemens and defended a leading Swiss pharmaceuticals company against an American competitor’s claim for damages based on an alleged violation of a manufacturing agreement. Other clients include ABB, Fiat, GlaxoSmithKline and UBS. Saverio Lembo in Geneva is recommended, as are Daniel Hochstrasser, Andreas Länzlinger and Matthew Reiter in Zurich.

Within EU, competition and WTO, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG acts for clients including UBS, SIX Group and FIAT, and has experience in assisting clients with investigations by the Swiss Competition Commission on cartels, vertical and horizontal co-operation, mergers and the abuse of dominant position. Key contact Mani Reinert is greatly recommended.

Within Insolvency and corporate recovery, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG’s ‘very good-quality’ team provides ‘excellent’ advice. It advised Renova as the largest shareholder in OC Oerlikon Corporation’s complex restructuring, and also represents Venetos Management. ‘Outstanding young lawyer’ Thomas Rohde leads the group, which also includes the well-respected Corrado Rampini.

Within Intellectual property, Bär & Karrer AG is a second tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG’s key clients include UEFA, FIAT and Mitsubishi. It advised Syngenta Crop Protection on IP aspects of the divestiture of its materials protection business to Lanxess Deutschland, and represented a client in arbitration concerning patent and process licensing agreements for power plant equipment. Michele Bernasconi, Daniel Hochstrasser and Markus Wang are recommended.

Within Geneva, Bär & Karrer AG is a second tier firm,

Bär & Karrer SA is ‘a small but growing force in Geneva’ and is well integrated with the firm’s other Swiss offices. Christophe Buchwalder and Cédric Chapuis are recommended in banking and finance, as is Saverio Lembo in contentious matters.

Within Zurich, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG’s ‘excellent’, ‘market-leading’ firm has ‘outstanding’ expertise across the gamut of sectors, with corporate, tax, real estate and insolvency being key areas of strength. Clients include Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Lloyds TSB. Corrado Rampini is recommended, along with Eric Stupp in banking, Rolf Watter in M&A and Thomas Rohde in insolvency.

Within Legal market overview,

The key players in the market remain the same, generally fielding larger and more well-rounded practices: these include Bär & Karrer AG, Baker & McKenzie Geneva, Homburger, Schellenberg Wittmer, Lenz & Staehelin and Niederer Kraft & Frey AG. Walder Wyss Ltd has had a successful year with many commenting on its growing strength.

Within Mergers and acquisitions, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG fields a very large team and its ‘excellent’ lawyers are ‘well versed in all aspects of M&A transactions’, and enjoy a reputation as ‘the deal makers in Zurich’. The team acts for clients such as Novartis, Swissgrid, UBS and Credit Suisse, and advised the owners of Landis+Gyr on the $2.3bn sale of all shares and other securities to Toshiba. It also represented the Metso Group on buying BP Recycling Systems’ shredding business. Corrado Rampini and Dieter Dubs in Zurich, and Cédric Chapuis in Geneva, are recommended, as are Zug-based Michael Trippel and Christoph Neeracher, who is ‘extremely experienced in M&A matters’ and ‘very strong in negotiations’.

Within Private banking, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer SA’s ‘excellent’ team couples ‘fast response times’ with ‘insightful, commercially aware’ advice. It has experience in high-value divorce proceedings, succession matters, asset tracing, and advising individuals on tax matters, contracts and relocation to Switzerland. Tina Wüstemann heads the group, which has teams in Zurich, Lugano and Zug.

Within Public sector, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG acts for clients including Swissgrid. It has defended the City of Geneva in public procurement litigation before the Supreme Federal Court. Michele Bernasconi in Zurich, Cesare Jermini in Lugano and Saverio Lembo in Geneva are all recommended.

Within Real estate and construction, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

‘Top quality in all aspects’, Bär & Karrer AG mainly acts on transactions for clients including Implenia, Mobimo Holding and AXA. It advised Sulzer on the sale of its real estate portfolio and development units to Implenia. Zurich-based Corrado Rampini is recommended, as is Christophe Buchwalder in Geneva and Cesare Jermini in Lugano.

Within TMT, Bär & Karrer AG is a first tier firm,

Bär & Karrer SA regularly advises clients on outsourcing projects, as well as M&A and joint ventures in the IT and media industries. Recent instructions include acting in an ICC arbitration regarding media rights; and drafting joint venture agreements. Michele Bernasconi is the key contact in the six-partner team, which resides in Geneva and Lugano.

Within Tax, Bär & Karrer AG is a second tier firm,

Bär & Karrer AG is ‘professional, responsive’, and displays ‘very good industry knowledge’. This five-partner team assisted a client on successfully negotiating double tax treaty issues with the communal, cantonal and federal tax administrations. Robert Waldburger is ‘an outstanding tax adviser’, and practice head Raoul Stocker has ‘good technical knowledge in Swiss and international tax law, and is very successful in negotiating with tax authorities’.