The Legal 500

Within Zurich, Walder Wyss Ltd is a second tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd’s ‘quick, competent and professional’ team acts for clients such as UBS, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank. It advised Credit Suisse as arranger of a CHF400m financing deal granted to a Swiss leasing company, and acted for HSBC on a CHF500m trade receivables securitisation for Styron Group. Practice head Luc Defferrard is recommended, along with the ‘particularly good’ Markus Pfenninger and the ‘commercially aware and user-friendly’ Johannes Bürgi, who is ‘first choice’ for many clients.

Within Capital markets, Walder Wyss Ltd is a first tier firm,

‘First-choice firm’ Walder Wyss Ltd’s ‘highly responsive’ team combines ‘good business practice know-how’ with ‘good solutions and very good value for money’. It acted for Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale on various mortgage bonds and public sector debentures worth €2.75bn. Other clients include UBS, Barclays Bank, Bank Vontobel and Credit Suisse. Luc Defferrard’s team includes Enrico Friz, who has ‘an excellent network in the sector’, and Johannes Bürgi, who is ‘a real leader’ in the field.

Within Dispute resolution, Walder Wyss Ltd is a second tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd is ‘clearly top in insolvency-related disputes’, particularly international and cross-border matters, and it recently advised a consortium of banks including Citibank, Citigroup and UniCredit/HVB in a CHF350m insolvency litigation. Peter Straub, Magda Streuli-Youssef, Dieter Hofmann and Marc Veit are recommended.

Within EU, competition and WTO, Walder Wyss Ltd is a first tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd’s ‘top-drawer’ team advises blue-chip clients in sectors such as automotives, cosmetics, telecoms and IT on a range of antitrust, competition and merger proceedings before the Swiss authorities. Practice head Reto Jacobs and Hans Rudolf Trüeb are recommended.

Within Insolvency and corporate recovery, Walder Wyss Ltd is a second tier firm,

Christoph Stäubli leads the team at Walder Wyss Ltd, which acts for clients including Citibank, UniCredit and Chemtura. It represented a consortium of banks against a clawback action by the liquidator of the Swissair estate, and acted for Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander on the collection of Swiss assets.

Within Intellectual property, Walder Wyss Ltd is a first tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd’s ‘excellent’ team ‘really understands the client’s business’, and successfully represented Denner in a legal dispute with Nespresso regarding the former’s sale of coffee capsules and products. Other clients include clients include Alcon, Microsoft and Hugo Boss, and it also represents several Swiss watchmakers in trade mark infringement and counterfeiting matters. Team head Magda Streuli-Youssef and Markus Frick are recommended.

Within Zurich, Walder Wyss Ltd is a second tier firm,

‘Solutions-driven’ Walder Wyss Ltd is ‘highly professional’, and has ‘profound business knowledge’. Its 27-partner team has strength in banking and finance, insolvency, dispute resolution, real estate and tax. Recommended partners include Luc Defferrard in banking and finance, Peter Straub in disputes, Mark Reutter in TMT and Magda Streuli-Youssef in IP.

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, Walder Wyss Ltd is a second tier firm,

The six-partner team at Walder Wyss Ltd is ‘creative and supportive’ with ‘quick response times’. It advised multiple sellers on the €350m sale of PharmaSwiss to Valeant and represented the shareholders of SVOX in the sale of their shares to Nuance. Other clients include Swisscom, UBS and Migros. The ‘very effective and commercial’ Urs Gnos and the ‘highly experienced’ Markus Vischer are the team co-heads.

Within Public sector, Walder Wyss Ltd is a first tier firm,

‘Second to none’, Walder Wyss Ltd’s ‘outstanding’ team ‘always meets expectations’, and acts for a large selection of high-profile clients including the Swiss Federation and Swiss Federal Railways. It has represented an EU financial institution in proceedings before the Federal Administrative Tribunal regarding an international securities lending and borrowing transaction. Practice head Hans Rudolf Trüeb is recommended.

Within Real estate and construction, Walder Wyss Ltd is a second tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd is ‘a very talented outfit’ with clients including Deutsche Bank, Fordgate and Hugo Boss. The group advised Wankdorf-Center Bern Dr. Karl Bartel on the sale of the Wankdorf Shopping Centre to three UBS real estate funds. Francis Nordmann, Johannes Bürgi and Marco Strahm head the team.

Within TMT, Walder Wyss Ltd is a first tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd is ‘one of the top law firms in Switzerland for providing legal advice on complex global outsourcing projects’, and provides ‘consistently excellent and appropriate’ advice. The team advises clients – including Zurich Financial Services – on telecoms, infrastructure sharing, software licensing agreements and contractual and regulatory matters. Mark Reutter and Hans Rudolf Trüeb head the team, and are recommended along with popular managing associate Christophe Marclay, who provides ‘sound legal judgement, a pragmatic, hands-on approach’, and ‘thinks outside the box’.

Within Tax, Walder Wyss Ltd is a first tier firm,

Walder Wyss Ltd’s ‘very effective and commercial’ six-partner team has advised various foreign banks and broker dealers in tax litigation with the Swiss Federal Tax Administration. Team head Thomas Meister and expert tax litigator Markus Desax are recommended.