The Legal 500

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) once again proves its expertise in banking and finance by its inclusion in the international Legal 500 series of guides which has been recommending law firms and law experts in over 100 countries for around 20 years.

The broadcast of “Report” TV news magazine on Tuesday, 13 September 2011, on the Austrian TV channel ORF2 showed an interview with fwp partner Markus Fellner on the current topic “Telekom”.

The business lawyers Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) have taken on board attorneys-at-law Dr. Markus Panhölzl and Mag. Stefan Turic.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) invited clients, employees and friends to attend the grand opening of the "12/kunstakt" exhibition at their office premises in Vienna. For the seventh year in a row, nine young students of the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts are showing works that have been specifically designed for fwp’s “kunstakt” exhibition and that critically deal with concepts such as law, system and order. Gallery owner Hans Knoll formally opened the exhibition.

fwp was among the top 10 law firms in the ranking of Austrian law firms published by the law magazine “JUVE”, and among the top 5 with regard to productivity.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) provided legal advice to Benda Lutz Werke GmbH, a renowned family business with expertise in the fabrication of pigments, regarding an increase of its shareholdings in the Russian company Benda-Lutz Volzhsky from 51% to 81%.

The lawyers of the Vienna-based business law firm Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) provided legal counsel to a banking syndicate, consisting of Raiffeisen Bank International AG, UniCredit Bank Austria AG and HYPO ALPE-ADRIA-BANK INTERNATIONAL AG, among others, regarding the restructuring of the financing of the S&T Group and in connection with the involvement of new investors at S&T AG.

In the context of RuSt 2011, the leading annual law and tax forum in Austria, fwp partner Markus Fellner spoke on current legal issues and best practice in cross-border joint ventures.

The business lawyers Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) have taken on board Mag. Johannes Schmutzer, attorney-at-law, as new junior partner. Schmutzer will contribute his expertise in the areas of banking & finance as well as mergers & acquisitions.

The Vienna-based business law firm Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) has been a member of the TerraLex global network of independent law firms since 2010. At the 2011 Istanbul Global Meeting, fwp once more strengthened its position as a global player on the international legal advice market.

On September 26, 2011, Dr. Paul Luiki, JD will hold a seminar on the topic of "International Construction Contracts" sponsored by ICC Austria.

Once again, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners Attorneys at law (fwp) eagerly participated in the annual Vienna Business Run. Seven teams, made up of three runners each, represented fwp at the event on 22 September 2011.

The business lawyers Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) have expanded their team of lawyers, adding to their expertise in the area of business and company law: Veronika Brückl (27) has been admitted to the Austrian Bar Association and is now licensed to practice as an attorney-at-law.

For the third time, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners Attorneys at law (fwp) supported the Venture Capital & Private Equity Award as partner and as member on the jury. This year’s award revolved around entrepreneurship, growth and innovation. On 14 June 2011, the five best deals were honoured at the “Haus der Industrie”. fwp Partner Markus Fellner awarded the second prize to MOBILIZY and gcp gamma capital partners for their early stage investment in WIKITUDE, the first augmented reality browser worldwide.

fwp will be present at the 2011 convention of the Austrian Venture Capital and Private Equity Organisation (AVCO) with some of its key lawyers.

fwp partner Markus Fellner lectures in course of the European Restructuring Day 2011, May 25./26, 2011

As in previous years, the business magazine FORMAT has ranked Austria’s top lawyers based on objective criteria.

Vienna-based business law firm Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) was legal counsel to OMV Refining & Marketing GmbH in respect to the sale of its subsidiary OMV Wärme VertriebsgmbH to a consortium headed by RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria Aktiengesellschaft. With the closing of the transaction OMV will complete the restructuring process of the heating oil business in Austria and Germany initiated in 2008.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) continue to steadily expand their international activities and have just successfully concluded a partnership of great strategic importance in the area of business development. fwp is now the only Austrian member of TerraLex, a global network of attorneys.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) invited representatives from the world of business and politics as well as clients, employees and friends to their office to enjoy the opening night of the "11/kunstakt" exhibition.

Vienna. The Vienna business law firm Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH (fwp) provided legal counsel in connection with the sale of Constantia Privatbank AG. After comprehensive restructuring and extensive negotiations, the bank was sold to a consortium involving E. F. Grossnigg Finanzberatung und Treuhandgesellschaft m.b.H.  

Vienna. Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) provided legal advice to BAWAG P.S.K. in the course of the negotiations for state aid. After several months of negotiations and approval by the EU Commission, the agreements were signed recently.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner (fwp) was legal advisor to BAWAG P.S.K. in the sale of L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH. By way of a structured bidding process with several high class bidders, this piece of Austrian cultural heritage was sold to YAMAHA Corporation after several months of negotiations. Apart from the numerous legal aspects of the sale of an international company in particular the political and emotional dimension had to be considered when structuring and realizing the sale of one of the most prestigious traditional Austrian companies. At fwp partner Markus Fellner and his team with support from Lukas Flener legally advised and successfully finalized the transaction.

FWP was legal advisor to publicly listed CA Immo Group in acquiring German Vivico Group from the Republic of Germany. Vivico Group is primarily active in Germany in the field of management of portfolios, development and trading of real estate. With a purchase price of more than 1 Billion Euro and a tremendous capability for developments CA Immo Group finally enters with this deal European top-league in the area of real estate. At FWP Markus Fellner (Corporate Real-Estate), Michael Achleitner (Due Diligence, M&A), Florian L. Kranebitter (Financing) and Lukas Flener (Merger Control) with their teams have advised in this complex privatization process.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner (FWP) was legal advisor to Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (the largest Austrian bank) in selling two loan portfolios. One portfolio has been sold to a German Company that already did the servicing of this portfolio in the past. In the parallel sales process the purchaser of the second portfolio, a French-Swedish consortium consisting of a bank and a credit management company, came off as winning bidder in the respective limited auction.