Insolvency and corporate recovery in Austria

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners is a key player in the Austrian restructuring and reorganisation market and has traditionally been best known for its work for credit institutions. This is not least due to the group’s know-how at the intersection with banking and finance as routinely demonstrated by co-heads Markus Fellner and Florian Kranebitter. Both are also experienced in matters that crossover from corporate and M&A, making its restructuring and insolvency offering equally attractive to corporates, who make up a growing share of its client base. This can be seen in the group’s on-going work for the Steinhoff Group, one of Austria’s most high-profile restructurings, providing assistance with the implementation of restructuring measures that began in 2019. The team’s expertise extends to enforcement claims alongside personal liability issues.

GRAF ISOLA (previously known as Graf & Pitkowitz) is co-led by insolvency administrators Alexander Isola and Stefan Weileder. The team stands out for its capabilities handling in and out-of-court insolvency proceedings but also advises debtors, creditors and investors on restructuring and reorganisation measures, which includes refinancing negotiations with banks and distressed M&A. Its work spans a wide range of sectors and has recently included a number of insolvency proceedings in the banking and engineering space.

Schoenherr (Schönherr Rechtsanwälte) has a strong track record in the Austrian restructuring and insolvency space, routinely advising lenders and corporates on corporate and financial restructurings, and investors on distressed M&A and NPL transactions, while also handling insolvency proceedings. The group’s broad offering is not least thanks to the individual specialisms demonstrated by its joint team heads: Wolfgang Höller is a key contact for insolvency law, debt restructuring and financial litigation and has recently been particularly active advising distressed Austrian banks on proceedings under the European Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive; Miriam Simsa, with her background in M&A, has a focus on out-of-court restructurings and distressed M&A; and Martin Ebner, head of the firm’s banking, finance and capital markets practice, is frequently called upon to assist with debt restructurings and refinancings. The group’s expertise at the intersection between banking, M&A and restructuring was further strengthened by the arrival of Michael Magerl in September 2020. He joined the Linz office as office managing partner and was previously at Haslinger/Nagele & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH.

Binder Grösswang frequently acts as Austrian local counsel when advising corporates on corporate, financial and debt restructurings spanning various sectors including financial services, retail and manufacturing. Its recent work includes a number of Covid-19-related mandates, where the team was called upon to provide insolvency avoidance advice, while other instructions stemmed from creditors requiring assistance with insolvency proceedings. Gottfried Gassner complements this offering with expertise in distressed M&A, where he is assisted by recently promoted partner Georg Wabl and routinely acts for bidders. Gassner co-heads the group with Emanuel Welten, who is a key contact for finance-related work. For contentious mandates the team is able to call on colleagues from the dispute resolution practice.

DORDA Rechtsanwälte GmbH’s broad offering attracts an equally wide client base consisting of lenders, borrowers, debtors and creditors. Lenders and non-performing borrowers retain the team for reorganisation and pre-insolvency restructuring advice, which includes distressed M&A typically led by Christian Ritschka, while creditors, and to a lesser extent debtors, are represented in insolvency proceedings and insolvency-related litigation. Team head Felix Hörlsberger is a key contact for litigation and, due to his insurance law expertise, is regularly instructed by insurance sector players. Financial restructuring mandates are often led by finance expert Tibor Varga.

Following the retirement of co-head Michael Strenitz in July 2021, Marco Steiner now co-heads E+H Eisenberger + Herzog’s restructuring and insolvency group with Marcus Benes. Steiner’s expertise in corporate and M&A and Benes’ banking and finance capabilities constitute the team’s key strengths and lead to regular corporate and financial restructuring mandates, which have recently included the restructuring of loans and debt, refinancing matters and distressed M&A. Clients include banks and debtors alongside buyers and sellers of distressed assets.

Wolf Theiss’ multidisciplinary approach with a focus on the intersection between restructuring and finance alongside the firm’s cross-border capabilities lead to regular banking and finance sector instructions. Typical work includes the restructuring of non-performing loans, debt and investments alongside distressed M&A, while the team is also well versed handling related disputes as well as in-court and out-of-court restructurings. With team head Eva Spiegel’s expertise in insolvency law and commercial litigation, she is a key contact for contentious work (but also leads on many non-contentious matters) and routinely assists creditors with insolvency proceedings and the protection of creditors’ rights. The team’s specialism in financial restructuring was further underlined with the promotions of Matthias Schimka and Marika Lomashvili to partner in June 2020 and June 2021 respectively. Lomashvili also heads the firm’s Russia desk.

With offices across the CEE region, Cerha Hempel is an attractive partner for cross-border insolvency, restructuring and reorganisation work including distressed M&A and related employment, tax and commercial issues. Alongside its multijurisdictional capabilities, clients also benefit from the team’s multidisciplinary approach combining expertise in insolvency law, corporate, finance and litigation. This skill set is mostly called upon by creditors such as national and foreign banks and other lenders, including business partners of insolvent or near insolvent companies, but its client portfolio also includes debtors. Thomas Trettnak heads the practice and covers a wide range of insolvency and pre-insolvency matters.

CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Rechtsanwälte GmbH provides full-service restructuring and reorganisation assistance, which is routinely multidisciplinary in nature, including banking and finance, employment, corporate, tax and contentious elements. Daniela Karollus-Bruner is the key contact for insolvency-related dispute resolution and assists creditors, debtors and investors with the enforcement of claims and the defence against personal liability claims, among other issues. She jointly heads the practice with banking and finance expert Günther Hanslik, who has recently advised on distressed and non-performing loans.

With offices across Austria, Saxinger, Chalupsky & Partners (SCWP Schindhelm) stands out for its regional capabilities with a particular focus on Upper Austria, where insolvency and restructuring specialist Ernst Chalupsky and Sebastian Hütter are based. Together with Nina Pichler, who is the key contact in Vienna and Graz, Hütter has a focus on work at the corporate intersection, while Pichler also handles dispute resolution. This set-up attracts debtors, creditors and foreign insolvency administrators requiring assistance with insolvency filings, restructuring procedures, distressed M&A and insolvency-related litigation. Alexander Anderle (also based in Upper Austria) routinely acts as insolvency administrator.

Taylor Wessing enwc Rechtsanwälte GmbH’s restructuring and insolvency group is led by insolvency administrator Susanne Fruhstorfer, who also assists creditors, debtors and foreign insolvency administrators with claim assertions, debt restructurings and distressed M&A. Much of its recent work took place in the real estate, construction and retail areas.

DLA Piper Weiss-Tessbach has a strong profile for corporate reorganisation and restructuring work in the CEE region, most notably in Croatia and Slovenia. This is thanks to Jasna Zwitter-Tehovnik’s legal qualifications, which in addition to her Austrian registration includes admissions in England and Wales, New York and Slovenia. She is a key member of Oskar Winkler’s team; he covers a wide range of finance and corporate restructuring matters.

Jank Weiler Operenyi’s restructuring and insolvency expertise is twofold: on the one hand, Andreas Jank’s banking and finance capabilities translate into regular financial restructuring instructions and, on the other hand, the team has a strong track record handling non-performing loan transactions, which are mostly led by counsel Bernhard Köck. Assisting with insolvency-related litigation and representing creditors in insolvency proceedings complements this offering.