The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > Austria > Insolvency and corporate recovery

Providing ‘exceptional support for the clients’ and ‘expert legal advice’, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners assists with restructurings and reorganisations, particularly for credit institutions, and is also active in financing and recapitalisation, especially of listed companies with bonds. Markus Fellner leads the team with ‘outstanding service quality’ and ‘deep business know-how’. Florian Kranebitter is also recommended.

Graf & Pitkowitz’s insolvency and restructuring team covers a wide array of insolvency work, from restructurings, insolvencies and reorganisations to distressed M&A. When not advising debtors, creditors, investors, family-owned businesses, managing directors and board members, co-heads Alexander Isola and Stefan Weileder are routinely appointed as insolvency administrators.

Schoenherr (Schönherr Rechtsanwälte)’s insolvency team specialises in advising creditors and debtors alike on pre-insolvency reorganisations and refinancing transactions, with a particular focus on restructuring banks. Team head Wolfgang Höller and Miriam Simsa acted for Kika/Leiner to fend off looming insolvency proceedings, enabling the sale of the business to Signa. Other clients include Salesianer Miettex and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Martin Ebner is also a key member of the team.

With the support of the banking and finance, dispute resolution and corporate departments at its disposal, ‘very quick, well-structured and organised’ team at Binder Grösswang routinely acts for creditors and debtors in national and international corporate and financial restructurings and distressed M&A transactions, as well as in insolvency proceedings. The ‘open-minded’ and 'very reliable' Gottfried Gassner, who leads the team with Emanuel Welten, advised the international creditors’ co-ordinating committee on the restructuring of the prominent Steinhoff Group and acted for TUI Group on the pre-insolvency and insolvency proceedings of Air Berlin and Niki Luftfahrt.

In cooperation with the firm’s corporate, finance and litigation departments, the ‘very responsive’ team at Cerha Hempel provides ‘to-the-point and hands-on’ advice to creditors and shareholders on insolvency law, including pre-insolvency debt collection and insolvency proceedings. Other areas of expertise include corporate structure and debt reorganisations, as well as distressed M&A. The ‘always friendly and speedy’ department head Thomas Trettnak ‘is a pleasure to work with’; he and Heinrich Foglar-Deinhardstein advised CNH over the course of the insolvency proceedings of goods supplier Fahrzeug- u. Maschinenbau-Prototypen.

‘Thinking outside of the box’, Dorda Rechtsanwalte GmbH's ‘very reliable and supportive’ insolvency and corporate recovery team advises banks and other creditors and debtors on pre-insolvency reorganisations and restructurings, encompassing distressed M&As and refinancings. Another area of expertise is the representation of creditors in insolvency proceedings and related litigation. The ‘very pragmatic’ Felix Hörlsberger ‘solves complex topics in a way the client is able to follow’, while the ‘hardworking’ Christian Ritschka ‘is always reachable, fast and very efficient’. Both advised Austrian real estate investor and developer Supernova Group.

Cross-border financial and corporate restructuring transactions, loan enforcement and the representation of creditors in Austrian insolvency proceedings are staples of Eisenberger & Herzog’s insolvency and corporate recovery practice, while the restructuring of listed bonds is becoming an area of increased activity. Clients also benefit from the practice’s ability to rely on the firm’s corporate, M&A, capital markets, restructuring and finance teams. Practice co-head Michael Strenitz advised QuadraCir – formerly Asamer Holding – as co-lead counsel on debt restructuring, asset sale and liquidation matters, while other co-head Marcus Benes acted for Scholz Holding on the restructuring of a retail bond. Peter Winkler is another key contact.

Noted for its ‘in-depth knowledge’, the ‘extremely quick’ and ‘very precise’ team at Wolf Theiss Rechtsanwalte GmbH & CoKG handles substantial restructuring mandates for bank syndicates and international funds in Austria and the CEE region with support from the firm’s corporate, finance and real estate departments. Eva Spiegel advised Hemisphere as co-lead counsel in connection with the sale of distressed Kika/Leiner’s real estate portfolio to Signa. Other team members include Nikolaus Paul, Andrea Gritsch, Claus Schneider and Andreas Schmid.

Advice on corporate and financial restructurings, insolvency law and transactions, especially distressed M&A, in Austria and in the CEE region are major fields of activity for CMS. Günther Hanslik leads the team, which also includes Alexander Rakosi.

Advising debtors, shareholders and directors, Taylor Wessing Austria focuses on insolvency administration, particularly involving transnational elements, distressed M&A and insolvency litigation. Team head Susanne Fruhstorfer was appointed as insolvency practitioner on numerous occasions, including for real estate company WienWert Getreidemarkt 10 Immobilienbesitz and Lemos Industrieservice, and represented AGCO in the insolvency proceedings of a major supplier.