Firm Profile > Wistrand > Stockholm, Sweden

Insolvency Tier 1

The team at Wistrand is regularly appointed as trustee for high-profile bankruptcies, and group head Christian Bergqvist, Niklas Körling and newly promoted partner  Fredrik Thor are regularly singled out by clients. The practice handles complex debt restructuring mandates for banks and corporates across the insurance, IT and real estate sectors; the firm's Gothenburg office is also a key name for manufacturing clients. The department also advises banks as creditors in large bankruptcies, and Anders Nilsson has notable expertise in insolvency litigation at a domestic and global level. Counsel Nina Baecklund was a new arrival in 2020.

Insurance Tier 1

Wistrand’s insurance practice has particularly strong expertise in W&I insurance, with Magnus Forssman receiving instructions from major international insurers as underwriters of cross-border transactions. Practice head Jörgen Eklund and Harry Bergman represent insurers in litigation proceedings including professional liability and coverage claims. The firm also has a significant regulatory practice, with recent mandates spanning the implementation of insurance products and policy drafting issues. Anne-Marie Pouteaux heads up the Gothenburg team.

Real estate Tier 1

Wistrand’s leading real estate M&A practice routinely handles high-value property acquisitions and divestments for a client portfolio of Nordic investors and property companies. Per Dalemo and practice co-heads Tommy Grönberg and Lars Gahnström advise on the full breadth of transactional work including tax, environmental and warranty and indemnity insurance issues, and investments and transactions involving residential, commercial, data centre and retail assets. The team also handles all issues regarding leasing negotiations and transfers, project developments, permit applications, property conversions and real estate disputes. Nils Sköld also has expertise in real estate fund formation mandates.

Energy Tier 2

Wistrand’s energy practice is led by Rudolf Laurin, who advises on a range of regulatory issues including emissions-trading rights, access to electricity grids, energy taxes and permit applications. Recent transactional work included hydropower station sales and wind park acquisitions.

Shipping Tier 2

Wistrand’s Gothenburg-based shipping practice provides the full spectrum of contentious and non-contentious advice under practice head Anne-Marie Pouteaux. Recent instructions for Pouteaux, Kristofer Selvin and senior associate Ida Dahlborg included the sale, purchase and registration of vessels; negotiations for port access, ship financing issues, ship arrests and other maritime claims. The team counts shipping companies, insurers, charterers, financial institutions and shipyards as clients.

Tax Tier 2

Wistrand fields a highly regarded team of tax professionals including Rickard Jonason, Victor Palm and practice co-heads Conny Otteland and Peter Brandt. The team handles cross-border matters concerning transfer pricing issues, structuring advice for corporate transactions, fund formations, incentive programmes and real estate joint ventures. Notable contentious experience includes handling administrative appeals to tax decisions and tax audits, as well as advising on investigations by tax authorities; the practice represents businesses as well as high-profile individuals. Clients originate from a broad range of sectors including the financial services, insurance, IT and manufacturing industries.

Banking and finance Tier 3

Export and real estate finance work are particular fields of expertise for Wistrand’s banking and finance team, which is jointly led by Tommy Grönberg and Gothenburg-based Anne-Marie Pouteaux. Pouteaux and Kristofer Selvin are also regarded for their expertise in shipping finance. Alongside borrowing mandates, a number of big-ticket banks and investment funds also instruct the group on financial regulatory work, particularly pertaining to EU regulations. Ulf Forsman and Håkan Lindgren are key names for domestic borrowers requiring acquisition finance advice.

Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 3

Robert Kullgren, Lars Hasp and Per Dalemo jointly lead Wistrand’s M&A practice, which handles mid-cap transactions for a client roster of domestic and pan-European corporates in the media and telecoms, financial services and real estate sectors. The team is particularly active in public takeover deals and the firm’s Gothenburg office is well-placed to handle significant transactions in the automotive sector. Magnus Forssman lends his highly regarded insurance knowledge to complex warranty and indemnity issues arising from corporate transactions.

Construction Tier 3

Wistrand’s construction experts assist with the planning and development of commercial, residential and community infrastructure projects and advises on the full construction process from contract and procurement negotiations to leasing arrangements. The client portfolio consists of developers, contractors and joint ventures at a domestic and international level. Key contacts include Jan Alexanderson in Stockholm and Eilert Andersson in Gothenburg.

Dispute resolution Tier 3

With a notable reputation in litigation and arbitration proceedings, Wistrand’s Harry Bergman is a go-to name for complex professional liability and insurance-related dispute resolution. The team, which is jointly led by Jörgen Eklund and Mårten Hulterström, frequently represents its global client base in post-M&A and investment disputes, as well as other commercial litigation matters in the financial services, energy, industrial and telecoms sectors. The firm also has niche German law expertise and often acts in related arbitration proceedings.

Employment Tier 3

Jakob Bernander and Jörgen Larsson jointly lead Wistrand’s employment practice, which attracts praise from its client base of mid-tier domestic and international corporates for handling the full range of contentious and non-contentious matters. Alongside handling the employment elements of M&A transactions, the team also acts in trade secret litigation, disputes concerning collective bargaining agreements, employee contract drafting issues, reorganisations and terminations. Key areas of expertise span the construction, media, healthcare and technology sectors.

Environment Tier 3

Gothenburg-based Rudolf Laurin handles Wistrand’s environment and energy mandates, typically advising on permit applications and related disputes for wind power projects, landfill sites, dangerous waste treatment and water operations.

Intellectual property and media Tier 3

On the contentious side of Wistrand’s IP and media practice, team co-head Erik Ullberg regularly handles copyright infringement litigation, trade secrets disputes and contentious patent work. Christel Rockström, who also co-heads the practice, leads on media and marketing-related matters including representing publishing platforms in defamation cases. The team also lends its IP expertise to corporate transactions for the firm’s roster of international corporate clients.

IT and telecoms Tier 3

The key contacts for IT and telecoms advice at Wistrand are Magnus Forssman and Erik Ullberg, who have experience in advising IT suppliers, software companies and producers on outsourcing contracts, cooperation agreements and distribution agreements. Clients are fielded from the domestic and international markets.

Capital markets Tier 4

Wistrand’s debt capital markets mandates are handled by Monica Petersson, who advises on MTN programmes, IPOs and other debt instruments. Erik Hygrell provides advice on equity capital markets issuances.

EU and competition Tier 5

Led by Gothenburg-based Tobias Bengtsson, Wistrand’s EU and competition practice advises on merger control filings, dawn raids and compliance reviews. Clients originate from a broad range of sectors including the transportation, media and manufacturing industries.

International capabilities

Wistrand is regularly advising international clients as well as Swedish clients on cross-border matters.

German Desk

Our German Desk provides legal advice to companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland in their business transactions in Sweden. The areas of advice include cross-border transactions, the formation of subsidiaries or branches, all types of commercial agreements, labor law, disputes, as well as ongoing advice concerning daily business in Sweden.

Our German Desk consists of Swedish and German lawyers with many years of experience in corporate law activities regarding Germany, Switzerland and Austria. All lawyers have been educated and worked in Sweden as well as Germany.

In addition, we assist our Swedish clients in cross-border transactions, investments and other business aspects regarding the German-speaking part of the world.

Lawyers

Robert Kullgren – Over the years, Robert has represented a large number of major German investors in Sweden, such as Deutsche Bank, Deka, Bouwfonds, Patrizia and Berlinovo. He holds a LL.M from a German university and has previously worked for a German law firm.

Sascha Schaeferdiek – Sascha is a dual-qualified Swedish Advokat and German Rechtsanwalt, and is regularly engaged by companies such as Roche, Allianz, Coesia, Deichmann and Hitachi Zosen Inova. Sascha holds a German law degree and a doctorate from a German university and has worked for a German law firm for several years.

Erik Hygrell – Erik has for several years advised German clients on investments and various corporate law mandates in Sweden, including in particular clients from automotive and other manufacturing industry sectors. Erik holds an LL.M from a German university and has previously worked for a German law firm.
Johanna Müller – Johanna is part of Wistrand’s litigation team. She has acted as counsel in various litigations and arbitrations, particular in those with a link to Germany or German speaking clients. She holds an LL.M. degree from one of the worldwide leading Master programs within commercial arbitration.
Anne Geismar – Anne has a special focus on commercial contracts and IP matters. She holds a doctor’s degree from the University of Kiel and has previously worked for a German law firm following her legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig-Holstein.

Wistrand also has a strong international practise within Banking and Finance, and Capital Markets debt.

Monica Petersson – advises leading Swedish and international banks and blue chip corporates on all aspects of debt financing, ranging from unsecured and secured bilateral and syndicated loans and export financing to debt capital markets, derivatives, and related regulatory matters. She was admitted to the New York Bar in 1990 and to the Swedish Bar in 1994 and is now considered to be one of the top banking lawyers in Sweden.

Ulf Forsman – a dual-qualified (England and Sweden) banking and finance specialist, he focuses mainly on secured lending (including real estate finance), export finance, acquisition finance and receivables finance. Ulf worked as a banking lawyer in the City of London for over 10 years and was based in Brazil for nine years, where he was Head of Legal for Latin America for a multinational company. In 2018 Ulf assisted the London Loan Market Association (LMA) in connection with the drafting of the export finance buyer credit agreement recently published by the LMA.

Diversity

Wistrand Sustainability

We strive for a long-term profitable business with a good balance between financial, environmental, and social responsibility. Wistrand’s sustainability work aims to achieve a good balance between these three aspects of our responsibility.

Financial responsibility

We shall generate sustainable profit and secure our financial position both in the short and long term, in balance with our environmental and social responsibility.

Environmental responsibility

We shall take responsibility for operating a business that does not affect our natural resources in a negative way in the long-term.

Social responsibility

We shall take responsibility for operating a business that considers the health and well-being of humans by contributing to a well-functioning society.

We have identified six areas that we focus our sustainability work on. These focus areas are:

Fair business practices

Good business practices ensure we act in an ethical and sustainable manner in our interactions with the outside world. This includes relationships with actors we meet within the scope of our matters (e.g. clients, counterparties, courts and other authorities) but also other actors in our environment (e.g. the Swedish Bar Association, suppliers and competitors). This area includes legal ethics, anti-corruption work, actions against money-laundering and promotion of social responsibility in the value chain.

Diversity and inclusion

All those who are part of a society – regardless of skin color, age, religion, sexuality, gender identity, physical and mental functions, financial conditions, cultural descent and ethnicity – shall have the same opportunities and rights. Wistrand’s work with diversity and inclusion is mainly about taking advantage of many different experiences and knowledge within the scope of our work. A good composition of people with various experiences increases both the efficiency and the quality in the business.

Working conditions

Wistrand’s commitment within this area means continuously striving to create guidelines and work practices related to work within or upon assignment by Wistrand that brings about good working relationships. The work concerns,

among other things, occupation and employment conditions, working conditions and social security, work environment and dialogue with representatives for employee and employers’ organizations.

Community commitment and development

We are a part of the society in which we operate. It is only natural for us to strive to contribute our knowledge and experiences in various projects advantageous to society. Wistrand encourages its colleagues to commit to such projects and with the help from its existing connections assume a social responsibility. Exchange with other actors is valuable as it helps them and us to learn and grow. The focus area includes community commitment to education and culture, health, development of and access to technology and social investments.

Environment

Our environmental work includes working for a sustainable employment of resources and striving to prevent negative environmental impact.

Human rights

The recognition of, and respect for, human rights is critical for the principles of the rule of law and is the basis for the most important institutions in society, such as the legal system. Our goal is that our business operations shall be permeated by the respect for human rights and freedoms. Respect for these is a prerequisite for sustainability work within all of our focus areas.

For more information about our sustainability work, please contact Ida Dahlborg, ida.dahlborg@wistrand.se