About

Anyone who gets in touch with Martin Wartmann is likely to be impressed by his versatility and drive. To finance his studies both in Switzerland and USA, he worked in various law firms, gave guitar lessons and worked as a personal trainer in a gym. During that time, he co-founded an online retailer for sports equipment, which he drove to a successful exit in 2014.

Wartmann began his professional journey at one of the most prestigious Swiss law firms, where he worked as an associate attorney and civil law notary for five years. During his tenure at the firm, he focused on corporate and commercial law, as well as M&A. Over time, he became the sole contact person for a sizable group of companies, which sparked his interest in an in-house role at Selecta, a European vending services leader. Wartmann’s proven legal skills and expertise did not go unnoticed, and he quickly rose through the ranks at Selecta. He was promoted to group general counsel and chief compliance officer in 2013 at the age of only 32. At Selecta, Wartmann built up a legal department consisting of five members with the help of which he provided legal advice in all areas of law for the entire group with up to 10,000 employees. He was responsible for setting up a group-wide compliance concept and served as the secretary of the board of directors composed of key executives of Selecta’s sole shareholder, KKR & CO. (NYSE: KKR), a global investment management firm. To strengthen his leadership skills and to be able to better understand the business, Wartmann attended the Executive MBA programme at the University of St Gallen, which he successfully completed in 2017.

In 2021, Wartmann got recruited by Geistlich Pharma, a progressive, family-run company, with a tradition back to 1851. Today, Geistlich specialises in the regeneration of bone, cartilage and tissue. Its regenerative medical devices aim to improve patients’ quality of life. In the field of regenerative dentistry, the company has been a world market leader for many years. His primary responsibility as group general counsel and chief compliance officer is to establish a legal and compliance team to assure the company’s preparation for further globalisation and to defend the group’s intellectual property rights.

Wartmann’s greatest achievements throughout his career include his instrumental role in negotiating and drafting of the Starbucks cooperation agreement for Selecta’s ‘Starbucks on the go’ concept, which allows customers to buy their beloved Starbucks coffee from self-serve machines at gas stations or in offices. He was further successfully leading the group debt refinancing rounds including a listing of bonds at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and the International Stock Exchange in Guernsey. Throughout his career, Wartmann has been heavily involved in M&A activity, whether it was acquisitions, disposals, or joint ventures, for his employers to realise their strategic goals. The latest acquisition Wartmann supported at Geistlich was the acquisition of Lynch Biologics in the USA. With this step the company added another cutting-edge technology to its regenerative product portfolio in dentistry.