Established in 1957 in Vienna, Wolf Theiss is now one of Austria’s largest and leading firms with a network of offices across Central and Eastern Europe spanning 13 countries.
Focusses / specialisms
The firm has relationships with Austria’s leading banks and advises these lenders on a variety of corporate finance and real estate finance transactions, both nationally and cross border to borrowers in the wider region.
In the capital markets area, the firm is one of the most active in the country on the debt side. The firm often advises its bank clients on debt programmes and in recent years has established itself as the most experienced firm on the market for regulatory capital issues by local lenders, working on the vast majority on either the buy or sell side.
Structured finance and securitisation work with an Austrian originator is rare but the firm is one of the few on the market with experience of work of this type, and picks up work on deals with an Austrian element.
The firm’s M&A practice is active and always generally present on a few of the country or region’s largest deals. It’s experienced on deals involving financial sponsors on the buy and sell side.
The firm’s projects team is among the market’s best. It has experience on deals relevant to all key industries and on PPPs.
In the restructuring area the firm is experienced too and has had roles on several large Austrian cases advising debtors recently.
Key clients
The firm has advised internationally renowned clients such as Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Raiffeisen Bank International and Erste Bank. The firm has also worked closely with locally important clients, like Miba, Boehringer Ingelheim and Vienna International Airport.
Research period review: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
During the research period, the firm was active in banking and finance, debt capital markets, M&A, project development and restructuring.
In banking and finance the firm worked on loans and financings for a mix of lenders and borrowers in the banking, financial services, real estate and consumer goods sectors.
In debt capital markets the firm worked on bond and note issuances for mainly issuers in the banking and financial services.
In equity capital markets the firm worked on secondary share offerings for clients in financial services.
In structured finance and securitisation capital markets the firm worked on deals for clients in financial services.
In M&A the firm worked on acquisitions for a mix of acquirers and sellers in the financial services, energy, technology and telecommunications.
In project development the firm worked on project work for clients in the transport, healthcare, public, social infrastructure, technology, manufacturing and construction sectors.
In restructuring the firm worked on deals for clients in the financial services, consumer goods and investment management sectors.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Adler Modemärkte restructuring
Bausparkasse Wüstenrot €300 million covered bond issue
CPI Property Group €3.2 billion acquisition of IMMOFINANZ
Hanusch Hospital pavilion 6 project
Client Feedback: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Asset finance
“Engaged, trustful, work done in time.”
Bank lending
“Correctness, flexibility, speed and professionalism.”
Banking and finance
“Quick response, goal-orientated, good experience.”
“They draft and finalise the documents, negotiate some conditions (with our clients), explain consequences, they are flexible and helpful.”
“Efficient project management, good legal advice, very responsive.”
“We fully rely on their timely and proper guidance.”
“Responsive, quick, industry know-how, well connected through our CEE region.”
Financial services regulatory
“Swift and clear advice.”
M&A
“They are known as the pre-eminent law firm in central and eastern Europe. Horst is a highly talented attorney.”
“Wolf Theiss were very responsive to emails and calls, answering queries quickly and providing follow-on responses in very short timescales. Additionally, they were able to bring in sector specialists (in this case, healthcare and antitrust) very quickly to assist with some complex regulatory and antitrust considerations which arose during our diligence.”
“They were very very astute, experts, and communication was flawless."
“Great business sense. Excellent quality of legal work. Good network.”
“Customer-orientated, deep knowledge, flexible, international expertise (Europe).”
Proactive time, expectation and cost management; legally sound assessment with adequate risk assessment and, if necessary, practicable solutions.”
Strong presence in the region of central Europe, very good network of cooperating legal advisers, high level of professional expertise, pro-business thinking of the legal team, ability to take over responsibility for the deal.”
“Professional approach, experience, availability, versatility.”
“We received excellent support throughout the process. Team was led by Lukas Tadic-Colic: excellent M&A corporate lawyer, highly reliable, business-orientated and pragmatic. Very good team internal coordination, great responsiveness, availability and engagement from all team members.”
“They work efficiently and provide high level of quality and are very responsive. Great collaboration, which allowed us to provide the client with a seamless service."
“Flexibility and commitment. Strong, multidisciplinary knowledge. Very nice ad skilled team to work with.”
“Very responsive and focused on the commercially relevant matters.”
“High level of expertise and fully committed to the transaction, including when deadlines are challenging.”
“Their outstanding response time and high quality of advisers.”
“Highly responsive, knowledgeable of legal issues, good at proposing solutions to problems, good English skills.”
PPP/PFI
“Professional, diligent and agile.”
Private equity
“Strong can-do attitude, quick delivery of the agreed- upon work.”
Project development
“Very responsive, fast, experienced.”
Restructuring
“Quick response time; pragmatic and solution-orientated.”
Markus Aigner
“Fast thinker, very responsive, sound legal knowledge.”
Robert David
“Professionalism; competence; tries to accommodate.”
“Long-time career, good experience.”
Horst Ebhardt
“I have worked with Horst for many years in various contexts. He is unfailingly gracious and humble, but truly pre-eminent in the market.”
“Our main contact person is Horst Ebhardt. Horst is an exceptional person with the highest level of professional expertise. Throughout the entire period of our cooperation (lasting more than 12 months), he was fully committed to the transaction. He always manages and supervises his team in an efficient manner so that all the different work streams are well coordinated. In addition, Horst always follows the transaction very closely and himself contributes with detailed legal work, which is not usual for professionals of his seniority. Horst has a great feel for the commercial aspects of the transaction and brings a great value to our M&A team with his ability to find solutions and move the project forward. He also makes a significant contribution to the deal even in areas that go beyond legal services. In summary, Horst represents a combination of professional legal expertise, top managerial skills and a great sense for finding pro-business solutions. His work reflects years of legal practice. It is an honour to be represented by such a professional.”
Clara Gordon
“Same as the firm overall – very responsive, knowledgeable of legal issues, good at proposing and implementing solutions.”
Andrea Gritsch
“High level of expertise, hands-on, fully committed, good communicator.”
“I am delighted to give feedback on the exceptional services provided by Andrea Gritsch, a skilled and knowledgeable banking transactional lawyer whom I have had the pleasure of working with on multiple projects. Throughout our engagements, Andrea demonstrated an impressive depth of legal expertise and a keen understanding of our business needs. She consistently provided practical and tailored advice that was both actionable and effective. Moreover, I was consistently impressed by Andrea's responsiveness and proactive approach to communication. She was always available to discuss matters and provided clear and concise updates, ensuring that we were fully informed and able to make informed decisions. Overall, I have nothing but the highest praise for Andrea and I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone seeking a top-tier banking and regulatory lawyer. She is a true asset to her firm and the legal profession as a whole.”
Leopold Höher
“Client acquisition and relationship management, involvement and hands-on approach.”
Michael Kienzl
“Pragmatic. Quick thinking. Very dedicated.”
Katerina Kraeva
“Competence, experience, impeccable client relationship.”
Katerina Kulhankova
“She organised the process well and was a single point of contact for us.”
Michael Kienzl
“Communication and teamwork. Multidisciplinary skills. Flexibility and problem-solving. Managing live negotiation sessions, alignment of parties.”
Hartwig Kienast
“Responsiveness and accountability for the project and his outstanding legal knowledge compared with extraordinary commercial and financial know-how.”
“Responsiveness and accountability for the project and his outstanding legal knowledge compared with extraordinary commercial and financial know-how.”
Florian Kusznier
“Florian knows what he is doing and what is needed to bring a deal over the finish line.”
Tjaša Lahovnik
“She is full of knowledge, solution-orientated, responsive, resourceful. Sharp enough when necessary, but otherwise fair and calm.”
Jitka Logesova
“Very responsive and service-orientated; pragmatic work attitude, we work together very well.”
Marika Lomashvili
“Very responsive, looks for solutions, easy to contact by phone and in person.”
Filip Michalec
“Clear and swift advice.”
Christian Mikosch
“Strong communicator, trustful relationship, flexible and fast responding.”
Tereza Naucova
“Tereza is a very experienced lawyer who always puts client needs first – very responsive and detail-orientated, but pragmatic and focused on the relevant issues.”
Maciej Olszewski
“Friendliness, legal knowledge, availability, reliability.”
Rahim Rastegar
“Rahim Rastegar is a member of Horst Ebhardt’s M&A team. His work is highly professional and diligent.”
“Rahim was always willing to help and worked hard throughout the time we worked together. Rahim has a great expertise, backed up by excellent legal knowledge.”
Aleksandar Ristic
“Quick response, informative reactions.”
Eva Spiegel
“Very nice to work with; very knowledgeable; solution-orientated.”
Luka Tadic-Colic
"Team was led by Lukas Tadic-Colic: excellent M&A corporate lawyer, highly reliable, business-orientated and pragmatic.”
Andjelka Todorovic
“Professional, diligent, fast, agile, responsive.”
Sarah Wared
“Highly responsive, very pleasant to work with, solution-orientated, excellent at explaining complex legal assessments.”
“Very responsive and committed to delivering a very high standard of service. Great knowledge and drive in problem-solving.”
“Her knowledge is absolutely on point and her communication is outstanding."
