Established in 1950, Schoenherr is a leading Austrian firm with a European network that includes offices in 15 jurisdictions. In Austria the firm is based in Vienna and has a smaller branch in Linz. The firm has a strong overall presence in all areas of corporate and commercial practices. The firm has a ranged focus across the board in banking and finance, capital markets, M&A, projects development and restructuring and insolvency.

Highlights

In banking and finance, the firm advised on large, syndicated loans, acquisition financing and market entry license procurement for foreign international clients and financial service institutions. A highlight of the firms work includes advising Winerberger on a €700 million Bridge Term Loan Facility Agreement provided by Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, Danske Bank A/S, Erste Group Bank and UniCredit Bank Austria in connection with its acquisition of Terreal.

In M&A, the firm advised on a range of high end domestic and international transactions. A notable highlight includes advising Cargo – Partner Group Holding as global counsel on the sale of the entire Cargo – Partner Group to Nippon Express.

Key clients

Erste Bank, Wienerberger, Raiffeisen Bank International, Bitvavo, Commerzbank, Wienerberger, Deutsche Bank, Erste Group Bank, J.P. Morgan SE, ASFINAG, Carrier Global Corporation, NOVOMATIC, Österreichische Beteiligungs (ÖBAG), Cargo Partner Group Holding, Rhône Capital, VERBUND, Vienna Int'l Airport, TIWAG, ASFINAG, ContourGloba, Austrian Anadi Bank, Raiffeisenlandesbank, Oberösterreich

Testimonials

“Strong knowledge and capabilities, pro-active approach to client's needs.” – Banking and finance

“In-depth knowledge, highly responsive” – Capital markets debt

“Great local knowledge and business acumen” – Financial service regulatory

“Very hands-on approach. Clear and simple way of wrapping-up complex issues. Outstanding responsiveness and team of experts easy to go with.” – M&A

“Service, experience, fast answers” – M&A

“Professional, experts in their topics and eye-level collaboration” – M&A

“Robert Bachner has been our go-to partner at Schönherr for all corporate work (including assistance on the JV agreement with our co-shareholder Immofinanz group) and he stands out as an expert and personal adviser. Our group also works as adviser on many M&A deals for large real estate investors and we work with many law firms but Schönherr and Robert Bachner stand out among them. We always feel that we are best advised in the interest of the transaction and not to unnecessarily optimize any position) and Robert is a great negotiator bringing people together in the interest of a joint solution.” – M&A

“Straight forward and to the point, very quick and responsive.” – M&A

“Incredible work ethic and thinking out of the box. They do go the extra mile for the client and try to help and give advice specifically to the client type (we e.g. appreciate a fast first advice before digging into detail and getting a complex / complete response)” – Private equity

“Schoenherr is always responsive and fully committed to its clients!” – Private equity

“Excellent knowledge of the field. Christoph Cudlik is probably the best in Austria. Also, helped a lot with the documents and the whole process in general.” – Project development

“The highest legal support. Very professional, very smart, very fast!” – Project development

“They always have their finger on the pulse and have valuable contacts in the industry. The quality of their work is outstanding. Accessibility and availability are second to none” – Project development

“The Schmelz team is particularly committed to its work. In this context, Christian Schmelz, Christoph Cudlik and Julia Kandler deserve special mention.” – Project development

Adina Damaschin

“Client-oriented, very focused on making the deal done even under tight deadline. Very responsive and supportive in complex legal matters.”

Alexander Popp

“Communicates extremely well, good negotiator, strong problem-solving skills”

Angelika Fischer

“Great communicator, result-oriented”

“Angelika is senior associate in the DCM ECM practice group and provides excellent services to her clients with a great responsiveness and a deep understanding for industry and her clients' needs.”

Christian Schmelz

“Christian Schmelz, who is leading the team, is probably the most regarded practitioner in this field and regarded as the "doyen" of public law. He is at the forefront of all new developments in public and environmental law and also in political or ecological developments. He is simply outstanding: his technical and ecological competence is extraordinary high; he is excellent in negotiations and his "social competence" is very high; he is available around the clock, very effective and quick; he is innovative; his approach is solution oriented, his advice "to the point". All in all: I can’t imagine him doing anything better."

I want to stress that Christian Schmelz has created a team of exceptionally professional lawyers. Every one of them is outstanding. Each of them delivers excellent quality in shortest time frames and has extraordinary high legal, social and technical competences. I would like to highlight Christoph Cudlik as outstanding in the row of excellent next generation lawyers at Schoenherr. He has done excellent work for us for many years.”

“Very objective, absolutely clear when presenting problems and pointing out solutions, very interested in harmonious collaboration and absolutely accessible to questions of all kinds, highly professional and competent, with absolute integrity.”

Christoph Moser

“Christoph is one of the most responsive lawyers who is always available for its clients and has the deepest knowledge in the industry and exactly knows the needs of its clients”

Christop Cudlik

“He has the best knowledge in his field in Austria. On top has excellent technical understanding.”

Christop Jirak

“High knowledge in public law but also of the involved authorities' practice”

“Highly motivated young lawyer.”

Johannes Stalzer

“24/7 availability, strong knowledge of critical infrastructure projects and tendering process, keeps deadline always, fair and clear statements, strong network in all related fields”

“His legal knowledge and experience is at the highest level. He is very intelligent. He communicates very well.”

Markus Piuk

“High responsiveness and a wide field of expertise makes him outstanding. A very easy to go with personality and always able to even keep little details for later discussions.”

“Very pragmatic M&A lawyer; very calm and focused on getting the deal done.”

“Great M&A lawyer, has lots of business sense and advises almost like an investment banker”

Nikola Babic

“Very good problem-solving skills and great focus on achieving results.”

Robert Bachner

“He understands combination of legal, business and tax to come up with appropriate solutions for every issue we needed his advice on. he is a great negotiator and personally dedicated. our group is also providing advisory services and we understand the need for commitment and dedication clients expect from us; he meets and exceeds all our expectations.”