The Swiss firm Walder Wyss boasts six locations across the country in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano and Zurich.
Focusses / specialisms
Walder Wyss is noted for its activity in banking and finance, capital markets and the M&A space.
The firm’s banking and finance involvement includes the financing of large-scale lending transactions and structured finance deals.
In the capital markets space, the firm emphasizes securitization matters in addition to attending to IPO’s on the equity side and bond programs on the debt side.
In M&A, the firm is noted for its representation of clients across industry sectors in a variety of regards.
Key clients
Key firm clients include Boehringer Ingelheim, Credit Suisse, Cembra Money Bank, Deutsche Private Equity, Naxicap, Nestlé and Valiant Bank.
Research period review: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Over the course of the research period, the firm’s banking and finance group attended to several financings representing both banks as lenders and other entities as borrowers. Borrower-side clients included leading European media and technology companies, as well as representatives from other industry sectors.
On the equity side of the capital markets practice, the firm was active as lead counsel to the issuer in a $1 billion spin-off IPO in addition to representing underwriters and issuers in capital increases. On the debt side, the firm represented several issuers from the automotive, private equity, insurance and other sectors in bond programs.
The firm’s M&A involvement pertained largely to buyer-side representation on acquisitions, though the team did also represent some sellers, as well as joint venture parties. The firm’s M&A clients hailed from a diversity of industries including industrials and manufacturing, real estate, healthcare and several others.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Boehringer Ingelheim€1.18 billion acquisition of NBE-Therapeutics
Swisscom 1 billion SFr financing
Swiss Life Holding 600 million SFr green bond issuance
Client Feedback:
33rd edition (2023/2024)
M&A
“Excellent SPA drafting, great availability and negotiation skills.2
“Reliable and efficient.”
“Great support during contract negotiation and deal structuring.”
“Knowledgeable and professional service. Straight to the point advice. Practical advice. Good availability. Transparent invoicing.”
“Very knowledgeable, very good overview across documents on the entire case, very swift turnover of documents, very approachable. Also very pragmatic and focused on finding solutions with all involved parties.”
“Very accurate legal advice, reliable as a Swiss watch. Very responsive, with quick answers.”
“Able to deal with challenges related to sanctioned assets.”
“Good availability; practical approach; straight to the point.”
“Extremely commercial and efficient lawyers. They deliver the highest calibre of professional advice.”
“Direct and open communication, fast reaction, effective process.”
Restructuring
“Very business-minded, in-depth knowledge of the industry and of the relevant contracts, pragmatic approach, good understanding of our business needs.”
“Their advice is always to the point, quick and supported by great commercial understanding.”
Luc Defferrard
“Super-commercial lawyer giving pragmatic advice.”
Hans-Jakob Diem
"Very competent, professional, hands-on and pleasant to work with."
Iliana Djagova
“Very present and accurate. Extremely positive attitude.”
Téo Genecand
"On the spot and robust legal assistance. Very strong knowledge of financial industry in general. Extremely smart, with impressive analytical skills.”
Urs Gnos
“Efficient, fast, responsive, deep knowledge.”
“Very responsive, great lawyer, very accurate, provides excellent legal solutions that work and bring the envisaged result; good in managing client relationships and incorporating the client's feedback.”
"Serious and experienced. Reliable."
Dominik Hohler
“Dominik is an impressive lawyer with a great commercial understanding, certainly one of the next gen leaders.”
Alexander Nikitine
Open and transparent communication, creative solution thinking, knowledgeable in their field.”
Thiemo Sturny
“Very open and transparent exchanges and excellent SPA drafting.”
“Very efficient and straightforward approach, very good responsiveness.”
Patrick Vogel
“Knowledgeable. Practical approach. Straight to the point advice. Good availability.”
“Hands-on' person; good availability; practical approach; good substance knowledge and gets things done.”
Ramona Wyss
“Great leader who involves her team on different topics very well. Always has the overview on the various topics we worked with in parallel.”
“Very broad and deep knowledge of relevant legal questions, of our business needs and of the industry.”
