Category: Austria

E+H has advised Austrian clinical-stage biotechnology company Affiris on its exclusive license agreement with Frontier Biotechnologies to develop and commercialize the Affitope AT04 hypercholesterolemia treatment on the Chinese market. Sonn Patentanwalte and Advant Beiten reportedly also advised Affiris.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval. Affiris will retain the rights to AT04 outside China.

According to E+H, Frontier Biotechnologies is a publicly-traded Chinese commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company.

“Affiris’ proprietary compound Affitope AT04 is a potential candidate for first-in-class active immunotherapy targeting PCSK9. The efficacy of this therapy was recently confirmed in a large phase 1 clinical trial,” the firm informed. “Hypercholesterolemia is a chronic disease associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide. The collaboration with Frontier Biotechnologies now enables AT04 to be further developed as a cost-effective and patient-friendly treatment alternative in China.”

“This collaboration further validates our Affitome technology platform,” Affiris CEO Noel Barrett commented. “It fuels our ongoing efforts to license AT04 globally as we see a growing need for efficacious treatments in hypercholesterolemia.”

The E+H team was led by Partner Marco Steiner and Attorney Johannes Feilmair and included Partners Jana Eichmeyer and Judith Feldner and Associates Fabian Larcher and Alexander Reiter.

Irene Welser has been promoted to Senior Partner at Cerha Hempel, replacing former Senior Partner Edith Hlawati.

Specializing in litigation and arbitration, Welser has been with the firm since 1992. Welser is the Head of the firm’s Litigation Team.

“With our new Senior Partner, we will continue building on the firm’s success to date with the involvement of all partners and consolidate Cerha Hempel’s position among the leading law firms in Austria and in CEE in the long term,” Cerha Hempel Managing Partners Albert Birkner and Clemens Hasenauer commented.

Former Senior Partner Hlawati has joined OEBAG Management Board in Austria as of February 1, 2022 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on September 7, 2021).

On November 12, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that Cerha Hempel had advised Energy Exchange Austria and its cooperation with CCP Austria on the restructuring of the clearing of spot market trading in electric power products on the Vienna Stock Exchange and on the transfer of the central counterparty function from EXAA to CCP Austria. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Jurgen Wahl, CEO at EXAA, to learn more about the matter.

CEEIHM: To start, tell us about Energy Exchange Austria and about its cooperation with CCP Austria.

Wahl: Since 2002 Energy Exchange Austria, is Austria’s leading energy exchange for spot market energy products with numerous domestic and international customers and offering a cross-border product portfolio. As a power exchange and nominated electricity market operator (NEMO), we offer on behalf of Vienna Stock Exchange market participants neutral and non-discriminatory access to the uniform European Single Day-Ahead Market Coupling Auction as well as access to EXAAs unique local auction in Austria and Germany plus a green market auction. We thereby guarantee fair price discovery in line with market practices and as a competence center and knowledge transfer agent, we additionally provide our know-how on the energy market through training courses and consulting projects.

To continue to grow sustainably as an attractive partner for all players in the European Energy Market, EXAA continuously strives to leverage innovation potential. On November 9, 2021 EXAA, therefore, outsourced its clearing and risk management to CCP Austria, which provides modern, safe, and efficient state-of-the-art clearing and risk management services for the energy market. Market participants benefit from risk reduction and efficient margin requirements as well as from a modern service package. Together with CCP Austria, EXAA, and CCP Austria are well prepared for the further development of the European internal market for electricity.

CEEIHM: As CEELM reported, Cerha Hempel advised Energy Exchange Austria and its cooperation with CCP Austria on the restructuring of the clearing of spot market trading in electric power products on the Vienna Stock Exchange. What did this restructuring entail exactly and why was it needed?

Wahl: Clearing and settlement is an essential part of the execution of bids/orders and auctions at an exchange and is regulatory, financially, and, above all, technically challenging.

Therefore, the assignment of CCP Austria and the outsourcing of the clearing and settlement tasks was a correspondingly sensitive and intensive project, which was successfully completed by a large part of the internal teams of EXAA and CCP.A, and active support of numerous external partners. In addition to the challenge of expanding the activities and services of CCP.A in accordance with EMIR Regulation No 648/2012 and the complete establishment of energy clearing and settlement at CCP.A in accordance with CACM Regulation No 2015/1222, including considerable financial and technical requirements and bilateral agreements, EXAA had to prepare this restructuring and transfer in parallel in accordance with the provisions of the Stock Exchange Act and CACM as well. It was necessary for EXAA to adopt a large number of contracts with partners and all contracts with customers, further it was required to completely revise EXAAs general terms and conditions and the rules and regulations for both auctions.

CEEIHM: According to the firm, “considerable adjustments [were] required as a result of changes to the settlement structure in the Austrian electricity trading spot market.” What were the most challenging changes from a legal perspective?

Wahl: We operate in a highly regulated area and the requirements were equally high. This included extensive cooperation with numerous governmental authorities from the perspective of the stock exchange, energy, and financial law and, in addition to the timely conclusion of a large number of private law contracts with partners but also especially all our customers, certainly represented the greatest legal challenge. In particular, the exact coordination of external and internal processes, service providers, contractual partners, and authorities was challenging – after all, clearing and settlement had to be precisely converted from one day to the next. Thanks to the intensive efforts of our teams, but also especially to the efficient cooperation with the various regulatory authorities, we were able to successfully complete the project in time.

CEEIHM: How did you split the legal work between your in-house function and your external advisors?

Wahl: The time constraints for a project of such size and complexity were very challenging. Thanks to many years of cooperation and trust, we were able to manage the workload with all parties involved to successfully meet the envisaged milestones and targets. 

CEEIHM: And why did you pick Cerha Hempel as your counsel on this matter?

Wahl: Cerha Hempel’s Banking & Finance Partner Peter Knobl is a well-renowned expert and he has been supporting EXAA for many years with regards to the stock exchange law and the relevant regulations (MiFID II, EMIR, REMIT, CACM-VO). Due to the long-standing cooperation and high expertise of Knobl, we didn’t hesitate to enlist his support for this project as well and were very pleased with our cooperation and substantial inputs.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

E+H has advised Oesterreichische Glasfaser-Infrastrukturgesellschaft on its cooperation with Lower Austria’s Breitband Holding for the expansion of the fiber-optic network in the province.

Closing took place in December 2021. 

OEGIG is an Austrian technology and infrastructure company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Allianz Group. The company plans, builds, finances, and operates fiber-to-the-home fiber networks in underserved communities in Austria. Allianz is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management.

Breitband Holding operates in the technology hardware markets.

According to E+H, “the joint venture between OEGIG and Breitband Holding will be responsible for the comprehensive planning and construction of the fiber-optic network. In the future, different providers of internet services will be able to offer their products on the open network. The planned investment volume of the cooperation now agreed on amounts to a total of around EUR 500 million. The intention is to establish up to 200,000 additional fiber-optic connections in rural regions of Lower Austria.”

The E+H team included Partners Clemens Lanschutzer, Ulrike Sehrschoen, Judith Feldner, and Laurenz Liedermann, Attorney Arndt Blaschka, and Associates Wolfgang Koefer, Johannes Helm, and Titus Kahr.

E+H could not provide further information on the deal.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Volkswagen and its automotive software subsidiary Cariad on their engineering cooperation with Bosch in the field of automated driving.

According to Freshfields, the “aim of the alliance is to make partially and highly automated driving available to the broad mass of consumers. So-called level 2 “hands-free” systems are to be made available for vehicles of the Volkswagen Group’s brand groups – which will allow drivers to temporarily take their hands off the steering wheel. In addition, a system is planned in which the vehicle takes over all driving functions on the freeway (SAE level 3). The first of these functions is to be installed already in 2023.”

According to the firm, “for partially and highly automated driving, the two companies will jointly develop a state-of-the-art, standardized software platform. The aim is to use this platform in all privately used vehicle classes sold under Volkswagen Group brands – and thus in one of the world’s biggest vehicle fleets. It will also be possible to integrate all the component parts developed by the alliance in other automakers’ vehicles and ecosystems.”

Freshfields’ team included Partner Bertram Burtscher, Counsel Lutz Riede, Principal Associate Maria-Luise Fellner, and Associates Boris Klimpfinger, Estella Dannhausen, and Miriam Benmoussa.

Freshfields did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Armin Schwabl and Nadine Leitner have been promoted to Partner at Cerha Hempel.

Former Counsel Armin Schwabl has become a Partner in the firm’s Public Commercial & European Law team. He specializes in public commercial law, data protection, and regulatory litigation.

Schwabl joined Cerha Hempel in 2013 as an Associate, being promoted to Attorney in 2015 and Counsel in 2020. Before joining the firm, he spent almost two years as an Associate with Covington & Burling’s Brussels office. Prior to that, he spent over a year with Graf & Pitkowitz, also as an Associate.

Nadine Leitner, former Attorney, was appointed Partner in the Takeover & Antitrust team of Cerha Hempel. Her practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, company law, foundation law, and venture capital. She has been with the firm for her entire career.

“We’re delighted that Nadine Leitner and Armin Schwabl have rightfully been made partners of our firm,” Managing Partner Albert Birkner commented.

CMS Partners Johannes Juranek and Gunther Hanslik have taken over the management responsibilities of the firm’s Vienna office on February 1, 2022. Juranek specializes in data protection while Hanslik focuses on banking.

Juranek and Hanslik have been elected by the firm’s Partners as Managing Partners for the next three years. Juranek had already been managing the firm for the past three years.

According to CMS, Juranek will be responsible for “IT and the development of new innovative technical tools over the next three years and continue to represent the company in the CMS global Executive Committee. Hanslik will be responsible for human resources, marketing & communications, business development in both Austria and the company’s locations in the CEE countries. The financial area is jointly supervised by the two.”

“New technologies and digital offers are of great importance to our clients and appreciated by companies and public authorities alike,” Juranek commented. “In recent years, we have repeatedly proven that we are among the market leaders in the digitalization area. We want to further strengthen this position and expand it in all areas.” 

“We are constantly improving the quality of our services,” Hanslik said. “All employees have been actively involved in our process of change as we set course for a thriving future together.”

According to the firm, the new management will also focus on the topics of sustainability, increased CEE integration, and diversity. “At CMS, we are mindful of resources in all departments,” Hanslik added. “We are also the first law firm to have an eco-profit certificate.”

Former Counsels Stefan Frank and Georg Wabl have been promoted to Partner at Binder Groesswang. Partner Angelika Pallwein-Prettner is set to join the firm’s Management Board.

Frank, who has been with the firm since 2008, is a banking & finance specialist. He has a master’s degree in law, as well as a PhD, from the University of Vienna and an LLM degree from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.

“Stefan Frank’s extensive range and depth of legal expertise and his personal commitment to our clients are impressive,” Partner Stephan Heckenthaler said. “We are very pleased to have him further strengthen our banking & finance practice group in the field of regulatory law as a Partner.”

With Binder Groesswang since 2017, Wabl becomes a Partner with the restructuring and insolvency team. Prior to joining the firm, he spent four and a half years with ScherbaumSeebacher Rechtsanwalte. He holds an LLM degree from Queen Mary University in London.

“I am very happy to welcome Georg as a new Partner at Binder Groesswang,” Partner Gottfried Gassner said. “With his enthusiasm for his profession and his extensive legal expertise, he is a great enrichment for the firm and its restructuring & insolvency team. It will be a pleasure to continue working with Georg and the rest of the team on exciting cases in the future.”

Partner Angelika Pallwein-Prettner, an employment law expert, has joined the management board of Binder Groesswang. According to the firm, Pallwein-Prettner, who has been with Binder Groesswang since 2005 and became a Partner in 2015, also specializes in data protection law.

“The management structure we set up two years ago has proven its worth,” Managing Partner Andreas Hable commented. “By strengthening the Board through the addition of Angelika Pallwein-Prettner we will further increase our capacity to effectively pursue our strategic goals.”

Brandl Talos, working with Willkie Farr & Gallagher, has advised Quadrille and Insight Partners on a USD 69 million Series B financing round in PlanRadar. Grohs Hofer advised PlanRadar.

“Since launching in Austria in 2013, PlanRadar has swiftly established itself as Europe’s leading property technology solution, with a full-service construction and real estate management platform,” Brandl Talos informed. “The new funding will support PlanRadar on its international expansion and technological development.”

PlanRadar is a Vienna-headquartered platform for construction documentation and defect management in real estate projects.

Brandl Talos and Grohs Hofer previously advised on Insight Partners Series A investment in PlanRadar (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 12, 2020).

The Brandl Talos team was led by Partner Roman Rericha and Attorney-at-Law Stephan Strass and included Attorney-at-Law Adrian Zuschmann and Associate Elena Ciresa.

The Grohs Hofer team included Partner Matthias Pusch.

The Willkie Farr & Gallagher team included Partner Stephanie Moran.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner has advised Austria’s OBB Infrastruktur on an environmental impact assessment for the new high-speed railway line between Schaftenau and Radfeld, in Austria.

According to FWP, “with the basic approval in hand, which is now final, the next few steps towards the realization of this large-scale project can now be taken. Currently, the documents for the detailed approval procedure are being prepared for the related proceedings to start in 2022. The second construction phase of the new OBB line in Unterinntal comprises approximately 20.5 kilometers of new track. Of those, more than 14 kilometers are in tunnels.”

FWP’s team included Partner Michael Hecht and Attorney Josef Peer.