Consistently recommended by competitors, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner makes its first appearance in the rankings this year. For peers, the name of the firm is synonymous with head partner Markus Fellner....
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Consistently recommended by competitors, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner makes its first appearance in the rankings this year. For peers, the name of the firm is synonymous with head partner Markus Fellner. A favourite of the banks, restructuring expert Fellner is often mandated on distressed cases. "They are quite narrow," was one lawyer's remark while some competitors suggest that the firm has definitely come to prominence since the crisis.
In one on-going deal, Fellner is advising Erste Bank Group on the restructuring of the €800 million financing granted to A-Tec Industries in what is Austria's third biggest bankruptcy ever. Fellner has also been active for Hypo Investment bank, refinancing real estate portfolios in Germany.
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Ranked for the first year, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner appears on the back of unanimous market opinion and a significant level of activity. Competitors are, however, quick to point out that the firm occupies a very specific niche in the market....
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Ranked for the first year, Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner appears on the back of unanimous market opinion and a significant level of activity. Competitors are, however, quick to point out that the firm occupies a very specific niche in the market. "I respect them a lot, we see him [Markus Fellner] a lot in distressed transactions," says one lawyer and another agrees: "On straight M&A we do not see them much. They come in on the distressed angle and often on the bank side."
In line with the market name partner Markus Fellner advised on several deals, born out of the need to raise capital, including OMV on the sale of its subsidiary OMV Wärmevertriebs to a bank consortium in 2010. The oil and gas company retained an 11% stake. Fellner also advised on the sale of 130 Austrian gas stations and its Italian subsidiary, which consisted of 100 gas stations.
Also in the energy sector, a team advised another Austrian oil and gas company, Rohöl-Aufsuchungs, on acquiring a 26% interest in the Polish oil and gas exploration company Saponis from BNK Petroleum.
Fellner was also active on the restructuring of Constantia Privatbank, which involved a structured selling process of the bank's assets. In order to minimise risks, Fellner engaged the 'bad bank' principle for the first time in Austria. The bad bank held all risks and nonperforming loans on the part of Constantia Privatbank so the business could be sold without any risk for the purchasers.
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