IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

The "tiger economy of Europe", in the words of one partner, has had a resilient banking sector. Much of this is due to Sweden having had its major banking crisis in the early nineties. None of the major banks active in the market - Nordea, Handelsbanken, SEB, Swedbank, DnB NOR Bank - needed government support and some of the Swedish banks even refused the state guarantee schemes.

The notable change was that international banks such as RBS and Citibank have diminished their presence in the market. "Until November 2010 foreign banks were not very interested but now they are back... but they haven't seemed very aggressive," says one partner.

Local investment bank HQ Bank folded, mainly as a result of derivatives valuations says one partner, and was subsequently merged into Carnegie Investment Bank after the FSA had withdrawn HQ Bank's license to keep trading. "Carnegie is now looking good, though some people still argue there is stuff in the walls," says a partner.

SEB and Swedbank both incurred losses due to their investments in the Baltics. One partner says: "Our financial crisis was 1991-92, after that the banking system was restructured. Banks had done things they promised never to do again, so they went to the Baltics and did it again." Another says: "It was a ticking bomb for these banks and rumour was that they were balancing on the edge for a while."

All in all, firms have been busy on refinancings and restructurings. "A fair chunk of the work has been refinancing, in 2005 many loans were given with five year maturities," explains a partner.

"Over the last year the transactions market picked up again, with corporate deals, private equity, real estate is even coming back and there is a backlog in restructurings" says a lawyer. "Scandinavian banks have a good appetite, they are more active but the leverage is much more sensible, not like the crazy years of 2006/7," the partner adds. Firms note that 2011 has seen a "shift from refinancing to new financing in auctions, but the first quarter was slower than expected and took longer to get started".

One partner assesses the year as "busier than the market in general". On the projects side, Sweden has a small public-private partnerships (PPP) market, but 2010/2011 did the see the second major PPP come through for the construction of the Nya Karolinska Solna University Hospital.

Banking and finance is what Cederquist is known for in the Swedish market. "Successful and appreciated by banks," says a peer. In-house counsels from banks consistently rate the firm as one of the top three.

Clients praise Magnus Lindstedt for financial regulatory work. "He was very up to date with regulations, more than others," says a client from a leading investment bank, "he was breaking new ground on the deal and was competent not only on Swedish regulations but also on regulations in Luxembourg and Denmark". Lindstedt handled a list of regulatory matters for clients such as Carnegie Bank, Mertzig Asset Management for Ucits (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferrable Securities) regulations and Pioneer Global Investments.

Another client says the firm has "great knowledge and expertise, in terms of their specialities and services we were very happy with what they could provide". The firm is a favourite of international firms in the local counsel role.

Mattias Larsson led a team to advise Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Company alongside Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on a €1.34 billion financing for its acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation from Ford, and acted for arranger and lender Swedbank on the €692 million of acquisition financing to Nordic Capital for its public offer for Munters.

Johan Lundberg led a team to advise Swedbank and SEB Bank on a €463 million facility to Investor for its acquisition of Aleris Holding. Lundberg was also the Swedish counsel to EQT in financing for its acquisition of Dometic International.

Practice head Svante Hultqvist and Larsson were engaged by Handelsbanken, SEB Bank, and RBS on their €580 million financing to media company Eniro and worked for SEB Bank and Danske Bank on its €1.5 billion facility to listed medical company Meda.

Mannheimer is a solid top tier firm in all walks of corporate finance. "I find it very good," says one long standing client, "I have always seen quality in delivery, we use them for financing and documentation on syndicated loans and they are strong across the board."

"We have used Mannheimer for transactions in faraway places like Hong Kong and even Singapore," says a client, "we always go through them and it works well", while more locally another client praises the firm's Malmö office for being "especially good in infrastructure". Leading lawyer André Andersson is highly recommended by competitors. In January 2011 the firm lost two very well regarded senior associates to Roschier, namely Christoffer Andersson and Harem Mahir.

In a prestigious deal, Andersson led a team to advise a group of Scandinavian governments on a €1.9 billion loan to the Latvian state. Another highlight deal saw Zoran Stambolovski and Jan Kansmark advise Stockholm County Council on a $2.3 billion public-private partnership (PPP) with Swedish Hospital Partners, which includes Skanska and British investment fund Innisfree, to develop, build, operate, maintain and finance the Nya Karolinska Solna University Hospital.

Elsewhere, Andersson acted for DnB NOR, Nordea and SEB for a $953 million refinancing of forestry company Bergvik Skog and Jan Dernestam represented Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) on the $125 million financing from DnB NOR Bank, Nordea and Handelsbanken,

Daniel Karlsson advised Nordea Bank on a $1.03 billion refinancing of entertainment group Modern Times Group, and an SEB and Nordea Bank led syndicate on a $636 million refinancing to Saab.

Vinge's reputation in banking is a bit more mixed although its position is rarely questioned. According to competitors the firm has a borrower practice predominantly, while it is active for lenders on the local counsel side.

The firm has taken some knocks to its reputation as clients and peers note that there have been some personnel changes of late. One of these was Hans Wibom, who was reputedly a key link with one of the firm's major client Investor. However, says a client, "they have good people, a good reputation and can attract good people". Another says that "as a local firm they have a strong advantage for local deals, they do good work with a high level of precision".

Fabian Ekeblad advised forestry company Bergvik Skog on an $870 million refinancing of a revolving credit facility through a club loan and a government guaranteed facility and also acted as local counsel alongside Danish firm Gorrissen Federspiel for HSH Nordbank on a $350 million financial restructuring of property group Allokton.

Mikael Ståhl advised The Marginalen Group on a highly leveraged $378 million bridge financing from SEB for its acquisition of Citibank's Swedish consumer business. A high profile deal saw Maria-Pia Hope act for a syndicate of international banks alongside Clifford Chance on the financing for the Nya Karolinska University Hospital public-private partnership (PPP), only the second PPP after the rail link to the international airport.

Hope also advised The Swedish National Debt Office as guarantor of a complex project financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Volvo to advance manufacturing facilities for 'greener' cars.

G&D comes recommended by commentators as "very high quality" for international work and in the regulatory sphere, where it advises banks including Nordea, SEB and Swedbank. The firm drafted the Ucits (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferrable Securities) regulations and is strong on investment funds and hedge funds.

Tobias Larsson recently advised the listed company Eniro on a $794 million refinancing transaction. Niklas Rockborn and Marcus Johansson won a mandate from the China Construction Bank on its $200 million acquisition finance facility for Geely's acquisition of the Volvo Car group.

Johansson also worked on a $320 million acquisition financing for Providence Equity Partners for its cash bid on education company AcadeMedia, one of the highlight deals in the market. Capital markets lawyer Dick Lundqvist also led on banking deals, and in one engagement advised private investment company Nordstjernan on a $320 million revolving credit agreement with a Swedish bank.

Counsel Tobias Edenman acted for a company owned by Norwegian property fund Fortin group with renegotiating two property financings of $153 million and $320 million. The firm added a new member to its partnership in September 2010 with Candra Torebring.

Roschier has been in the market for a number of years and competitors note that "they have been very successful in establishing themselves in the top echelons of law firms in Sweden". "They are building a strong practice and are coming up, we see them a lot and also on asset-backed financing," says a peer.

The firm has aggressive growth plans and in January 2011 it kicked off the year with two strong hires from Mannheimer Swartling: senior associates Christoffer Andersson, who comes highly recommended by peers, and Harem Mahir. In 2011 the firm also appointed two new partners in Joakim Wedlund, who joined from Danske Bank in 2009, and Johan Häger, a banking and finance specialist.

Fredrik Rydin led on most of the high profile deals. In a sign of the firm's position in the market Rydin and Wedlund won a mandate from Swedish blue-chip Investor on a senior facility's agreement arranged by SEB and Swedbank for the financing of its acquisition of Aleris from EQT.

Another highlight saw Rydin and team represent Altor Equity Partners on the biggest private equity transaction in the energy sector in 2010. The team advised Altor's Swedish fund Altor Fund III on the financing of its acquisition of a 90.5% stake in EON ES Sverige. Rydin and team also advised 3i Group in February 2011 on financing for its acquisition of Finnish healthcare company OneMed Group from CapMan.

Another deal highlight saw Häger advise Volvo on a complex project financing transaction from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and guaranteed by government. The firm was also engaged by Nordea Bank and DnB Nor Bank.

The firm keeps its position in the rankings. It is best known for its private equity practice, with large clients such as Nordic Capital. In June 2011 the firm boosted its banking practice with the hire of partner Carl Hugo Parment from DnB NOR Bank.

In recent banking deals, Magnus Wennerhorn acted for Nordea Bank as senior arranger and agent on the financing for EQT's €260 million acquisition of AcadeMedia in July 2010. Lennart Pettersson also acted Nordic Capital on the acquisition finance for its purchase of Handicare Group of companies.

Ashurst's banking expertise is spearheaded by former Vinge lawyer and SEB Bank in house counsel Mats Rooth. He "deserves a high individual ranking and still does quite a lot of work for SEB Bank" says a leading lawyer.

Clients are very pleased with the firm and impressed with Rooth's elephantine memory. "They have been ramping up recently and Rooth is very much involved in any deals he takes," says a client adding: "he knows all the details of the deal and if you work with him he will remember the details of the deals for years after, it's scary!"

Rooth is especially strong on leveraged financing, acquisition finance and shipping finance.

Hammarskiöld & Co has built its name in the market for asset financing and mezzanine financing. It has a strong foothold among mezzanine houses.

The firm trades off a strong brand name and a good track record on high value transactions over the past decade.

Hannes Snellman moves up this year and there is more than a strong chance it will continue in its ascendency. "It has been a fantastic success story", says one competitor. Clients also like the firm: "I like them a lot, they are easy to work with; we used Fredrik Madani who worked really well with me and with the opposing side which was a private equity firm, and he has a good team with fairly young associates".

Hannes has been hiring ruthlessly in the past years and most recently has focused on its junior bench, with some success according to peers. "It is one of the most popular firms for new entrants," says a partner, "they are up and coming with a positive outlook, they've built a fairly stable team... great at media relations".

It already has a strong profile in capital markets and M&A and its financing arm had a fortuitous year, backing winning bidders in a number of public acquisitions to secure acquisition financing mandates and to win key sector clients.

One exemplary deal saw Paula Röttorp, a former Vinge senior associate and now partner at Hannes, Madani and Ludvig Blomqvist advise Nordea and Proventus Capital on the acquisition financing to a confidential group which successfully bid to buy an internet travel agency. The deal resulted in a string of follow up loans for business expansion and a second acquisition of Scanworld, where Hannes continued to advise Nordea and Proventus, both of which are key financing players.

Hannes also landed one of the largest LBO financings of 2010, when Madani and Jon Cohen acted for Triton in the acquisition of healthcare company Ambea. In the deal, Triton, working with KKR, won a bid to acquire the pan-Nordic Ambea and Hannes advised on LBO financing.

The firm won a number of other interesting deals, among them advising Nordea on acquisition financing to Axcel in February 2011 and acting for Finans on the financing of new buses for the Stockholm area.

According to its own competitors Lindahl is pushing the boundary of tier three and may well be on the ascendency. It is certainly one of the strongest when it comes to acquisition financing in real estate and insolvency related work.

The firm has been putting its fingers in more pies recently, including private equity financing and project financing, and in 2010 alone it closed four wind park financings with a total value of €170 million. The firm also won a mandate from a group of banks to advise on a €261 million financing to wind energy producer O2 Vind, although the deal was finally pulled.

In August 2010 the firm closed one of the largest wind parks financings of 2010, with Jesper Johansson acting for Commerzbank €64 million facilities agreement to build and operate Ytterberg wind farm.

Property deals remained the firm's big highlights however, with Johansson advising the borrowers (with borrowers and lenders being confidential) on the largest real estate M&A in 2010 in Europe, valued at €598 million and spanning a number of northern European countries. Johansson also advised Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Aareal Bank as mandated lead arrangers and original lenders in relation to a €196 million capex and term facilities agreement for the acquisition of commercial property, marking one of 2010's biggest real estate portfolio work-outs.

Partner Peter Bäverlid is a key player at the firm especially on project financing related to the off-shore and shipping industries. Lars-Henrik Andersson heads the department.

Linklaters gets an extraordinary mix of feedback in the market and the only certainty that emerges from the clamour is that when it is involved in banking deals, they are usually the big ones and they do a good job.

The firm has one partner, Per Nyberg, and seven associates plus, of course, access to a global network which can offer support which competitors simply cannot.

According to one banking client, the firm has "provided valuable assistance and first class legal advice; they have a number of competencies for a law firm and I put a high value to their expertise and good profound legal knowledge".

Examples of recent work include winning the instruction from senior lenders to advise on financing to EQT V for its €1.31 billion acquisition of the Dometic Group. The deal included a €720 million loan from a club of Nordic banks and a €200 million bridge to structurally subordinated PIK high yield notes from Goldman Sachs, the first since 2007. While the financing agreement was completed, the acquisition did not go through in the end. Partners Nyberg and Jörgen Axelsson worked on the deal which was led out of London by partner Gideon Moore.

Another big deal saw Nyberg lead a team to advise Carlyle Group on the €91 million financing for the acquisition of two shopping centres in Sweden from the Boultbee Group.

In significant deals on behalf of Swedish banks, Nyberg advised Nordea Bank, Svenska Handelsbanken and SEB on a €218 million revolving credit facility to the listed investment company Aktiebolaget Industrivärden and assisted Svenska Handelsbanken (in a club of lenders) on a €400 million multi-currency revolving facility to the listed Holmen.

Other clients included borrower Assa Abloy for financing of its €1.23 billion tender offer for Cardo.

Managing associate Dennis Hansson supports Nyberg on most of the deals.

Setterwalls has a broad finance bench with niche expertise in areas including shipping and aircraft finance and insurance and banking regulatory. The firm has four former Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in-house counsel, most recently reinforced by the hire of partner Magnus Eriksson in 2009. In 2010 it also hired associate Jesper Kuschel from Mannheimer Swartling.

Many of the Setterwalls' standout deals illustrate an ability to work alongside law firms across a number of European jurisdictions and in this way the team claims some high value financing mandates on behalf of a diverse range of clients.

For example, partner Håkan Fohlin supported Slaughter and May to advise the Icelandic orthopedic company Össur Group on a $231 million loan from ING Bank, SEB and Nordea Bank. The deal then led to the firm being retained by Össur to work with Dutch lead counsel CMS Derks Star Busman in relation to a group restructuring.

In another deal, Fohlin worked with Norwegian firm Schjødt to advise Visma on €662 million multi-currency and term revolving facilities agreement with DnB NOR Bank to fund growth. Einarsson then partnered up with German lead counsel Hengeler Mueller to advise Phoenix Pharmahandel, Europe's second largest pharmaceutical wholesaler, and its Swedish subsidiary Tamro on a €2.6 billion syndicated loan and €500 million high yield bond issuance.

New recruit Kuschel led on one deal for Logistikfastigheter Fast Food to refinance a portfolio of logistics companies valued at €109 million. The financing party was DnB NOR. The firm also advises clients including the Swedish Central Bank and Export Credit Board, the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund and SAS.

Åke Fors heads the department.

Törngren Magnell is newly listed in the rankings this year. In the words of one competitor: "I see them in banking and finance; if I have a conflict of interest I would send work to them - they are doing tier two transactions with tier one quality".

Speaking of the rankings, another peer says the firm is "chasing Setterwalls, Baker & McKenzie and Wistrand". The core of the firm is a former part of the Vinge finance department and the firm is recognised for its work on behalf of banks and borrowers. Indeed, the firm has been winning mandates in acquisition and project finance and has won over considerable clients including Kommuninvest, Standard Chartered and Nordea Bank.

The firm scored a top class deal in January 2011, with Cecilia Rudels advising Vattenfall on a new syndicated multi-currency revolving credit facility for €2.55 billion from a group of 20 international banks including Société Générale. The deal was the largest revolving credit facility arranged in Sweden at the time.

In September 2010 Tobhias Brandell advised Litorina Kapital on a complex acquisition financing, given the number of shareholders on the sell side, for its acquisition of ECO-Boråstapeter.

The firm won a share of the property financing and refinancing market, advising Myrtleville on the refinancing of a property purchased in 2007 and Jernhusen, a state owned real estate player, to refinance a €710 million revolving facility from Nordea Bank.

A final interesting deal saw Brandell act for Beechbrook Capital and Pohjola Private Equity on mezzanine financing of Intera Equity Partner's acquisition of a majority interest in Polarica. The deal completed in November 2010 and was Beechbrook's first Nordic deal.

Wistrand's Monica Petersson, Ulf Forsman and Tommy Grönberg between them represent the core banking and finance expertise of the firm.

One banking and export finance client is impressed "with the strength of some of the partners; they have some really good lawyers... [with] great knowledge about our firm and our sector and they are well connected". The client was very impressed with Petersson and Forsman.

The three partners handled a number of exemplary deals throughout 2010-11 however most details remained confidential. Some of the clients however are not confidential, among them Citibank, Swedbank, Akademiska Hus, Ericsson, Landshypotek and the European Investment Bank (EIB), with the latter being one of Wistrand's long standing and regular clients.

Petersson and Forsman recently advised the EIB on at least one high value mandate which comprised a €388 million financing to Volvo Car Corporation. The facility was guaranteed by the Swedish state.

As far as deals go, the trio handled a good share of real estate acquisition financing and refinancings, project financings in the telecom sector and other diverse financings including insolvency related financing and distressed debt work.

Under Nils Alpman, Peter Helle and Anne-Marie Pouteaux the firm offers expertise in funds, regulatory matters and ISDA transactions.

This year Delphi has started to make a strong bid for the tiers, especially given the calibre of recent lateral hires. The firm has a strong profile especially in banking regulatory, often finding itself advising on Swedish aspects of cross-border deals, and in acquisition financing.

In October 2010 the team hired Erica Johansson, formerly of Mayer Brown London and Allen & Overy London. The hire adds value in regulatory, UCITs and funds related work and has already paid dividends, with Johansson advising clients including Analytic Investors and Morgan Stanley.

Clients give positive feedback of the firm and are also very impressed with Johansson. "She did a lot of work on the documentation and on the structure of the deal," says a client from an international bank, who also opines that the firm is especially strong in "investments into hedge funds, credit and payments with risks associates typically in various jurisdictions, very complex trades and securities".

In one deal in May 2011, Johansson worked alongside Allen & Overy and Stibbe to advise Prostrakan on the Swedish aspects of pan European prepayment, cancellation of facilities and release of securities matters.

Clas Romander, who joined in 2006 from White & Case, and partner Per Lagerkvist remain the key high profile bank and finance partners. In standout work, Lagerkvist led a team to advise Riverside Europe Partners on acquisition financing from Kaupthing Bank Sweden for what was one of the largest acquisitions in the Nordic region. He was also mandated by ProSiebenSat1 to advise on aspects of the € 4.6 billion acquisition of SBS Broadcasting Group.

Lagerkvist also recently worked for Commerzbank on the Swedish aspects of a €1.36 billion acquisition financing to Nordzucker for its acquisition of the Danisco Group. In the deal, he handled certain pledges that the acquisition vehicle made to the Swedish government in relation to sugar subsidies and financing arrangements.

Romander for his part was kept busy by Länsförsäkringar Bank, which he was advising on regulatory issues.

A finale worthy example of work saw Göran Karlsson advise Bixia as borrower on a €176 million facility agreement from Swedbank.

Gärde Wesslau's banking team is led by Hans-Göran Frick.

Through 2010-11 the firm received instructions from clients including Nordea Bank and Danske Bank on various deals including ship and aircraft financings. The firm has also been busy on debt buy-back transactions and refinancing work. The firm is currently trying to expand its borrower practice.

Håkan Lindgren heads up Kilpatrick's banking and finance team. The firm has an especially strong real estate borrower practice but it also represents banks, such as Eurohypo, on real estate deals and works on trade finance, general banking and regulatory for clients including Crédit Agricole.

The firm was also advising Société Générale on asset financing and local bank Swedbank on restructuring of its global non-performing loan portfolio.

In 2011, the team won a new client in Areim. Lindgren and Joakim Johansson worked alongside two other counsel (global and national) to advise Areim as borrower of high value loans to refinance a property portfolio and to finance real estate acquisitions.

The pair also advised Niam Funds as borrower on a property portfolio acquisition finance, while on the lender side partner Tord Svensson acted for ING Real Estate's European Shopping Centre Fund on the financing of its first Scandinavian acquisition, for a considerable amount.

In a non-real estate deal, Lindgren advised Crédit Agricole on credit facilities forwarded to Ukrainian subsidiaries of a major Swedish car manufacturer and guarantees under ISDA documentation.