ODDO BHF is an independent European financial group operating in the areas of private wealth management, asset management, and corporates and markets. Through the ODDO BHF Equities platform, it offers banks and asset managers a research and brokerage tool with an outstanding market position in relation to equities from issuers in the Benelux countries, France, Germany and Spain.

The Austrian branch commenced operations on 3 February 2025. 

CERHA HEMPEL advised ODDO BHF SCA on the acquisition of assets and the transfer of service contracts to the client through a partial transfer of operations relating to equity research and trading, which culminated in the establishment of the Austrian branch of ODDO BHF SCA. 

The advice included, among other things, the transfer of the relevant employment and customer contracts on the basis of an asset purchase agreement and a cooperation agreement, which addressed corporate law issues related to the transfer of assets, including advice on Austrian collective and individual labour law. The advice provided to the client focused on the entire regulatory passporting (notification) of the branch from France to Austria (with the exception of money laundering issues), the registration of the notified branch in the commercial register, as well as issues regarding the branch's regulatory reporting obligations to the Austrian National Bank and the Financial Market Authority. Furthermore, a sanity check was carried out on merger control, antitrust and FDI issues. Finally, the branch was advised on its membership of the Austrian Bankers' Association.

The team at CERHA HEMPEL was headed by Dr. Peter Knobl (Partner, Banking & Finance, Capital Markets, Financial Services Regulatory) and included Mag. Heinrich Foglar-Deinhardstein, LL.M. (Partner, Corporate M&A), Mag. Jakob Hartig LL.M. (Partner, Corporate M&A), Mag. Christopher Peitsch (Partner, Employment Law), Dr. Anna Wolf-Posch, LL.M. (Partner, Competition, FDI and Merger Control), Mag. Zakar Stepanyan (Senior Associate, Competition, FDI and Merger Control) and Isabella Patt LL.M. (Associate Corporate M&A).

CERHA HEMPEL
With offices in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, CERHA HEMPEL is one of Austria's largest and most renowned law firms. For more than nine decades, CERHA HEMPEL has been developing creative and groundbreaking solutions for its clients, as well as providing them with a personal service and expertise in the following areas: antitrust and competition, banking and finance, capital markets, corporate law, data protection and IT, distribution, employment law, insolvency and restructuring, IP and unfair competition, litigation and arbitration, mergers and acquisitions, private clients and trusts, private equity and venture capital, public commercial and European law, real estate and construction, tax law, and white collar crime.

CERHA HEMPEL has won numerous awards and is a member of Lex Mundi – The World’s Leading Association of Independent Law Firms.