Corporate Law

We advise public and private companies, including SMEs and family businesses, on all aspects of corporate law, in particular:

general aspects of corporate law, including capital markets law rules applicable to public companies and groups,
corporate restructurings and insolvency,
preparation and holding of shareholders' meetings of listed companies,
advising senior management and boards of directors and their committees on a wide range of issues, including corporate governance and liability management,
corporate housekeeping and corporate compliance, and
business succession planning for owner-managed and family businesses in close cooperation with our tax and private client specialists.

M&A

"The NKF partners we work with typically have a wealth of experience and broad knowledge of banking, capital markets and M&A law which enables them to provide holistic and not merely compartmentalised solutions. This makes them particularly valuable in today’s critical
times where hyper-specialisation and commoditised suite of products are over."

(client quote from IFLR 2010)

We have extensive experience representing Swiss and foreign companies, investors and investment banks in domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including

corporate acquisitions (share and asset deals), including sales auctions,
public takeovers, including representation before the Swiss Takeover Board, the SIX Swiss Exchange etc.,
mergers, spin-offs, changes of corporate form and other forms of corporate restructuring,
management and leveraged buy-outs (see also Private Equity and Venture Capital), and
joint ventures.

We excel in complex transactions, where combining our deep experience and capabilities in regulatory, corporate, capital markets and tax is vital to success. We pride ourselves on offering a top-level, innovative and business oriented service to design transaction structures that meet the needs of our clients.

Corporate Reorganisations

We advise companies of all sizes and from all industries on complex corporate reorganisations, restructuring measures and other forms of reorganisation. Our support enables our clients to achieve the best possible added value from a legal perspective in the often difficult process of change management.

Our long standing experience in this field was of particular benefit to our clients over the recent, economically difficult years.

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Niederer Kraft & Frey has been a leader in the field of private equity and venture capital for years.

We support our Swiss and international clients – at both company and investor level – during all phases of the investment cycle, beginning with the evaluation, covering financing activities and eventually divestment efforts (exit). In this area we work closely with our Corporate Finance specialists who are also leaders in this field.

Corporate Governance

Corporate governance is an established component of our corporate-law advising. We support our clients in developing and implementation as well as in ensuring ongoing adherence to best-practice requirements related to their specific business activities.

We advise our clients concerning the set-up and drafting of their articles of association, organisational regulations, internal governance models as well as concerning function and responsibility charters. Our specialists also support companies in framing remuneration regulations and reports, in setting-up risk management, in maintaining compliance with disclosure obligations as well as in preparing and implementing guidelines and regulations for the conduct of business activities.

International Redomiciliations

We have pioneered and are recognised as market leader in redomiciliations to Switzerland of both regulated and non-regulated companies, listed on Swiss and foreign stock exchanges.