Bär & Karrer advises Farner on the acquisition of The Skills Group

The Farner group, a portfolio company of Waterland Private Equity, partnered with The Skills Group to expand its agency alliance “Team Farner”. The deal, which is its fourth this year, means Farner is now the largest communications group in Austria. The Vienna-based The Skills Group including its subsidiaries datenwerk and All Channels Communication Austria is a full-service PR agency with a focus on strategic consulting and positioning as well as public relations and crisis communications.

In November last year Farner acquired Kobza Media Group, in Austria, and its agency brands KTHE, Alpha Z, Massgeschneidert, Diego5 and Darwin’s Lab. The same month, it bought VIM Group in the Netherlands, which specialises in brand transformation and technology. After a number of other recent acquisitions, the group also now includes nextgen specialist Jim & Jim, digital agency Yoveo and digital marketing agency BlueGlass.

Bär & Karrer acted as legal advisor to the Farner group in this transaction. The team was co-led by partners Christoph Neeracher (pictured right) and Philippe Seiler (pictured left) and included Luana Stämpfli, Benjamin Grunwald and Yascha Fengler (all m&a), Susanne Schreiber, Raoul Stocker, Cyrill Diefenbacher and Aron Liechti (all tax) as well as Fabian Turtschi (notarial services).