Completion of the merger of UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG: the advisors
Following the completion of the acquisition of Credit Suisse Group by UBS Group on 12 June 2023, the boards of directors of UBS and Credit Suisse approved the merger between UBS and Credit Suisse (“Parent Bank Merger”). The Parent Bank Merger became legally effective within the expected timeline on 31 May 2024 upon registration in the relevant Commercial Registers.
Upon the Parent Bank Merger, Credit Suisse has been deregistered in the Commercial Register of the Canton of Zurich and has ceased to exist as a separate entity. UBS has succeeded to all the rights and obligations of Credit Suisse.
The merger facilitates the migration of clients and operations from Credit Suisse to integrated UBS platforms over time, following business, client, and product-specific requirements.
The Parent Bank Merger is a significant milestone in the complex legal integration of Credit Suisse group into the UBS group following the merger between UBS Group and Credit Suisse Group.
Bär & Karrer acts as lead legal advisor to UBS in Switzerland in this transaction operating with a team comprising regulatory/M&A partner Peter Hsu (pictured below), Thomas Rohde, Urs Kägi, Rolf Watter, Fabienne Perlini, Shu Zhang (all corporate/M&A), Frédéric Bétrisey, Daniel Flühmann, Tiffany Ender, Matej Teslar, Jan Häring, Elias Hepp, Elisabeth Burkhardt, Fanny Siegwart, Kevin Kögler (all regulatory/M&A), Thomas Stoltz (corporate/notary), Susanne Schreiber, Cyrill Diefenbacher, Martin Leu, Alessia Suter, Fabian Capt, Patrick Harms (all tax), Laura Widmer (employment), Ruth Bloch-Riemer (pension) as well as Mani Reinert and Martin Werner (competition).
The merger’s advisors for UBS and Credit Suisse
Ubs’ advisors
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Ubs Group as global transaction counsel. The Freshfields team was led by partners Jennifer Bethlehem and Michael Raffan, with partners Simon Orton, Julian Long, and George Swan. Regulatory advice was provided by partners Cyrus Pocha and Gunnar Schuster. Equity capital markets advice was provided by partners Christoph Gleske and Doug Smith. Finance advice was provided by partners Duncan Kellaway and Richard Hart. People & Reward partners Holly Insley and Dawn Heath also advised, and antitrust advice was provided by partners Rafique Bachour and Tone Oeyen. IP advice was provided by partner Richard Lister.
The UBS counsel also included Bär & Karrer and Davis Polk.
Credit Suisse’s advisors
Walder Wyss acted as Lead Counsel to Credit Suisse on the merger. The team was led by Urs Schenker
(senior counsel, corporate/M&A) and included David Borer (partner, banking & finance), Dominik
Hohler (partner, restructuring/M&A), Alex Nikitine (partner, corporate/M&A), Thiemo Sturny (partner, restructuring/M&A), Irène Suter–Sieber (partner, employment) and Thomas Meister (partner, tax). Homburger advised Credit Suisse on various aspects in connection with the merger. The Homburger team was led by Daniel Daeniker (corporate / M&A), Benjamin Leisinger (capital markets and financial market regulation), Claude Lambert (corporate / M&A), and included Dieter Gericke (corporate / M&A), Flavio Romerio (crisis management), Hansjürg Appenzeller (corporate / M&A) and Richard Stäuber (competition).
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised Credit Suisse in connection with aspects of its proposed
merger with UBS. The cross-border team included partners Craig Brod, Sebastian Sperber, David Lopez,
Derek Bush, Lisa Schweitzer and Deborah North. Credit Suisse counsel also included Sullivan &
Cromwell. The S&C team advising included Mitchell Eitel, Ken Li, Ana González, Daniel Rua, Shaun Her
and Tyler Kohring in addition to Rodge Cohen. Cathy Clarkin, Mario Schollmeyer and Meng Yu advised
on securities law matters. Michael Escue and Amy Dreisiger advised on U.S. bank regulatory matters.
Bob Giuffra and Justin DeCamp advised on litigation matters. Juan Rodriguez, Dominic Connors, André
Garcia do Fôjo and Marielena Doeding advised on non-U.S. competition matters. Joe Matelis, Eric
Queen, Bradley Smith and Clea McClellan advised on U.S. antitrust matters. Colin Lloyd, Rick Wertheim,
Tracey Russell and Aaron Levine advised on brokerdealer regulatory matters. Wendy Goldberg advised
on ERISA matters. Eric Kadel advised on CFIUS matters. Matthew Friestedt, Sarah Remmer Long
and Natasha Rygnestad-Stahl advised on executive compensation matters. Isaac Wheeler, Tessa Lee,
Michael Orchowski and Eli Dubin advised on tax matters. Rachel Yu and William Bekker advised on
intellectual property matters.
