The high levels of investments into Austria but also from Austria into the CEE region, for which Vienna is often seen as an ideal home base, were resulting in a steady stream of work in particular in the field of Banking and Finance and M&A. However, not only the Austrian economy but also the Austrian law market has done well which is demonstrated by law firms still expanding and having significant growth. Not for nothing Austrian firms are among the top players in the CEE region. Still, it is not only about size that counts which is why beside the large Austrian firms with own offices spread over the CEE region smaller boutique firms becoming tremendous success stories, one of which is Vienna based award winner Herbst Vavrovsky Kinsky Rechtsanwälte GmbH (HVK).
Since its establishment just over three years ago in 2005, HVK has managed to place itself among the top players in the market and to become one of Austrians leading commercial law firms. With more than 20 highly specialised lawyers and offices in Vienna and Linz, accompanied by an office in Salzburg aiming at Austria’s western regions as well as southern Germany, the firm operates in and covers all of the domestic economic hot spots. For its outbound business HVK has close contacts to major international law firms enabling it to assist its clients also in multi-national transactions.
From the very beginning HVK has put particular emphasis on its banking and finance practice to meet increasing market demands. Scope of services includes besides regulatory aspects the full spectrum of financial products including syndicated lending and leveraged and acquisition finance, asset finance, derivative products, project finance, public offerings, financial regulatory, insolvency and restructuring and structured finance. HVK’s clients cut across all types of participants in financing transactions across a wide range of industry sectors and countries.
Even flow
HVK has seen a constant deal flow in the past years and has gained a more than solid track record. Within the last two years HVK’s lawyers advised on various Debt as well as Equity Capital markets transactions with a total transaction volume of approximately two billion, including Austria’s largest IPO ever launched, Strabag SE, and Austria’s most recent corporate hybrid financing of an international packaging solution manufacturer. “We are proud of our track record which displays our strong commitment exemplified by our partners’ deep involvement in the execution process and greater attention than is the norm, thus resulting in a client service that according to Chambers’ market survey is reputed to be amongst the best,” says Philipp Kinsky, one of HVK’s founder partners.
The lawyers of HVK are also active in fund structuring where they were recently involved, inter alia, in setting up a Ä140m CEE hotel investment fund or a Ä100m private equity fund. Besides its Banking and Capital Markets work, HVK has gained strong presence in the field of Private Equity and Venture Capital where it advises industry heavy weights such as CVC Capital Partners.
Taking the lead
The crunch, however, also had an impact on HVK deals and has caused several clients to postpone or cancel investments, leading to decreased deal flow in acquisition finance and private equity transactions while increasing the clients’ demand for refinancing, rescue offerings or convertibles. Since the beginning of the crunch HVK already advised on various high level refinancing transactions.
In October 2008, HVK advised one of the lenders on the Ä460m refinancing of Oleg Deripaska’s Rasperia Limited by a consortium led by Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG to refinance Rasperia’s acquisition financing in relation to its stake in Strabag SE. Moreover, during September and October 2008, HVK advised HYPO Investmentbank AG as transaction counsel on a multi-million euro refinancing facility granted by HYPO Investmentbank AG as lead arranger to a holding company for major Austrian blue chips. This transaction turned out to be particularly challenging as numerous international syndicated lenders were involved and it was closed at the peak of the crash of the European stock markets. HVK’s work was not only focused on the re-financing facility as such, but also involved a number of transactions for the refinancing of the lead arranger itself.
One of the aspects of HVK’s success in the past is that its lawyers are known to be very solution-focused, reliable and pragmatic which is essential in handling complex transactions. They devote themselves to the highest standards and level of expertise. As Philipp Kinsky puts it: “We see our role as providing a blend of specialist knowledge and practical advice designed to achieve our clients’ objectives in a cost-effective, bankable, solution-focused and pragmatic manner. Our breadth of experience has enabled us to establish a comprehensive approach to financing transactions.”
The firm’s high-level quality is recognised among its clients and international top tier law firms alike. For partner Christoph Wildmoser this is a result also from the firm’s policy to cooperate with local tier 1 firms where needed: “We have decided not to open own offices abroad but to choose such firm among local tier 1 players which in each specific matter we deem best for our client’s needs. Over the last years we were able to tie close relations not only in the CEE region but also to leading US and UK firms which we could also convince of the quality of our work. Today we experience significantly increasing inbound business from those major players and enjoy working together with them on a regular basis.”
Another factor is seen in the combination of the in-depth know-how of the markets with the understanding of the clients businesses and needs, Philipp Kinsky is convinced: “Our goal is to create added-value for our clients which I believe may only be achieved by knowing what clients in specific situations need and what the markets offer. This requires not only market know-how, which we feel able to offer due to long-standing experience in the present markets, but also – may be even more – entrepreneurial skills.”
One of the challenges for the future which all key players in the Austrian market will have to face is getting the right staff required to further enhance their position and increase market share. For sure this means that HVK will have to recruit only the best staff available and thereby competing with the large firms. If the firm’s upturn continues, however, HVK will not have difficulties attracting qualified and dedicated lawyers joining the team.
For further information tel: +43.1.904 21 80 – 0; email: office@hvk.at
