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The tax department of Lenz & Staehelin consists of five partners and 14 fee earners. The lawyers provide clients with a full range of tax services but competitors recognise the tax department as particularly capable in M&A matters. Pascal Hinny is recommended ... [more]

The tax department of Lenz & Staehelin consists of five partners and 14 fee earners. The lawyers provide clients with a full range of tax services but competitors recognise the tax department as particularly capable in M&A matters. Pascal Hinny is recommended by his competitors for his expertise in that area. The firm is one of the largest law firms in Switzerland and so it has a well developed transactional tax practice. Highlights of the firm's recent work include several M&A deals and capital markets transactions. This year the tax team advised the owners of Swiss commodities trading company MRI Trading on the sale of a 73.81% stake to Capsolon, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore listed logistics company CWT. Heini Rüdisühli led the tax team involved in the deal, which had to coordinate cross-border tax issues to ensure a tax efficient exit for the owners. The firm also acted as co-counsel for Swiss electronics and security company Exceet Group in its indirect initial public offering (IPO). Exceet was acquired by special purpose acquisition company Helikos, which is a Luxembourg company listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange. The majority shareholders in Exceet subsequently acquired shares in Helikos, which is to change its name to Exceet Group. Hinny and Stefan Schwaller advised the company on the tax implications of the transaction and ensured that structures to provide efficient tax treatment were in place.