Mentoring Pool

We advise companies on a broad range of both equity and debt capital market transactions.

In view of an IPO, we offer the following in particular:

• Advice on Swiss law and tax matters around going and being public
• Assessment of IPO legal readiness, identification of gaps, and recommendations on how to best implement the necessary changes to corporate structure and governance
• Identification of liability risks (incl. personal exposures) and recommendations for mitigation measures
• Draft, review, and/or negotiation of all documents required for the IPO (e.g. prospectus, legal opinions, underwriting agreement, capital increase documents, internal regulations, marketing materials, press releases)
• Training sessions for management and board members on leading a listed company

All

Advestra is a corporate law firm based in Zurich advising clients on:

• Capital markets
• Corporate | M&A
• Finance
• Financial services
• Tax

The firm’s partners have years of experience as legal advisors in IPOs or listings on SIX Swiss Exchange, the placement and listing of bonds and other fixed income instruments as well as other financing options.

Companies of all sizes and industries seek our legal and regulatory advice and value our judgment and expertise. If required, we team up with other firms leading in their respective area of expertise to deliver comprehensive services to our clients.

• Dr. Sandro Fehlmann, Partner
  E-mail: sandro.fehlmann@advestra.ch
  Tel: +41 58 510 92 89
• Annette Weber, Partner
  E-mail: annette.weber@advestra.ch
  Tel: +41 58 510 92 29

• Share history due diligence
• Share registrar services
• Issuer agent orientation
• Articles of association review
• Shareholders’ meeting professionalization

All

Aequitec is a share registrar recording share ownership and shareholder rights management. Aequitec is supporting issuers pre-IPO in their efforts to professionalize corporate housekeeping and governance structures.

• Dr. Christian Wilk
  E-mail: christian.wilk@aequitec.ch
  Tel: +41 78 649 49 62

ALANTRA provides comprehensive support and project management from early-stage preparation to completion, adding significant value by providing independent advice and creating transparency along the IPO process.

• Assessment of IPO feasibility, optimal timing and roadmap to IPO
• Refinement of equity story and positioning, incl. relevant KPIs and data
• Support in developing / review of business plan and preparation of company valuation based on business plan and capital market sentiment
• Definition of IPO framework (incl. offering structure) and capital structure based on business plan / funding requirements
• Selection of and negotiation with other service providers, incl. banks

Following an IPO, ALANTRA remains a trusted advisor for M&A as well as financings.

For further information please refer to
https://www.alantra.com/what-we-do/investment-banking/

All

ALANTRA is a leading and independent international corporate finance advisor for the mid-market with an established track record of 1,500+ corporate finance transactions since 2013.

With over 20 offices worldwide, ALANTRA offers a global understanding of industry sectors combined with strong local relationships with companies, investors, entrepreneurs, and financing institutions.

• Martin Gamperl, Managing Director
  E-mail: martin.gamperl@alantra.com

In view of an IPO, we offer the following in particular:

• Integral transformation management as a key element in order to reach capital market readiness: We define an adequate strategy and align core processes and operating model.
• Financial management support in order to fill the gaps
• Project management office services for preparing for an IPO
• Coaching of C-level managers, boards and management teams
• Board services 

Broad industry coverage, with a focus on technology, transportation/logistics and infrastructure/real estate

BE Forward has outstanding experience in the execution of multiple global business and digital transformations, which has brought companies to the next level of performance and profitability. Companies in special situations can benefit from extra leadership resources, flexibility and execution expertise.

Example 1: Preparation of a management team for IPO – Strategy check, aligning strategy, processes and operating model, onboarding of key people and execution of the required changes.

Example 2: Heading transformation – Creating transparency and sense of urgency for the required changes, building a guiding coalition in the management team and executing the growth strategy.

• Stephan Bergamin, Dr. oec. HSG, AMP Harvard Business School
  E-mail: Stephan.Bergamin@be-forward.ch
  Tel: +41 79 254 06 70
• Co-Author of relevant Publications:
  Globalisierung & Digitalisierung: Erfolgsstrategien und Toolbox für CEOs and Topmanager, SpringerGabler, 2020
  M&A: Integration and Transformation Management as the Gateway to Success, Springer, 2016

By partnering with Board Owl, companies preparing for an IPO can ensure their board is equipped for public market success through expert guidance and industry insights. Key benefits include:

• Confidential matching with board candidates that align with your specific industry and goals.
• Customized advisory services, coaching, and specialized board assessments to ensure optimal performance and alignment with company goals.
• Access to valuable resources such as contract templates, white papers, and educational guides.
• Discounts on expert-led courses focused on board governance.
• Exclusive partner offers on essential board tools and software.

Sector agnostic; strong track record in Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology (e.g. SaaS, Fintech, Medtech, Biotech).

At Board Owl, we revolutionize board searches by bringing together companies and professionals worldwide in an innovative, efficient and cost-effective way, for greater transparency, diversity and competence in the boardroom. Leveraging technology, we match remarkable professionals with exceptional organizations for board positions to empower success. In addition, we offer education and networking.

• Donald Waterreus, CEO
  E-mail: donald@boardowl.com
  
  

• Amalia Pucko, Business Development Manager
  E-mail: amalia@boardowl.com
  Tel:  +385 993 620 610

• IPO readiness assessment (gap remediation and interdependency identification, and IPO roadmap development)
• IPO project planning and governance (due diligence, transaction documents, independent deal research, coordination of service providers, roadshow preparation etc.)
• Structuring services (e.g. carve out and spinoffs)
• Financial reporting and technical accounting (e.g. GAAP conversions)
• Assistance with projections, working capital and liquidity modelling, support in developing and documenting accounting policies (incl. technical support)
• Optimization of transaction structure, pricing and allocation
• Market valuation and evaluation of expected public market valuation
• M&A support (both process and preparation of deal documentation, e.g. VDD reports)

All

Deloitte is a leading accounting and advisory company in Switzerland and provides industry-specific services in the areas of Audit & Assurance, Consulting, Financial Advisory, Risk Advisory and Tax & Legal. With around 3,000 employees at six locations in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano and Zurich (headquarters), Deloitte serves companies and institutions of all legal forms and sizes in all industry sectors.

• Viktoriya Lombardo, Partner, Audit & Assurance
  E-mail: vlombardo@deloitte.ch
  Tel: +41 58 279 81 85

• Karina Chavez, Partner, Audit & Assurance
  E-mail: kchavez@deloitte.ch
  Tel: +41 58 279 6893

Financial readiness:

• Ensuring financial readiness according to IFRS or Swiss GAAP FER
• IPO and transaction support, including preparation of necessary financial or management reporting and preparation of prospectus from a financial perspective
• Support of senior financial personnel and/or Audit Committee

Consolidation:

• Group accounting and reporting services, such as the initial application of local and international accounting standards or the implementation of consolidation tools.
• Preparation of the accounting manual
• Support of senior financial personnel
• Efficient coordination with external auditors and support with complex audit matters

Additional services:

• Availability of personnel resources for all corporate finance matters
• CFO and board services

All

fineance AG provides comprehensive support in all corporate finance functions, such as financial readiness according to IFRS or Swiss GAAP FER, pro-forma financials, implementation of consolidation and reporting tools and ongoing support for the consolidation, interim CFO services and senior finance support.

We are hands on and have years of experience with listed and regulated companies, as well as fast growing SMEs.

• Dr. Anke Ness, Managing-Partner
  E-mail: anke.ness@fineance.ch
  
• Patrick Molnar, Managing-Partner
  E-mail: patrick.molnar@fineance.ch

• Growth stage: Board assessment, aiming at its independence and appropriate skill-set, matching up-to-date financial, accounting and control systems
• Pre-IPO stage: Post-IPO governance set-up & compensation strategy, including long-term incentives; governance- and compensation-related sections of listing prospectus, roadshow documentation
• First year of listing stage: Establishment of compensation committee operations; elaboration of plan regulations, roll-out and communication of new compensation schemes; first compensation report and first AGM as a listed company
• Listed company stage: Proactive management of the AGM-to-AGM cycle to maximize processes and communication coherence; board assessments

All

• Dr. Stephan Hostettler, Managing Partner
  E-mail: Stephan.Hostettler@hcm.com
  Tel: +41 79 652 34 58
  

HB’s capital market experts from our Corporate Finance, Research and Active Advisory practices combine for an average experience of more than 20 years. At the same time, being a small and agile challenger, HB aims to keep processes lean for clients in order to carefully treat clients’ own resources during a transaction. We offer tailored advice in the following areas:

• Assessment of general IPO readiness (e.g. ownership structure, corporate governance, board composition)
• Market valuation and evaluation of expected public market valuation
• Assessment of IPO feasibility (e.g. business model, sector, competitors, maturity, equity story)
• Development of roadmap to close potential gaps
• Optimization of transaction structure, pricing, allocation and settlement

All except biotech

• Agile challenger with focus on advising SMEs in Swiss capital market transactions since 2011 and more than 50 Swiss capital market transactions since its inception
• Market leader in SIX-listed CHF bond transactions with a nominal amount below 100m
• Strong network to non-standard investor categories (such as family offices, (U)HNWI and independent asset managers)
• Own independent research team

• Dr. Rolf Weilenmann
  Head Corporate Finance and Member of the Executive Board
  E-mail: rolf.weilenmann@helvetischebank.ch
  Tel: +41 44 204 56 11
• Martin Spiess, Managing Director
  E-mail: martin.spiess@helvetischebank.ch
  Tel: +41 44 204 56 12
• Adrian Epp, Executive Director
  E-Mail: adrian.epp@helvetischebank.ch
  Tel: +41 44 204 56 15

• General accounting & auditing considerations
• Internal controls
• Compensation considerations
• IPO
• Working with audit committees

Biotech (Life Sciences)

Further information about Jürg Zürcher can be found here:

https://hoffmann-partner.com/en/jurg-zurcher-team-hoffmann-partner-ag/

• Jürg Zürcher
  E-mail: jzuercher@hoffmann-partner.com
  Tel: +41 61 512 43 00
• Further team members from Hoffmann & Partner AG will be called if required

Financial & capital market communications

• National and international transactions
• Communication of financial results
• Investor relations
• Annual and interim reports
• Best practice analyses and recommendations

Sustainability/ESG

• Advice on the integration of ESG topics in communications and positioning
• Best practice and benchmark analyses
• Materiality analyses
• Stakeholder communications
• Sustainability reporting

Positioning & media relations

• Positioning of companies, organizations, projects and individuals
• Managing media relations from A to Z: Strategy, messages, ghostwriting, Q&As, speaker function, media trainings etc.
• Media reputation and perception studies

All

IRF offers tailor-made communication solutions for companies intending to strengthen their position, profile and reputation, as well as companies that are planning a capital market transaction. From strategy consulting to the conception and implementation of individual communication measures – we support clients with all kinds of communication issues. Pragmatic, clever and effective: These aptly describe our company and the work we do.

• Martin Meier-Pfister, M.A. HSG, Partner
  E-mail: meier-pfister@irf-reputation.ch
  Tel: +41 43 244 81 40
  
• Martina Müri, M.A. HSG, Senior Consultant
  E-mail: mueri@irf-reputation.ch
  Tel: +41 43 244 81 40

Within the Corporate Finance department of Kepler Cheuvreux, the Market Solutions team exists since 2014 and serves almost 200 corporate clients in Europe around two main types of service: sponsored research and liquidity / share management. Three senior relationship managers with extensive experience in Investor relations, Equity Capital Markets and Equity Advisory, are responsible of the various mandates of the team. What we offer

• Analysis of the specificities of the company and its actual needs as a listed entity.
• Implementation of Kepler Cheuvreux services to improve its situation as an investment proposal that fits institutional investors requirements in terms of equity research coverage and liquidity.
• Access to a dedicated senior relation manager during the period of the mandate (sponsored research, liquidity management /market making, equity Advisory, Capital Market Day, …)
• Leverage thanks to a unique, global platform to more than 1300 institutional investors investing European Equities, with a local, committed presence in Switzerland.

All

Kepler Cheuvreux is a leading independent European financial services company that specializes in research, execution, fixed income and credit, structured solutions, corporate finance and asset management. The Group employs around 600 people and is present in 13 major financial centres in Europe, the US, Asia and the Middle East.

• Laurent Lépinay, Managing Director & Head of Market Solutions laurent.lepinay@keplercf.com Tel: +33 1 70 39 74 88
• Frederic Gameiro da Conceicao, Executive Director  fgameiro@keplercheuvreux.com Tel: +33 7 86 34 99 04
• Tanja Moral Santiago , Executive Director  tmoralsantiago@keplercheuvreux.com Tel: + 49 697 569 0918

• Administrator portal – Streamline equity administration with automated grant, real-time transaction & easy employee (e.g. leaver / new joiner) management
• Valuation and accounting – Compliant & automated IFRS-2 / Swiss GAAP reporting for share-based instruments and their valuations, all backed by Optio experts to replace error-prone manual work
• Trading, global equity share warehousing and settlement – Simple & complaint international equity management by using nominees for shareholding, streamlining share transactions
• Employee Portal – Helping employees understand the value of equity programs
• Global compliance and tax reports – For HR / Payroll, CFO / finance with compliance and tax reports in 100+ countries
• Consulting – For equity incentives from design to launch with relevant IPO best practices and benchmarks for launching new equity incentive programs

All

Optio Incentives ensures compliance & simplifies the administration for share-based payments globally, with local experts. We differ by heavily focusing on an easy-to-use system with a high degree of automation for manual processes. With Optio, businesses can incentivize employees, manage equity, stay compliant & effectively report costs to fully maximize the value of their employee incentive programs.

Andreas Berner
Head of DACH

+49 151 211 717 58

ab@optioincentives.com

• We provide Swiss legal services in the fields of corporate law, equity/debt capital markets, public and private M&As, commercial contracts, employment & compensation, ESG, tax, IP/IT, real estate, banking & finance, and dispute resolution
• We act on behalf of issuers, book runners, underwriters and trading venues and regularly advise international clients on exchange listings and Swiss regulations
• In the area of equity capital markets, we advise on complex Swiss and international equity offerings and other equity and equity-related transactions
• Our key competences include (1) preparation (IPO readiness) and the structuring of rights offerings and other forms of equity capital raises by issuers; (2) implementation of initial public offerings (IPOs) and other rights offerings; (3) PIPEs and other private placements of listed equity and equity-linked instruments

Pestalozzi serves clients in all industries and has particular strengths in all areas of life sciences.

• Christian Leuenberger
  Partner Capital Markets / M&A
  E-mail: christian.leuenberger@pestalozzilaw.com
  Tel: +41 44 217 92 13

• Severin Roelli, Partner Corporate / M&A
  E-mail: severin.roelli@pestalozzilaw.com
  Tel: +41 44 217 92 68

• Mercedes Chiabotti, Associate Capital Markets / M&A
  E-mail: mercedes.chiabotti@pestalozzilaw.com
  Tel: +41 44 217 92 97

• Corporate finance and strategic guidance to accelerate performance to prepare an Exit (IPO or Trade Sale) ultimately
• Shaping the equity story early on
• Providing Stifel‘s corporate finance expertise to funding and raising funds from external sources to later-stage companies
• Strategic Partnerships & Licensing Agreements
• Offering the full range of services in the context of an IPO
• Providing Stifel’s leading ECM platform with bookrunner experience across all sectors, market intelligence of equity research and unique distribution capabilities (incl. US), highly differentiated vs. middle market and bulge peers

All (focus Healthcare and (Industrial) Technology)

Stifel is an industry-focused, full service, mid-market global investment bank founded in 1890 and publicly quoted on the NYSE since 1983. Our group comprises a market-leading Investment Bank as well as a Wealth Management Platform that manages over $400billion in client assets

Stifel has built a significant presence in Europe over the last decade – today we are over 500 investment bankers across six offices in Europe and Israel with focus on the SME segment.

Our full service approach includes Growth Equity and PE sponsor coverage supported by M&A Advisory. We offer full support while a company is still private and leverage our transatlantic equity capital market team in IPOs and Capital Increases Leveraged Finance and Restructuring teams, all underpinned by best-in-class industry knowledge. Our dedication to sector expertise is further embodied in our leading Equity Research franchise, with one of the broadest coverage universes in North American and European capital markets.

• Martin Zinn, Director, ECM Europe
  E-mail: martin.zinn@stifel.com
  Tel: +41 43 888 61 10 | Mobil: +41 79 878 56 41
  
• Jens Tschauder, Managing Director, Co-Head ECM Europe
  E-mail: jens.tschauder@stifel.com
  Direct: +49 69 247 414 150 | Mobile:  +49 170 8439 094
• Johannes Lucas, Managing Director, Co-Head Advisory Europe
  E-mail: Johannes.lucas@stifel.com
  Direct: +49 69 247 414 444 | Mobile: +49 178 8060 233

Exit process preparation (positioning, valuation, reason to buy)

Exit process execution (equity positioning, comps, valuation, syndicate orchestration, investor education, transaction management)

• Capital markets positioning / reason to buy
• Private placements (pre-IPO, private blocks)
• Financing (debt, equity, convertibles)
• IPO
• M&A
• Spin-offs
• Public and private sell-downs
• Capital increases and rights issues

Aftermarket advisory (fair value, market messaging, investor targeting, optimisation of shareholder register)

STJ is industry agnostic. Recent advisory mandates were in environmental technologies, logistics, transportation, retail, media, renewable energy, specialty chemicals, financial services incl fintech and real estate.

With presence in all major capital markets, we are the leading independent ECM advisory platform worldwide. STJ and its partner firms have advised on more than 1,200 transactions raising more than EUR 500 billion for clients in over 30 jurisdictions. 

Thorsten Düser, Senior Advisor

• E-Mail: thd@stjadvisors.com
• Tel: +41 79 788 3181

Natalie Seebacher, Chair DACH Advisory

• E-Mail: nas@stjadvisors.com
• Tel: +49 176 50266559

• IPO gap analysis: Important milestones to become a listed company
• IPO readiness: Get ready for an IPO well ahead of the first day of trading
• Holistic approach: Including finance, governance and ownership’s perspective
• Independent advice: Looking for the best options including plan B
• Being public: Preparation for the first year as a public company including news flow, research coverage, publication of financial results, leveraging the positive impact on the reputation/visibility of your company

All

Swissbridge is a boutique firm working with privately held  as well as publicly listed companies in transformation processes, including IPO advisory, strategy and business development.

Marcel Schmid’s professional experience stems from 10 years with UBS/ Head of IPO team, 8 years with DKSH including IPO preparation and execution, 4 years as Managing Partner in Single Family Office and 4 years with his own firm “Swissbridge”, including IPO advisory
for Klingelnberg (IPO in 2018).

• Marcel Schmid, Managing Partner
  Dufourstrasse 31, 8008 Zürich
  E-mail: mschmid@swissbridge.com
  Tel: +41 79 698 33 38
  
  

• Differentiated equity stories – based on five core pillars (the “five good reasons to invest”)
• Valuation considerations: Both fundamentally (modelling; peers) & soft factor-driven (Dos & Don’ts)
• Targeting: Relevant, desired stakeholders as well as key “gatekeepers” (promotors of the equity story)
• ESG: “Reduced to the max” through focus on “materiality matrix for sustainable performance”
• Operational IR: As an extended workbench to internal team or outsourced position

• Multi-year experience in IR & communications for Biotech & life sciences companies, industrials, asset management
• Advisor to multiple IPO projects, both in Switzerland and abroad
• Experience, projects and advisor to corporate transactions in other sectors

The ESF bases its approach to IR on the “4 P’s of strategic share marketing”:

1) Product = Equity story
2) Price = Adequate valuation
3) Place = Relevant targets
4) Promotion = Leveraging key gatekeepers (promoters)

A core element of the framework is a differentiated equity story, including the “five good reasons to invest” – a framework developed over the past two decades with key exponents of the financial community.

• bluechip financial communications AG – The Equity Story Factory
  Dr. Thomas Schneckenburger, PhD, CFA, Founder & CEO
  E-mail: tom@equitystoryfactory.com
  Tel: +41 79 407 99 52

• Investor readiness – refine the equity story and presentation materials; due-diligence readiness; improve company’s approach to fundraising with the IPO in sight
• Investor visibility – create communication and visibility strategies to target the appropriate investor audiences for pre-IPO, IPO and beyond IPO
• Setting the pathway to an IPO – early assessment of bankers’ appetite for the deal and of a viable IPO timeline; assessment of issues that could come and “haunt” the company post-IPO and establishing strategies to address them
• IPO advisory team selection – help the company select the appropriate advisors for the respective sector/market cap
• IPO project management – act as a sparring partner for management and BoD, and as a conduit between company and the IPO advisors; manage the IPO process, thus enabling management teams to continue running their business as usual

Biotech, medtech, pharma, cleantech, ICT, industrials, consumer, real estate

Strategy consulting for IPO preparation. Starting to work with companies 1-3 years before an IPO. Getting companies investor-ready and more visible to domestic and international investors (also useful for private funding rounds), establishing the pathway to the IPO, putting all the pieces of the IPO “puzzle” together and managing the actual IPO process. Paving the way for a better “life after the IPO”.

• Leti McManus, Founder
  E-mail: Leti@tigerlinkadvisors.com
  Tel: +41 76 446 36 25