Philipp Haas is an expert in negotiated as well as hostile acquisitions. He has represented bidders and targets, public and private companies, private equity firms, leveraged acquirers and special committees of directors. He represents companies in divestitures, cross-border transactions and proxy contests, and has counseled managements and boards of directors on acquisition matters, responses to shareholder activism, conflict transactions, corporate governance and other significant issues. The NKF team led by Philipp received the Transatlantic M&A Team of the Year (Large Deal) Award in the 2018 Transatlantic Legal Awards by the American Lawyer and Legal Week for its role as lead advisor to Actelion Ltd in the USD 30 bn acquisition by Johnson & Johnson.

Highlights include:

• Lead counsel to Actelion Ltd, the largest European biopharma company in its USD 30 bn acquisition by Johnson & Johnson and the simultaneous demerger of its drug discovery and early clinical pipeline business into Idorsia Ltd. as well as the IPO of Idorsia Ltd
• Lead counsel to the Bill & Melinda Gate Foundation Trust in the successful defense of Sika AG against the hostile takeover attempt by Saint-Gobain
• Counsel to NASDAQ listed BioTelemetry, Inc. in its successful competing tender offer for LifeWatch AG
• Counsel to GSK plc in its USD 26bn portfolio swap with Novartis AG
• Lead counsel to Actelion Ltd, the largest European biopharma company, in its successful defense against the hostile takeover attempt and proxy fight by Elliott Partners
• Counsel to NYSE listed Dresser Rand, Inc. in its merger of equal negotiations with Sulzer AG and ultimate sale to Siemens SE
• Lead counsel to the state owned bank Cantonal Bank of Thurgovia in its IPO and subsequent secondary offering
• Counsel to NYSE listed Ace Ltd and NYSE listed Allied World Insurance Holding Ltd in their migration to Switzerland and their reconstitution as Swiss companies with NYSE listing