Dr. Christoph Nauer LL.M.

Christoph Nauer advises on corporate/M&A, capital markets transactions and banking and financial market regulation with a focus on listed companies, boardroom advice, mergers, spin-offs, takeover situations and ECM (equity, equity-linked) transactions.

A leading name in both corporate/M&A and capital markets, with a transaction record spanning the largest corporate and capital markets matters in the Austrian market for listed and private companies, financial investors and banking groups across Austria and CEE.

Christoph Nauer ranks among the Top 10 individual lawyers in Austria in Mergermarket’s 20-yrs M&A league table (2025) by deal value, with an aggregate deal value of approximately €20.9bn.

Selected representations

• ams-OSRAM on the €570mn sale of its non-optical analog/mixed-signal sensor business to Infineon
• NÖM AG on its strategic partnership with Vorarlberg Milch
• CPI Europe on the above € 100 mn sale of the Vienna Marriott Hotel (hotel business and real estate)
• RWA eGen on the acquisition financing for the purchase of shares in RWA AG
• EAVISTA (Holding Company of DNA Payment Group founder) on the acquisition of the majority stake in card complete Service Bank AG from UniCredit and Raiffeisen Bank International
• RWA eGen on € 176 mn-purchase (increase of shareholding) of the 47.53%-shareholding in RWA AG from BayWa AG
• IMMOFINANZ on Squeeze-out and Delisting of S IMMO
• ams-OSRAM (SIX listed) on Reverse Share Split
• € 608.5 mn increase of shareholding in S IMMO by IMMOFINANZ incl long-term credit facility provided by CPIPG
• STRABAG on the € 99 mn purchase of parts of the VAMED Group (carve-out) in consortium with PORR
• Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 4 on the sale of shares in Energie Steiermark to the province of Styria for € 525 mn
• STRABAG on € 903 mn scrip distribution to reduce stake of sanctions-affected MKAO Rasperia Trading Limited
• € 337.5mn increase of shareholding above 50% in S IMMO by IMMOFINANZ incl long-term credit facility provided by CPIPG 
• STRABAG on the € 580 mn mandatory takeover bid of Haselsteiner Familien-Privatstiftung, Raif-feisen-Holding and UNIQA-Versicherung combined with repurchase of treasury shares by STRABAG
• IMMOFINANZ as target in the bidding contest between CPI Property Group and S IMMO (first competing takeover bids since 1999 takeover rules came into force) (shortlisted as M&A-Deal of the Year/ IFLR Europe Awards 2023)
• IMMOFINANZ on its € 1.14 bn takeover bid for S IMMO incl € 500mn Bridge Facility
• € 356mn combined placement of subordinated mandatory convertible notes (first-to-market in Austria) and share placement by IMMOFINANZ in accelerated bookbuilding processes (ABB)
• R-IT as shareholder in CHF 380mn and CHF 350mn and CHF 111mn placements of SoftwareONE shares in accelerated bookbuilding processes (ABB)
• heidelpay Group on the acquisition of Paysafe’s Pay Later business
• R-IT as shareholder in the IPO of SoftwareONE at SIX with CHF 2.9bn market cap (at offering price)
• AnaCap on the sale of heidelpay Group to KKR
• Constantia Flexibles on the € 50mn settlement upon the squeeze-out compensation for Constantia Packaging shareholders
• IMMOFINANZ on the € 390mn strategic acquisition of stake in listed S IMMO
• Sale of global operating COMPAREX Group to KKR backed Swiss SoftwareONE by Raiffeisen Informatik
• € 760mn sale of stake in listed CA Immo from IMMOFINANZ to Starwood Capital in structured bidding process
• IMMOFINANZ as target and shareholder on the combined € 800mn public offers by Starwood Capital for IMMOFINANZ and CA Immo
• Joint bookrunners at € 300mn capital increase of BUWOG AG
• €50mn share issuance for the settlement of the exchange ratio for the IMMOFINANZ/IMMOEAST merger (first-to-market settlement with shares)
• BAWAG P.S.K. on the acquisition of start:bausparkasse/IMMO-BANK Volksbanken-Verbund
• RZB on its merger with RBI (most significant transaction in the banking sector in 2017 in Austria/CEE) (Austrian Deal of the Year/ CEE Deal of the Year Awards 2018)
• Take-over defence against € 420mn public offer by CA Immo/O1 for IMMOFINANZ (first-to-market poison-bill by reducing take-over threshold during offer period)
• € 1,4bn BUWOG spin-off (first-to-market spin-off of an ATX issuer) (European Capital Markets Tax Deal of the Year 2015/ International Tax Review)
• Raiffeisen-Holding on acquisition of approx. 15% block of shares in AGRANA
• € 150 mn Equity Swap-Financing (J.P. Morgan) of IMMOFINANZ with treasury shares (first-to-market)

Publications and Lectures
Christoph Nauer is the author of publications on corporate and capital markets law and works on the Austrian M&A chapter of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), one of the leading platforms for cross-border tax law. As a lecturer, he regularly speaks at conferences on corporate and capital markets law and acts as the head of capital markets at the annual conference law and tax (RuSt).

Rankings | Recognitions
Christoph Nauer is recognised by JUVE (market leading directory for Germany, Austria) as a leading name in both corporate/M&A and capital markets and named by Legal 500, IFLR (“highly regarded“), Top 50 Best Finance Lawyers in Austria (Börsianer Ranking), Handelsblatt (Best Lawyers-Ranking) and Thomson Reuters (Stand-out Lawyer).

JUVE: “technically outstanding”, “highly skilled in capital markets matters and complex transactions,“, “tremendous knowledge in capital markets, supports quickly and flexibly”, “excellent in banking regulation”, „competent, highly qualified and a good team player“, „really good, always at it and full of energy“, clients; “very good corporate lawyer”, “high professional quality and extensive industry expertise”, “very good in capital market law “, competitors.

Legal 500: “is very bright lawyer, a very strong negotiator, always calm, efficient and pragmatic, and with a standout commercial understanding. He is the lawyer we call first for the most complex transactions.”; “is outstanding in his knowledge and commitment. No other attorney can reach him regarding legal and economic understanding of complex transactions.”; “is one of the best experts I have ever worked with in my 30 years of M&A practice. A top legal advisor, absolutely solution-orientated, top oversight and versatility of his expertise make the impossible possible, top personality, amazing negotiator, never-ending commitment and endurance.”; “is technically superb with great business acumen”; “fast and efficient perception of facts, correlation and legal issues due to his very outstanding knowledge in banking and corporate, at the same time a kind and eloquent sparring partner“; “incredibly comprehensive knowledge, can break down complicated facts to the essentials in fractions of a second and is always pragmatic”; “complex issues are solved simply; corporate law at highest levels”; “very outstanding knowledge”, clients.

CV
Christoph Nauer graduated from the University of Vienna (Dr.iur., 2002) and obtained an LL.M. in international tax law (2006). He is with bpv Huegel since 2009. Prior to joining the firm, Christoph Nauer worked at Cheyne Capital, London (one of the leading European alternative investment fund manager). His work with the legal department of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber has provided him with extensive lobbying experience in the Austrian and European legislative process.

Languages
German, English