Enact Backs Management Buyout of Waagner-Biro Subsidiary

The British private equity fund Enact backed the management team of Qualter, Hall & Company Limited in its buyout of the business from the insolvency estate  of Waagner-Biro AG. The transfer of shares took place in March 2019, and the transaction has now been successfully completed, following the establishment of a new fund in England. 

Binder Grösswang advised Enact comprehensively on the negotiations and the acquisition process in Austria.

The insolvency of the Waagner-Biro group was one of the largest-scale insolvencies in Austria in recent years. Waagner-Biro, an old-established Austrian company founded in 1854, was known in particular for its participation in highly-publicized projects such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the dome of the Reichstag building in Berlin, the Sydney Opera House, and the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg. 

Qualter, Hall & Company Limited has a long-standing history, having been established in England in 1860. Operating in Great Britain as well as internationally, its activities include prestige projects such as the Sean O’Casey Pedestrian Bridge over the Liffey River in Dublin and the glass roof of the Great Court of the British Museum in London. 

Acting as Austrian counsel to Enact was a Binder Grösswang team led by Gottfried Gassner (partner, Restructuring/Insolvency and Corporate/M&A) and Georg Wabl, LL.M. (attorney at law, Restructuring/Insolvency and Corporate/M&A), which also included Markus Sacherer (associate, Corporate/M&A). The English lead counsel was the law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (UK). 

Other participants: 
Romana Weber-Wilfert as the insolvency administrator of Waagner-Biro AG
Michael Lentsch as counsel to Waagner-Biro AG