Energy

Who’s Who Legal

“First-rate with a breadth of very experienced, excellent and recommended lawyers.”

 

Practice Group

Schellenberg Wittmer's expertise in the energy sector spans the full range of legal disciplines. The Energy Group offers industry-specific advice and legal representation in all sub-sectors, including oil & gas, electricity and renewables. Our transactional and regulatory advisory activity is complemented by the representation of our clients in civil and administrative proceedings before Swiss courts and regulators. Our international litigation and arbitration practice covers all markets, including emerging markets, particularly in Asia, where we operate an office in Singapore.

Expertise

Experience

Our legal services to the industry include:

Transactions / commercial / real estate

  • Legal project analysis and structuring
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Joint ventures
  • Tax advice
  • Corporate / commercial
  • Construction / real estate (including advice on large-scale energy projects, contracts, construction contract management and related environmental and regulatory issues)
  • Financing of energy projects

Regulatory advice

  • Energy trading (commodities and financial products)
  • Production
  • Distribution
  • Marketing and sale of oil, gas, electricity and other products
  • Licenses / concessions
  • Public procurement
  • Competition
  • Representation in administrative proceedings before Swiss regulators

Litigation / international arbitration

  • International energy disputes practice, including disputes related to price revision of long-term gas contracts, PPAs, energy construction projects, joint ventures, etc.

Transactions

  • Counsel to Bouygues Construction in its acquisition of Alpiq Engineering Services, a leading Swiss player in the energy, industrial services and rail infrastructure sectors for CHF 850 million
  • Counsel to Canton of Graubünden and Axpo Holding AG, the main shareholders in SIX-listed electric power company Repower AG, in connection with Repower's strategic repositioning, delisting and CHF 170 million capital increase subscribed by EKZ and UBS Clean Energy Infrastructure Switzerland KGK (UBS-CEIS)
  • Advice to Services Industriels de Genève (SIG) in the acquisition of 15.05% of the shares in SIX-listed Energiedienst Holding AG from EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Germany
  • Advice to Innobas AG and its shareholders in the carve-out of its electricity power plant into the newly established EW Schils AG and its subsequent sale to St. Gallisch-Appenzellische Kraftwerke AG
  • Advice to The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of 50% of Swiss-based Varo Energy Group, active in oil refining, pipeline, storage and wholesale distribution, including the Cressier refinery from Vitol Group and Atlas Invest

Regulatory

  • Counsel to Varo Energy in various merger control proceedings with the Swiss Competition Commission
  • Advice to major Swiss electricity producers and the industry association (Swisselectric) on electricity production and cooperation models
  • Advice to various Swiss major electricity providers on electricity and network tariffs
  • Representation of large Swiss energy producers and distributors in important cases in administrative law procedures concerning energy and grid tariffs, etc.

Litigation/arbitration

  • Representation of the Russian Federation before the Swiss Supreme Court in setting-aside proceedings related to an award rendered under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT)
  • Counsel to large international group active in the energy and commodity trading sectors in a EUR 20 million commodity trading dispute under Senegalese law
  • Representation of a leading energy company in a price revision dispute
  • Defence of a leading Russian energy company against a corporate liability claim brought by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to the Swiss courts
  • Counsel to German energy group in arbitration, and parallel litigation and enforcement proceedings in Switzerland and abroad against a Russian counterparty over the exploration of large gas fields in Russia and long-term gas delivery contracts

Contact

Partners

Full Team

Awards & Recognitions

Leading practitioners are highly ranked for their work across international directories and publications:

  • Chambers Global in Corporate M&A and Arbitration
  • Chambers Europe in Competition/Antitrust, Corporate M&A and Arbitration
  • Legal 500 in Commercial, Corporate and M&A, Competition, Arbitration and Public Law
  • WWL Global and Switzerland in Arbitration, M&A and Competition

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