Investors Settle Sulzer Case with Swiss Federal Department of Finance

Skadden represented Austrian investor Ronny Pecik as lead counsel in a settlement with the Swiss Federal Department of Finance (FDF) regarding alleged disclosure threshold violations related to an investment in Swiss industrial group Sulzer AG in 2007. Under the settlement, Pecik, along with two other investors, agreed to jointly pay CHF10 million. In turn, the FDF has closed the case, without charges, against the investors. Skadden also represented Pecik as lead counsel in last month's acquittal before the Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland in connection with the sale of a stake in OC Oerlikon to Russia-based Renova Group. Mr. Pecik and two other investors had initially been fined a record CHF120 million (CHF 40 million each) by the FDF for allegedly acting in concert and breaching disclosure threshold obligations.