Christoph J. Bender

Dr. Christoph J. Bender focuses his practice on capital markets transactions, advising issuers, investment banks and financial advisors on a wide range of complex equity and debt matters, with a particular emphasis on transactions involving a U.S. or multijurisdictional component. Dr. Bender has significant experience advising on IPOs, dual listings, capital increases, secondary offerings and accelerated bookbuilding processes, as well as private financing rounds and debt offerings and repurchases. He was previously seconded to an international investment bank, where he worked in its investment banking legal department.

Dr. Bender’s experience includes advising:

Capital Markets (Equity)

• an international investment bank in its role as placement agent in connection with a clean-up secondary sale of shares in a listed company, with gross proceeds for the seller of €225 million
• terralayr AG in connection with its Series A financing round of up to €192 million
• Euronext Brussels and Euronext Amsterdam-listed ONWARD Medical, a leading developer of spinal cord injury therapies, in:
  • a €40.6 million cash capital increase 
  • a cash capital increase of more than €50 million and cornerstone investment by Ottobock SE & Co. KGaA
• Axian Telecom in its acquisition of 19.7 million ordinary shares from Jumia Technologies AG, representing 8% of Jumia’s outstanding share capital
• Jefferies and BofA Securities as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners in connection with a capital increase of Zur Rose Group AG

Capital Markets (Equity-Linked/Debt)

• HSBC in connection with the partial repurchase offer by ams OSRAM for up to €300 million (US$353 million) of its convertible bonds due 2027
• AGRAVIS Raiffeisen AG on multiple issuance of participation rights

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Citigroup as financial advisor to Addiko Bank AG in connection with competing voluntary public takeover offers to Addiko’s shareholders made by Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Nova Ljubljanska banka d.d.

• Jefferies as financial advisor to Northern Data AG in connection with the proposed acquisition of Northern Data AG by Rumble, Inc.

• CureVac N.V. in its all-stock acquisition by BioNTech SE that values CureVac N.V. at US$1.25 billion
• the management and supervisory boards of Fresenius in the company’s exit from the Austrian and international businesses of VAMED AG
• Armira and Boxine on Boxine’s €1 billion business combination with 468 SPAC I SE, one of the first de-SPAC transactions in the market involving a German-listed blanc cheque company
• SIGNA Sports United GmbH in connection with its US$3.3 billion initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange as a result of the de-SPAC merger with Yucaipa Acquisition Corporation. The merger also included the acquisition of WiggleCRC Group