Finanz-und-Wirtschaft-Forum: Inseln der Aufmerksamkeit

Program

Speakers

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  Dr. Annabella Bassler CFO Ringier AG

  Annabella Bassler (*1977) has been CFO of Ringier AG since June 2012. She began her career at Ringier in 2007, working in a number of financial roles. In addition she has also been responsible for Ringier’s activities in Romania since mid-2014. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Ticketcorner AG and Ringier Digital Ventures AG, and is also on the board of the child welfare organisation Plan International Switzerland. She studied economics at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel, Buenos Aires and Los Angeles, subsequently completing a doctorate. After gaining practical experience in consulting, Annabella Bassler worked from 2004 to 2007 in various financial roles for Hamburg Süd, formerly the Oetker Group’s shipping company, in Hamburg.

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  Kurt Haerri Head New Installation Business China Schindler China

  Kurt Haerri is Senior Vice President, Head New Installation Business Schindler China Ltd. He graduated in 1996 at the University of St. Gallen as an Executive MBA HSG and before in 1990 as Mechanical Engineer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences. Kurt Haerri joined Schindler Switzerland in 1987 as a Sales Engineer for Heavy Freight Elevators. He worked for Schindler in China from 1996 to 2003. Later he served as President of the Top Range Division, the global competence- and profit centre for Schindler’s Skyscraper Business. From 2013 to 2015 he was Head of Global Sales & Marketing of the Schindler Group. Since October 2017, Kurt Haerri is back in China leading Schindler’s New Installation Business in China. From 2006 to 2014, Kurt Haerri was the President of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Since 2012, Kurt Haerri is member of the Board of Directors of Komax Holding, a High-Tech company listed at the Zurich stock exchange. Since 2004 he assumes the responsibility at ETH Zuerich as Head Asia Module of an Executive MBA program. Kurt Haerri was born in 1962 and is living in Shanghai. He is married and a father of a son.

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  Georges Kern CEO Breitling

  Georges Kern studied Political Science in Strasbourg, France, and graduated in Business Administration from the University of St.Gallen in Switzerland. He acquired experience in the fast-moving-consumer-goods sector at Kraft Foods Switzerland before moving into the watch industry at TAG Heuer. In 2000, he joined Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, and was active in the integration of the brands A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC Schaffhausen following their acquisition. In 2002, at the age of 36, he became the youngest CEO within Richemont when he was chosen to run IWC Schaffhausen. In 2017, he was promoted to Head of Watchmaking, Marketing and Digital at Richemont and focused on supervising the Specialist Watchmaking Maisons. In 2017, Georges Kern was appointed the new CEO of the independent watch company Breitling SA, where he is also a shareholder. In his new position, Georges Kern’s mission is to foster the global development of one of the world’s most established watch manufacturers, and to focus on further developing Breitling’s digital and retail footprint, in particular with a view to accelerating growth in the important Asian markets. Georges Kern served as a member of the Young Global Leaders at the World Economic Forum from 2005 to 2010, and became Founding Curator of the Global Shapers Community in Zurich in 2011.

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  Tobias Knechtle CFO Valora

  Tobias Knechtle ist seit März 2014 CFO der Valora Group in Muttenz. Er startete seine Karriere 1995 bei Nestlé und wechselte anschliessend zu The Boston Consulting Group, wo er in Brasilien und in der Schweiz tätig war. 2005 wechselte er zu Cinven Private Equity (London), wo er als Principal in der Frankfurter Niederlassung arbeitete und zwei Jahre später zudem zum Geschäftsführer ernannt wurde. Weiter war er für Cinven Mitglied des Verwaltungsrats der Springer Science+Business Media, des weltweit zweitgrössten Wissenschaftsverlags. Von April 2009 bis Februar 2014 war Tobias Knechtle bei der Kudelski Gruppe, wo er 2011 zum Senior Vice President Finance befördert wurde.

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  André Krause CFO Sunrise

  André Krause (1970), is a German national and CFO at Sunrise since October 2011. Most recently André Krause was CFO for O2 Germany GmbH in Munich. From 2004 to 2006 he held the position of Vice President of Strategy & Consulting at O2 Germany. From 1999 to 2004 he was Associate Principal and member of the TIME practice at McKinsey & Company, Inc., in Dusseldorf. He also worked as a Junior in Computer Risk Management and Audit at Arthur Andersen in Dusseldorf from 1997 - 1999.

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  Francois-Xavier Roger CFO Nestlé

  François-Xavier, a French Citizen, has a Major in Accounting from Audencia Business School and a MBA from Ohio State University, USA. He has a vast knowledge of the Finance & Control area and an extensive experience in the pharmaceutical, food and nutrition industry with Roussel, Aventis, Danone and Takeda. He is a truly international executive, having lived and worked in France, the United States, South Africa, Mexico, Singapore, Luxembourg, Japan and Switzerland. From 2000 to 2008 he worked as Chief Financial Officer for Danone Asia, followed by Head of Finance, Treasury and Tax for the Danone Group based in Paris. From 2008 to 2013, he was Chief Financial Officer of Millicom, a listed, global mobile phone operator based in Luxembourg, before taking up the role of Chief Financial Officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical based in Japan. From 1 st July 2015, he is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nestle SA in Vevey Switzerland.

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More Speakers

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  Dr. Heinz Baumgartner CEO Schweiter

  Heinz O. Baumgartner has been CEO of Schweiter Technologies since 2008. From 1996 to 31 December 2013 he was CFO of Schweiter Technologies. He holds a degree in business management and a doctorate in economics from the University of St. Gallen. Heinz O. Baumgartner is also member of the Board of Directors of United Grinding Group since 2018.

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  Dr. Markus Braun Senior Lecturer in International Management ZHAW School of Management and Law

  Markus Braun is a Lecturer in International Management at the ZHAW School of Management and Law. His research focuses on international management, crossborder mergers & acquisitions and business in emerging markets with a focus on China. He teaches in undergraduate and graduate education as well as executive management courses. Prior to joining ZHAW, he served as Head of Corporate Office at Diethelm Keller Holding AG in Zurich (Switzerland) from 2004 to 2013. Previously, he served as CFO and Deputy CEO of the Nuance Group in Zurich (Switzerland) and in international financial positions at Novartis / Ciba-Geigy in the US, Singapore and Switzerland. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich and a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability CCRS. Markus Braun studied Business Administration at the Universities of St. Gallen and Basel. He has a doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Basel. His publications include “Globalization and Digitalization” (2020), “Renminbi-Hub Switzerland: Disappointed Hopes?” (2019), “Banking Transactions in Switzerland and China” (2018) and “M & A: Success through Integration Management” (English edition 2018, German edition 2015).

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• 
  Stefan Brunnschweiler Global Head of CMS Corporate/M&A CMS Zurich

  Stefan Brunnschweiler is the global head of the CMS Corporate/M&A Practice Area Group. In this position, he sets the strategy for the group and leads an international team of more than 350 partners and 1000 lawyers. Stefan Brunnschweiler specialises in international and domestic M&A transactions, corporate restructurings, corporate law and general contract matters (e.g. joint ventures, partnerships and shareholders agreements). He is experienced in a broad range of national and international transactions, both sell- and buy-side (including corporate auction processes) as well as the assistance of clients in their ongoing corporate and commercial activities. Stefan Brunnschweiler has engaged in competition law, including merger control filings for more than 10 years.

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  Dr. Patrick Dümmler Senior Fellow and Head of Research Open Switzerland Avenir Suisse
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  Dr. Martin Frey Partner and Head Corporate Finance / M&A PwC Switzerland

  Dr. Martin Frey gained 15 years of M&A and corporate finance experience with UBS Investment Bank and Lehman Brothers in New York, Chicago and Zurich before joining PwC in 2005. During his investment banking career, Martin gained extensive transaction expertise in M&A, debt and equity capital markets in mature and emerging markets. Martin`s current position is Head Corporate Finance / M&A at PwC Switzerland which the leading M&A advisory practice in the DACH region.

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  Gregor Greber Co-Founder and Senior Partner Veraison

  Gregor Greber, 1967, ist Mitgründer und senior Partner von VERAISON Capital. VERAISON Capital ist ein unabhängiger Asset Manager und erwirbt signifikante Beteiligungen an kleineren und mittleren börsenkotierten Unternehmen, bei welchen eine Wertsteigerung als konstruktiver, engagierter Aktionär erzielt werden kann. Davor war Gregor Greber Gründer und Miteigentümer von zCapital. zCapital verwaltete über CHF 650M Schweizer Aktien in zwei verschiedenen Schweizer Fonds. Gregor gründete auch die Firma zRating, ein Corporate Governance Proxy Service-Anbieter. Zuvor leitet er verschiedene Bereiche wie Corporate Finance bei der Bank am Bellevue, Swiss Equities bei Lombard Odier und bei der Deutschen Bank sowie Institutional Sales und Research bei UBS und Julius Bär.

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  Dr. Daniel Jenny Partner CMS

  Daniel Jenny specialises in M&A transactions (including private equity), capital markets, corporate restructurings, general corporate and contract matters (e.g. joint ventures, shareholders agreements). He is experienced in a broad range of international and national M&A transactions both sell and buy side, including auction processes and carve-out transactions. Furthermore, he is a recognised expert in corporate governance, in particular concerning questions on directors liability. Daniel Jenny`s expertise also includes corporate litigation: He often represents renowned clients in directors liability lawsuits and post M&A disputes or other corporate litigation (e.g. special audit). Among his clients are listed companies and private companies (both small and medium-sized) as well as individuals (in particular investors and board members). After his traineeship with CMS and his clerkship with the District Court of Zurich, Daniel Jenny was admitted to the bar in 2007 and has since been working as a lawyer with us. He gained additional work experience as an international associate in a New York-based law firm and as legal counsel in an industrial multinational (Hilti AG). Daniel Jenny authored various legal publications. His thesis “Means of Defence of Board Members in Directors Liability Lawsuits” approved by the University of Zurich in 2012 was awarded summa cum laude and won the Professor Walther Hug prize. 

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• 
  Peter Kasahara Managing Partner PwC Digital Services PwC Switzerland

  Peter is the managing partner of PwC Digital Services in Switzerland and a digital “Jedi” from tip to toe. Peter and his team create strategies to turn vision and innovation into reality. He supports clients across all industries in their digital transformation & re-imagination with strong focus on creating trust in a digitized world and people engagement across diverse cultures. Peter has a long-standing experience from working since over 20 years in the consulting and services industry becoming a trusted advisor of many large national and multi-national companies. Peter holds an MBA from St. Gallen University in Switzerland, is a proud graduate from Yale School of Management and alumnus of IMD Business School in Lausanne.

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• 
  Christian Lenz General Counsel On AG

  Christian Lenz serves as General Counsel at On AG where he is responsible for all legal matters (including M&A). Prior to joining On, Christian worked as Senior Legal Counsel in Sunrise’s Legal department where he - inter alia - advised on M&A and outsourcing projects.

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• 
  Philip Mosimann VRP Bucher Management AG and Vice President Swissmem

  Philip Mosimann führt seit 2002 als CEO den Konzern Bucher Industries. Der heute 61-jährige Schweizer ist diplomierter ETH Ingenieur und begann seine Karriere 1982 als Forschungsingenieur beim Sulzer Konzern, Winterthur. Nach verschiedenen leitenden Funktionen wurde er 1997 als Leiter der Division Sulzer Textil in die Sulzer Konzernleitung berufen. Mitte 2001 wechselte Philip Mosimann zu Bucher Industries und übernahm 2002 die Verantwortung als CEO. Des Weiteren ist Philip Mosimann seit 2007 Mitglied des Verwaltungsrats der Conzzeta AG, Zürich, seit 2012 Verwaltungsratspräsident der Uster Technologies AG, Uster und seit 2016 Mitglied des Verwaltungsrats der Bobst Group SA

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  Dr. Alexander Rakosi Partner CMS

  Alexander Rakosi is a partner at CMS and based in the Vienna office, additionally with significant activities in Central Eastern Europe. He advises leading corporations, investment funds and insurance companies in the fields of M&A, private equity and restructuring. He also does banking and regulatory work, both domestically and internationally. After studying law in Vienna and at the University of Michigan Law School/USA where he obtained his LL.M., Alexander worked at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York for several years in the areas of M&A, private equity and corporate finance. Alexander has also been admitted to the bar in England and Wales and in New York.

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  Patrick Scherrer Head Strategy and M&A Helvetia Insurance AG

  Patrick Scherrer, Head Strategy & M&A, joined Helvetia in 2008 from the consulting industry working for Marakon, a US-based strategy consulting firm with offices around the globe. He started his professional career in 1996 at SBC Warburg in the equity derivatives and sales, moved to Centre Solutions into the alternative risk transfer and on to KPMG into the field of risk management consulting. From 2000 to 2007 he worked at Swiss Re, first in the private equity-arm Securitas Capital and then helped building up the strategy development department, responsible for group-wide M&A and strategy development before joining Marakon. Patrick Scherrer holds a master degree from the University of Zurich and is a Harvard Business School alumni (AMP188). He was born 1970, is a Swiss citizen, and lives in Speicher/AR.

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  Pieter van Duijvenvoorde Partner CMS

  Pieter van Duijvenvoorde is a partner in the Corporate/M&A Practice Group with CMS in Amsterdam. He specialises in national and international mergers and joint ventures. Pieter has specific experience with private equity transactions and with W&I insurance.

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  Dr. Kai Wallisch Counsel CMS

  As a Corporate and M&A lawyer, Kai Wallisch focuses on advising companies, primarily in the industrial and automotive sector on domestic as well as cross-border transactions and reorganisations. He advised a number of companies from the automotive sector in both selling and acquiring shareholdings. Kai also regularly advises companies in other sectors on M&A transactions and general corporate law matters. Kai joined CMS in 2010 and has been a counsel since 2016. He lectures at the Stuttgart Bar Association. In 2016 and 2017 Kai was seconded to Honeywell in the USA.

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  Dr. Stephan Werlen Partner CMS Switzerland

  Stephan Werlen is a partner with CMS in Zurich and focuses on M&A, joint ventures, MBOs, acquisition finance and venture capital transactions. He has broad experience both in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions (including auction processes), the structuring as well as the financing of such transactions. In addition, he is an expert in W&I insurance transactions (M&A insurance) with a long track record in this area, advising both insurance companies in the underwriting process as well as insured parties in the procurement of W&I insurance.

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  Boris L. Zaïtra Head Mergers & Acquisitions F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.

  Boris L. Zaïtra is the Head of M&A at Hoffmann-La Roche and is based in Basel, Switzerland: in this role he leads Roche’s strategic mergers and acquisitions across the Roche Group businesses. He joined Roche in April 2012 from the Airbus Group where he worked for six years as Head of the M&A department. Prior to joining Airbus in 2005, he was a Partner with the mid-market private equity firm Duke Street Capital and was involved in deals in the UK and France. Previously, he was an M&A Associate with JP Morgan in London, focusing primarily on the Oil & Gas industry. Boris graduated from Ecole Polytechnique in France in 1995 and the Harvard Advanced Management Programme in 2009.

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Moderation

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  Jan Schwalbe Chefredaktor Finanz und Wirtschaft

  Jan Schwalbe is the Editor-In-Chief of the Swiss Business paper «Finanz und Wirtschaft». He has covered business and the economy for more than 20 years and has conducted countless interviews with international business leaders, economists and strategists. He has been published in Businessweek, Bloomberg News, “Finanz und Wirtschaft” and The Daily Telegraph. Before taking his role as Editor-in Chief he was the Head of the Zurich Bureau of Bloomberg News and was working for CNN Money. Jan Schwalbe was on the Board of the Foreign Press Association in New York and a correspondent in New York and London for over a decade.

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Partner

Previous Editions

• Mergers & Acquisitions 2018

  Shape Your Business

  11. September 2018

• Mergers & Acquisitions 2017

  Managing Future Success

  28. September 2017

• Mergers & Acquisitions 2016

  Die Schweiz im internationalen Kontext

  15. September 2016