Baker McKenzie advised VT5 Acquisition Company AG ("VT5"), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), on its structuring and initial public offering (IPO). The IPO was oversubscribed and concluded with proceeds of CHF 200 million. The first day of trading of VT5's Class A shares and redeemable warrants on SIX Swiss Exchange took place on 15 December 2021.
SIX Exchange Regulation, together with FINMA, recently revised the listing rules applying to SIX Swiss Exchange to accommodate for Swiss SPACs. As an early mover, VT5 launched the first SPAC under this new framework on 6 December 2021, the day the revised rules entered into force. The company plans to acquire one or more operating companies or businesses within 24 months of listing. VT5 focuses on technology leaders in Central and Northern Europe and especially the DACH region.
Baker McKenzie acted as local and international counsel to VT5 and designed the SPAC features under Swiss law, making the launch and listing of the first Swiss-listed SPAC possible.
The Baker McKenzie team was led by Dr. Matthias Courvoisier (partner, capital markets) and Dr. Yves Mauchle (senior associate, capital markets) and comprised Andrea Bolliger (of counsel, tax), Benedikt Hadorn, Bettina Klein, Jan Lusti, Tanja Schmid, Beau Visser (all associates, capital markets) and Manuel Hirlinger (trainee). On an international level, the team included Adam B. Farlow (partner, London), François-Xavier Naime (partner, Paris), Tim Alferink (partner, Amsterdam) and Enrique Carretero (partner, Madrid).