News

In the 2025 Bilanz ranking, BGPartner has once again been recognised as one of Switzerland’s leading law firms. In the category of Private Equity and Venture Capital, the firm was awarded the highest rating of 5 stars, as in previous years.

The ranking is based on a survey conducted by Statista on behalf of Handelszeitung and Bilanz. More than 27,000 professionals and clients were invited to evaluate law firms across 31 areas of law.

BGPartner sees this repeated recognition as confirmation of its long-standing expertise and focus on complex transactional mandates.

We thank all our employees for their daily commitment and our clients for their continued trust.

To the Bilanz Ranking 2025

BGPartner advises on a USD 1.1 billion transaction - Araris Biotech to be acquired by Taiho Pharmaceutical 

Japan-based Taiho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Araris Biotech AG, a Swiss biotechnology company developing next-generation antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), entered into a share purchase agreement pursuant to which Taiho Pharmaceutical will fully acquire Araris Biotech. The acquisition, expected to close in the first half of 2025, follows a research collaboration between the two companies that began in November 2023. Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, Taiho Pharmaceutical will pay USD 400 million at closing, with the potential for additional milestone payments of up to USD 740 million, as the company reaches unicorn status.

BGPartner, which has been advising Araris Biotech as Swiss legal counsel since its incorporation in 2019, advised Araris Biotech on all Swiss legal matters of this transaction. The team consisted of Oliver Gnehm (Partner), Thomas Gysin (Managing Associate) and Tessa Douma (Associate). Cooley LLP advised on all US legal matters. 

The Swiss Venture Capital Report 2025 highlights the dynamic growth of the Swiss venture capital market in the past year. BGPartner played a key role in multiple major transactions, advising on some of Switzerland’s largest financing rounds.

In particular BGPartner advised the lead investors OrbiMed, Novo Holdings, Catalio Nexus Fund, LSP Dementia Fund Coöperatieve U.A. (EQT), and SR One on the two biggest financing rounds of 2024:

• Alentis TherapeuticsAG  – CHF 160 million (Series D financing round)
• Asceneuron AG – CHF 89 million (Series C financing round)

In addition, BGPartner was involved in other significant transactions, including the Series C extension of Memo Therapeutics AG and the USD 147 million Series B extension of Noema Pharma AG, advising co-lead investors Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II Coöperatief U.A., Jeito S.L.P., and LSP 7 Coöperatief U.A. (EQT).

Another milestone was BGPartner’s advisory role for the main selling shareholders HBM Healthcare Investments AG, Novo Holdings, and Forbion in the USD 1.25 billion spin-off of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics AG, a subsidiary of Numab Therapeutics AG, to Johnson & Johnson.

These successful transactions highlight BGPartner's leading role in both legal advisory and negotiation matters for complex financing rounds and transactions. A special thanks goes to the exceptional team at BGPartner for their outstanding work.

Find the full Swiss Venture Capital Report 2025.

BGPartner – Mastering Law & Negotiation

We show you how to maximize your own negotiation performance.

On April 1 and 2, 2025, we will be holding the Inhouse Counsel Exclusive Seminar in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Uta Herbst and Prof. Dr. Markus Voeth from the Negotiation Academy Potsdam. In this exclusive seminar, participants will learn how to optimize the interface between law and negotiation and maximize their negotiation performance.

The seminar will take place at the FIFA Museum in Zurich and the number of places is limited. Further information can be found in our flyer. 

We look forward to two exciting days on the subject of negotiation.

The countdown is on. Once again this year, we are proud to host a Vis Moot Court Trial Round incl. Negotiation Add-on. On February 20, 2025, we will have the privilege of welcoming the teams from the following universities: Berne, Zurich and Lausanne and as well as from ZHAW.

Negotiation skills are an integral part of BGPartner's DNA. Training in negotiation skills not only leads to better results in real life, but is also highly relevant for students for their future careers as successful lawyers.

In addition to the official Vis Moot Court Trial Round, BGPartner therefore offers an additional training round in which the teams can develop their negotiation skills. They will benefit directly from the input of our negotiation experts.

We look forward to seeing you there!