Maria Doralt

Private M&A (selection)

• Advising Erber AG and its management board in relation to the EUR 980 million acquisition of Erber Group by Royal DSM, a global science-based company in Nutrition, Health and Sustainable Living as well as during the auction process (before Royal DSM was chosen as winning bidder). This deal was one of the landmark transactions in Austria in 2020.
• Advising exceet Group SE on the sale of its "exceet electronics" activities to the Austrian S&T group.
• Advising an Austrian client in the IT sector on the sale of several business divisions to a competitor, including a complex multi-step corporate reorganization (ICR) executed before completion of the sale.
• Advising Austrian clients on the establishment of a complex IP driven joint venture with a stock listed company, including lead of negotiations, structuring corporate governance of the joint venture and advice on all related legal issues.

Public M&A (selection)

• Advising a Chinese client regarding the investment in Austrian stock listed company, including transaction advice and all takeover related questions.
• Serving on the supervisory board of stock listed CA Immo AG for several years, including in the context of takeover bids.
• Advising the supervisory board of a stock listed Austrian client on takeover law and related corporate law issues in the context of a public M&A transaction; regularly advising international clients on public M&A aspects of potential acquisitions in Austria; advising Austrian clients on takeover related corporate law issues.

PE (selection)

• Advising Perusa Partners Fund 2, L. P., advised by independent Perusa GmbH, on the acquisition of a 51% majority shares in MBN GmbH (MBN-PROLED).
• Advising UK and German PE investors, e.g. Scottish Equity Partners and FinLab, in initial investments and in multiple financing rounds regarding investments in Austrian companies, in particular in the IP/IT and life sciences sector.

International Corporate Reorganizations (ICR) and Corporate Governance (selection)

• Advising Austrian and international clients on complex international corporate reorganizations (ICR), often involving multiple jurisdictions and often in the pre-M&A and post M&A context, including the advice of Wipro Limited on the acquisition and ICR of cellent AG and the recent reorganization within the Playtech group.
• Advising an Austrian IT client on complex corporate law assessment of a profit sharing contract and assessment of corporate law implications; regularly advising Austrian clients on complex corporate governance issues, often involving private foundations law and complex multi-party negotiations.

• "Maria Doralt – a strong lawyer speaking multiple languages with excellent contacts with large corporates on the Austrian market." Client, Legal 500 2024
• "Maria Doralt is outstanding in personality as well as in know-how. She is the one to adress when you want your M&A deal to succeed." Client, Legal 500 2024
• "She is a great communicator, very business-driven and comes up with out-of-the-box solutions." Client, Chambers Global 2024
  
• "Maria has it all: great legal skills, integrity and a pragmatic approach. We love working with her." Client, Chambers Global 2024
• “Maria Doralt is just outstanding in how she brings together commercial understanding and legal knowledge.” Client, Legal 500, 2023
• "Maria Doralt is pragmatic and reliable, provides a strong backbone in negotiations and delivers to the point.“ Client, Chambers Europe 2023
• “I have worked on a major project led by Maria Doralt. To me, Maria Doralt is the best corporate lawyer I have ever met. She has it all – legal excellence, business drive, pragmatic solutions, clear communication and integrity.” Client, Legal 500 2022
• "Outstanding negotiator, very business-driven, efficient and to the point,"... "She stands out for her unrivalled commitment; people love working with her." Client, Chambers Global 2022
• "The outstanding partner in Vienna in the Corporate practice is Maria Doralt. She is a high-profile expert, well connected in the market, very responsive and available, with a very pragmatic attitude."  Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2021
• "Maria Doralt showed great understanding of the client’s specific business – combined with her excellent legal knowledge resulted in great benefit for the transaction. Her hands-on mentality is outstanding." Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2021
• "In M&A my main point of contact is Maria Doralt. She is an outstanding lawyer and simply great at negotiating deals. Great legal skills but even more impressive in terms of communication and negotiation skills. She really understands client needs and how to find solutions that work for all parties involved. Also, she and her team are very business driven and great to work with." Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2021
• "My main point of contact is Maria Doralt. She is certainly the best corporate lawyer I have ever met."  Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2021
• Maria Doralt is "great at negotiating complex contracts and at spotting win-win opportunities" Chambers Europe 2021
• "Maria Doralt stands out for her unrivalled commitment and impressive negotiation skills. She is a great communicator and makes complex issues easy to grasp. She is also great at building relationships with all parties and ensuring smooth negotiations, very tough in substance but very smooth in her manner of negotiating deals. That helps her to build confidence with all parties and to find win win solutions. She is certainly one of the best corporate lawyers I have ever met."  Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2020
• "Maria Doralt – outstanding, both academic and practical excellence, very much engaged, good availability!"  Client, Legal 500 EMEA 2020
• Maria Doralt offers "excellent technical skills and sound business judgement," according to one client, who adds: "She is a very strong communicator, excellent at listening and at spotting and resolving critical issues." She acts as local counsel on international transactions, as well as advising on share and asset deals, joint ventures and reorganisations. She also offers strength in corporate governance matters. Chambers Europe 2020
• Clients value Maria for being "extremely committed, very friendly and always practical." She regularly advises on M&A transactions, often in connection with complex corporate structurings. Chambers Europe 2019
• Commentators especially note her negotiation skills, with one source noting that "she anticipated future topics," while another praises her focus on realistic win-win solutions. Chambers Europe 2018
• Sources praise Maria Doralt for her "unrivalled commitment." She is an increasingly visible corporate law expert, and [also] acts as a supervisory board member. Chambers Europe 2017
• Further recognitions include yearly listings in Juve, Legal 500, Chambers and Acritas Star.
• Maria Doralt is amongst the leading professionals on LBO's and MBOs in Austria. Her PhD on the topic was honoured with multiple awards and widely recognized in Austrian practice and case law. Maria is a regular speaker at Austrian and international legal conferences, in particular on the topic of LBO's and MBO's.

• Co-author of commentary on Austrian Stock Corporations Law Commentary (Kommentar zum Aktiengesetz, Doralt/Nowotny/Kalss (Hrsg) 2013, 2018 und 2022 (in preparation)
• Co-author of handbook for Supervisory Board (Handbuch für den Aufsichtsrat), Kalss/Kunz (Hrsg) 2010 and 2016
• Co-author of the Commentary on German/Austrian Stock Corporations Law (Münchner Kommentar zum Aktiengesetz), 2013 and 2019 (in preparation)
• Cross Border Mergers: A Glimpse into the future, ECFR 2007, 17
• Co-author of a handbook on Austrian Takeover Law (Handbuch Übernahmerecht, Birkner (Hrsg), Lexis Nexis 2012)
• Management Buyout - Aktionärs- und Gläubigerschutz durch den Grundsatz der Kapitalerhaltung (Linde 2000 - Publication of PhD - honoured with multiple awards)