On July 8, 2021, the SIX Swiss Exchange announced the launch of SPARKS, a dedicated new equity segment on the Swiss stock exchange targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The new segment is designed to allow SMEs to raise capital in public offerings, whilst enabling investors to tap the growth potential of SMEs.
With somewhat more relaxed listing requirements compared to the SIX main market &#8211; track record of only 2 years, shareholder base of minimum 50 investors, equity capital of minimum CHF 12 m, and a capital increase of at least CHF 8 m as part of the IPO unless the equity capital is higher than CHF 25 m &#8211; SPARKS targets companies with a market capitalization of less than CHF 500 m. Annual (audited) and semi-annual (unaudited) financial reporting and corporate governance reporting will be applicable, as well as disclosure of important shareholdings, management transactions and events that could affect the share price (ad hoc publicity).
Catering for anticipated lower secondary market trading liquidity, SPARKS will operate a proprietary trading model specifically tailored to companies with smaller market capitalization to give investors the best possible execution. The model will feature a condensed trading window with continuous trading every day, with an opening auction at 3.00 p.m., trading until 5.20 p.m. and a closing auction until 5.40 p.m. SPARKS listed companies can request a transfer to the SIX main market after a certain period, but must transfer to such main market if their average market capitalization exceeds CHF 1 bn over a period of 12 months.
Pursuant to the announcement, the new equity trading segment will go live upon approval by relevant authorities. All necessary applications have been filed.
We believe SPARKS will be an interesting proposition for a number of parties: for SMEs, allowing them to efficiently raise capital whilst taking advantage of less onerous listing requirements, and for their investors, allowing for enhanced liquidity, effective price formation and best execution. We expect the new segment to address an actual need of both companies and investors, by establishing and extending to SMEs an ecosystem for raising public capital for growth. Based on the strength of our leadership and expertise in capital markets, we look forward to helping our clients make optimal use of the new framework at the forefront of the ECM field.

SIX Swiss Exchange - Launch of SPARKS

Corporate / M&A

Capital Markets

Financing and Investment Products

Meyer Burger

Homburger News 

Share-Image Teamplate Deals-and-Cases

On April 3, 2024, Meyer Burger Technology AG (SIX: MBTN) announced the successful completion of its rights offering, raising gross proceeds of CHF 206.75 m. Shares not subscribed by shareholders were placed with institutional investors at the prevailing market price.
Homburger acted as legal and tax counsel to Meyer Burger in this transaction. The Homburger team was co-led by Dieter Gericke and Daniel Häusermann (both Corporate / M&amp;A, Capital Markets) and included Lorenzo Togni (Capital Markets), Jasmin Künzle, Magda Aref, Hans Glent Abildgaard, Thomas Romelli, Cédric Berger, Oliver Dalla Palma, Daniel Wenzinger and Alexander Giger (all Corporate / M&amp;A, Capital Markets), Miguel Sogo and Oliver Mrose (both Corporate / M&amp;A), Eduard De Zordi and Daniel Hulmann (both Financing and Investment Products) as well as Stefan Oesterhelt (Tax).

Homburger advised Meyer Burger on its CHF 206.75 m rights offering

Employment and Executive Compensation

Galderma-webnews

Homburger News

On March 13, 2024, Galderma Group AG (Galderma), the pure-play dermatology category leader, announced the launch of its Initial Public Offering (Offering) on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The Offering consists of up to 40,453,467 newly issued shares and up to 276,909 existing shares sold by one of its shareholders, Sunshine SwissCo AG (EQT), with an over-allotment option of up to 6,109,158 existing registered shares granted by EQT together with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd.
Based on the offer price range between CHF 49 and CHF 53 resulting in an offer size of approximately CHF 2.3 billion (assuming the over-allotment option is exercised in full), the implied market capitalization of Galderma is estimated between CHF 11.8 billion and CHF 12.6 billion. The listing and the first day of trading are expected to take place on March 22, 2024. Galderma will be included in the Swiss Performance Index (SPI).
Homburger acts as issuer&#8217;s, selling shareholder&#8217;s and transaction counsel to Galderma and EQT. The team is led by Frank Gerhard, Lorenzo Togni and Margrit Marti (all Capital Markets; Corporate/M&amp;A) and comprises Micha Fankhauser, Estelle Piccard, Jasmin Künzle, Héloïse de Jamblinne, Lucas Forrer and Daniel Wenzinger (all Capital Markets; Corporate/M&amp;A), Andreas Müller and Anna Peter (Employment and Executive Compensation), Jürg Frick, Stefan Bindschedler, Daniel Junginger and Sarah Fasel (all Financing and Investment Products), Stefan Oesterhelt and Laetitia Fracheboud (both Tax).

Homburger advises Galderma on its IPO on SIX Swiss Exchange

Competition

Regulatory

IP / IT

On January 11, 2024, ABB announced that it has acquired the Swiss-based startup Sevensense Robotics AG (Sevensense Robotics). Founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Sevensense Robotics is a leading provider of AI-enabled 3D vision navigation technology for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The navigation technology developed by Sevensense Robotics enables AMRs to take intelligent decisions, differentiating between fixed and mobile objects in dynamic environments. ABB plans to continue offering this technology under the product name Sevensense across segments including material handling, cleaning and other service robotics fields. Sevensense has the potential to impact robotics far beyond AMRs, leading to greater efficiency, flexibility and accuracy throughout production and intralogistics.
The Homburger team was led by Lorenzo Togni and included Simone Schmid, Isabelle Cordey and Jana Waldvogel (all Corporate / M&amp;A) as well as Richard Stäuber and Nicolas Stocker (both Competition / Regulatory), Luca Dal Molin and Hélène Bruderer (both IP / IT) and Jonas Stähli (Tax).

Lorenzo
Togni

Homburger advised Meyer Burger on its CHF 206.75 m rights offering

Homburger advises Galderma on its IPO on SIX Swiss Exchange

Homburger advised ABB on its acquisition of Sevensense Robotics AG

SIX Swiss Exchange - Launch of SPARKS

Indicative Timeline for an IPO (Switzerland)

Moving the Goalposts between Launch and Pricing oder Der Prospektnachtrag beim IPO unter bisherigem und zukünftigem Recht

The future of equity capital markets transactions in Switzerland: what issuers of equity instruments should know about the new Swiss prospectus regime

Join the Team

Lorenzo Togni

Career

Languages

Bar Registration

Teams

LorenzoTogni

Homburger advised Meyer Burger on its CHF 206.75 m rights offering

Homburger advises Galderma on its IPO on SIX Swiss Exchange

Homburger advised ABB on its acquisition of Sevensense Robotics AG

SIX Swiss Exchange - Launch of SPARKS

Indicative Timeline for an IPO (Switzerland)

Moving the Goalposts between Launch and Pricing oder Der Prospektnachtrag beim IPO unter bisherigem und zukünftigem Recht

The future of equity capital markets transactions in Switzerland: what issuers of equity instruments should know about the new Swiss prospectus regime

Join the Team

Lorenzo Togni

Career

Languages

Bar Registration

Teams

Lorenzo
Togni