BianchiSchwald advised the Swiss Confederation in relation to its partial guarantee of a CHF 120,000,000 credit facility for SR Technics Switzerland AG

BianchiSchwald advised the Swiss Confederation, represented by the Swiss Federal Department of Finance and the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, as surety provider for part of a CHF 120,000,000 credit facility to SR Technics Switzerland AG (SR Technics) in the context of a CHF 145,000,000 and CHF 120,000,000 financing transaction with Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd. as mandated lead arranger and coordinator, agent, security agent and lender and a consortium consisting of Raiffeisen Schweiz Genossenschaft, Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank and Basler Kantonalbank as lenders.

The aviation industry has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that the aviation industry provides for an economically critical infrastructure and in order to ensure that Switzerland remains connected to the international air transport system, the Swiss Confederation, based on a credit line of CHF 600 Mio. approved by the Swiss parliament, supports the financing with a surety covering 60% of the CHF 120,000,000 Facility B. SR Technics has its headquarters in Kloten and provides critical line maintenance required for the operation of Switzerland’s airports.

BianchiSchwald advised the Swiss Confederation with regard to all legal aspects of the transaction. The BianschiSchwald team was led by partner Thomas Schmid (Banking and Finance, Restructuring & Insolvency) and included partner Stefan Scherrer (Corporate and M&A), associate Andreas Suter (Corporate and M&A), Stipe Jozic (Corporate and M&A) and junior associate Samuel Streuli.