Experience is key
The Advior Switzerland team consists of three seasoned M&A experts, each having more than 25 years of M&A and advisory experience in Switzerland and abroad. The team has been seamlessly working together for decades.
Seasoned Experts. Seamless Teamwork.
The seniors have complementary educational backgrounds in finance, economics and law. We advised in many different industries through our careers (industrial and consumer products, business services, healthcare, technology, IT/software, media/telecoms, utilities, government agencies, financial institutions, real estate), working with different types of clients and counterparts, including entrepreneurs, domestic, European and US listed or privately held corporates, as well as private equity investors and family offices.
After having worked together for more than 10 years at Raiffeisen Switzerland, the team has a profound knowledge of the M&A dynamics for small and medium-sized Swiss enterprises where we advised clients in M&A projects, but also in strategic and valuation topics. Among many other transactions, the team also handled in approx. two dozen separate transactions the divestment of the non-core assets of Raiffeisen Switzerland Cooperative (e.g. Bank Notenstein La Roche and the SME portfolio of KMU Capital AG/Investnet).
The team has an unmatched experience in theoretical and practical valuation matters after having provided more some two dozen fairness opinions throught the career and having assisted bank credit offers of the 2nd largest Swiss banking group in the valuation analyses of succession transactions.
The Founding Partners
Alexander Cassani
Partner
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Education
Graduated as attorney from the University of Bern (1993).
1993-2001
Credit Suisse (Zurich & London): He began his career in investment banking. Finally, as Director, he advised major Swiss companies and played a key role in prestigious transactions such as the initial public offerings (IPOs) of Geberit and Zurich Airport, as well as the restructuring of the power plants of the Swiss Federal Railways.
2001–2015
Bank J. Safra; Corporate Finance: 14 years, serving as Managing Director since 2007. He led several landmark transactions, including the sale of Sécheron Hasler AG the reverse take-overs of Cytos and Innovative Packaging Solutions, Rabobank’s takeover bid for Bank Sarasin & Cie AG and the restructuring of Private Equity Holding AG.
2015–2026
Raiffeisen Switzerland: Served as Co-Head of its Corporate Finance practice. He managed complex mandates such as the divestitures of Vescore AG and Bank Notenstein. Of particular note is his advisory role to the Federal Finance Administration during the privatization of RUAG International, as well as his involvement in the recent acquisition of a wealth manager in Qatar, including oversight of the full transition phase.
Board expertise
Member of the Board of Directors of Sécheron Hasler Group since 2011; also served on the boards of Valyo AG and Business Broker AG.
Niklaus Müller
Partner
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Education
Niklaus Müller holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Basel where he also completed his doctorate (summa cum laude) after spending two terms as a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Economics at Harvard University (1995/96).
1996-2000
Financial analyst at BZ Bank.
2000–2012
PwC Corporate Finance: 12 years. Successfully completed, amongst various mid-sized deals, also public transactions such as the sale of Schulthess Group to NIBE Industrier AB (2011) and the sale of Newave Energy to ABB Ltd. (2012).
2012–2015
J. Safra Sarasin Corporate Finance: joined as Managing Director, working alongside Alexander Cassani and Matthias Spiess who had been with that bank since 2001.
2015–2026
Raiffeisen Switzerland: Co-Head of Corporate Finance. Led numerous client assignments, including the sale of Careanesth to Invision, and multiple divestments from a large SME-portfolio.
Matthias Spiess
Partner
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Education
Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Zurich (2000).
2000-2001
Analyst in M&A advisory at Credit Suisse.
2001–2015
Bank J. Safra Sarasin Corporate Finance: 14 years, Managing Director since 2007. Advised Swiss and international clients including Eichhof Holding AG in the sale of Eichhof Getränke to Heineken and NIBE Industrier AB (Sweden) in the purchase of Schulthess Group AG. Led the IPO of Fundamenta Real Estate AG, developed a market-leading position in fairness opinions, and introduced the script dividend following the implementation of Swiss company tax reform II.
2015–2026
Raiffeisen Switzerland: Co-Head of Corporate Finance. Led assignments including the sale of Zünd Precision Optics AG, the purchase of Solasa Group AG, the purchase of a minority stake in Avaloq Group AG, the defense mandate for Immobiliengesellschaft Fadmatt AG, and the orchestration of the accelerated bookbuilding for a 4% stake of Helvetia Holding AG.
