Maria Doralt

Private M&A, Joint Ventures and other Transactions (selection)

• Advising Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften on the set-up of an institute for Biomedical Artificial Intelligence with funding from the German non-profit Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung. The new institute, called AITHYRA, will make revolutionary advances in biomedicine by developing AI-based research approaches.
• Advising Vertex, a global provider of tax technology solutions, on its acquisition of ecosio, a leading B2B integration provider in electronic data interchange and e-invoicing, for the upfront cash payment of USD69m, as well as a targeted earn-out of USD76 million in cash and USD35m of Vertex shares.
• Advising a major Austrian bank on the complex sale of its Slovene banking subsidiary including the refinancing of the existing loan portfolio.
• 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.
• Advising Wipro Limited in connection with the Austrian workstream regarding the acquisition of Capco, a global management and technology consultancy to banking and financial services industry for USD1.45bn.
• Advising Erber AG and its management board in relation to the EUR980m 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.

Public M&A (selection)

• Advising Marinomed Biotech, a publicly listed life science company based in Austria developing innovative therapies in virology and immunology, on the sale of its Carragelose business to Unither Pharmaceuticals, a contract development and manufacturing organisation of medical devices and pharmaceutical products. This transaction was a landmark transaction in the Austrian market in 2024/25.
• Regularly advising international clients regarding investment in Austrian stock-listed companies including transaction advice and all takeover-related questions.
• Regularly working for supervisory boards: This has included serving on the supervisory board of stock listed CA Immo AG for several years, including in the context of takeover bids. It has also included advising the supervisory board of a major stock listed Austrian client on takeover law and related corporate law issues in the context of a public M&A transaction.

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.

Venture Capital (selection)

• Advising a Swiss-Ukrainian start-up studio and venture capitalist on the second seed round of a promising young Austrian company providing web tracking and data privacy compliance support, totaling over EUR3m.

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 or in context of transfer of shares to the next generation for Austrian family-owned businesses.
• 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 is ranked by JUVE Austria as a leading Lawyer for Corporate and M&A Law.
• Maria Doralt is ranked by Chambers Europe and Chambers Global as a leading lawyer for Corporate and M&A Law. She is also recommended by the Legal 500 for Commercial, Corporate and M&A in Austria, and is ranked by Handelsblatt Best Lawyers as one of Austria's best lawyers of the year for Corporate Law.
• "Maria Doralt is an incredibly talented and dedicated lawyer. She is a true pleasure to work with because she always comes up with solutions that work." Client, Chambers 2026
• "I have known Maria Doralt for more than two decades. She has always stood out as an exceptionally gifted lawyer and communicator. She is the best M&A transaction lawyer in the market." Client, Legal 500 2025
• "She is pragmatic, result-driven and simply great to work with. Also, she is great at devising strategies and finding outside-the-box solutions." Client, Chambers 2025
• "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 address 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
• 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.

Selected publications:

• Co-author of commentary on Austrian Stock Corporations Law Commentary (Kommentar zum Aktiengesetz, Doralt/Nowotny/Kalss (Hrsg) 2013, 2018 und 2021
• Co-author of handbook for Supervisory Board (Handbuch für den Aufsichtsrat), Kalss/Kunz (Hrsg) 2010, 2016 and 2025
• Co-author of the Commentary on German/Austrian Stock Corporations Law (Münchner Kommentar zum Aktiengesetz), 2013, 2018, 2022, 2024 und 2026 (in preparation)
• Co-author of the Handbook for the Board of Directors (Handbuch für den Vorstand), Kalss/Frotz/Schörghofer (Hrsg), 2016 ; Co-Author of the Handbook for the Board of Directors & Management (Handbuch Vorstand & Geschäftsführung), Kalss/Frotz/Schörghofer (Hrsg) 2025
• 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)