BRANDL TALOS advised DirectSens on the sale of its market-leading LactoSens® biosensor technology to Kerry Group

Press release • Venture Capital & Start Ups from Roman Rericha, Stephan Strass

Founded in 2013 in Vienna by Christoph Sygmund, Roman Kittl, Roland Ludwig, Wolfgang Harreither and Alfons Felice as a spinoff of BOKU University, DirectSens specializes in developing biosensors, including LactoSens®, a rapid lactose detection tool. The acquisition of LactoSens® by Kerry Group reflects DirectSens' success in developing cutting-edge biosensor solutions and represents a move by Kerry Group to complement its offering in lactase enzymes.

As an indispensable analytical tool, LactoSens® will work alongside Kerry Group’s ingredient solutions, enabling a more integrated offering for food manufacturers. Kerry Group is a world leader in taste and nutrition, serving the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical markets.

The BRANDL TALOS team advising DirectSens was led by Roman Rericha and Stephan Strass and further supported by Daniel Habich, and Kevin Bley. i5 Invest (Herwig Springer, Stefan Podany) acted as exclusive financial advisor to DirectSens in this transaction.

Kerry Group has been represented by Wolf Theiss (Horst Ebhardt, Hartwig Kienast, Roland Marko, Lisa Bernsteiner).

The team
Roman Rericha
Partner / Fund Formation, Venture Capital & Start Ups, Corporate Law & Transactions
Roman represents clients in complex cross-border M&A and private equity transactions. Austrian and international venture capital funds regularly turn to him for assisting with investments in Austria. His expert advice also guides start-ups through large-scale financing rounds.

University of Vienna, Faculty of Law (Mag. iur. 2005),
Faculty of Business, Economics and Statistics, (Mag. rer.soc.oec. 2007)
Stephan Strass
Partner / Venture Capital & Start Ups, Corporate Law & Transactions, BioTech & Lifescience
Stephan advises innovative start-ups, institutional and strategic investors and other companies on acquisitions, financing rounds, joint ventures and exit transactions with a focus on highly regulated industries such as life sciences, biotech and leisure & entertainment. He further specializes in commercial transactions in the life science and biotech sector, including university spin-offs, strategic collaborations, patent and technology license agreements and IP purchase transactions.

He has co-authored commentaries on the EU Merger Act and the Investment Fund Act, and is the author of many academic publications.

University of Vienna, Faculty of Law (Mag. iur. 2015)
Harvard Law School, Master of Laws (LL.M. 2019)