Aksan has advised on the establishment of the PCP Capital Partners venture fund.
PCP Capital Partners is a private equity firm focused on investments in Turkiye.
The Aksan team included Partner Sevki Ozgur Altindas and Senior Managing Attorney Oyku Okyay Unsal.
Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners has advised Unior Group on the sale of Unitur Hotels & Resorts to Advance Capital Partners. Fatur Menard advised Advance Capital Partners.
Unior Group is a Slovenian tourism company.
The Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners team included Senior Partner Grega Peljhan and Senior Associate Joze Stare.
The Fatur Menard team included Managing Partner Maja Menard, Partner Lovro Jurgec, Counsel Helena Belina Djalil, and Senior Associate Martin Carni.
Dentons has advised Shopper Park Plus on the acquisition via its subsidiary Shopping Malls SVK of a Tesco-anchored retail park portfolio in Slovakia from Tesco Stores. Wilsons reportedly advised Tesco.
UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia provided financing for the deal.
Shopper Park Plus is an owner and operator of food-anchored retail parks across Central and Eastern Europe. According to Dentons, the acquisition expands SPP’s presence in Slovakia with four retail parks – in Zilina, Nitra, Trnava, and Dunajska Streda – bringing its total portfolio to 22 locations across Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, and covers 398,000 square meters of gross leasable area with over 600 tenants.
The Dentons team included Budapest-based Partners Judit Kovari and Edina Schweizer, Senior Associate Janos Csaki, Associate Frantisek Ordody, and Junior Associates Zsofia Tihanyi, Zsuzsanna Larsen, Adam Brecko, and Robert Bernath, Prague-based Partner Monika Kajankova, and Bratislava-based Managing Counsel Martin Mendel, Counsels Peter Panek and Miroslav Kapinaj, Senior Associates Tomas Pavelka, Natalia Hangacova, and Richard Marcincin, Associates Michal Distler, Alen Gondek, and David Stanek, and Junior Associates Norbert Vizvari, Nina Drgalova, Roman Kettner, Kristina Krestankova, and Nikola Salvova.
Wolf Theiss, working with Goodwin Procter, has advised Kingswood Capital Management on its investment in Infotree Global Solutions. Foley & Lardner reportedly advised Infotree Global Solutions.
Kingswood Capital Management is a Los Angeles-based investment firm.
Infotree Global Solutions is a provider of international workforce management solutions for U.S.-based Fortune 500 companies.
The Wolf Theiss team included Partners Anna Dabrowska and Bartosz Kuras, Counsel Adrian Krzyzanowski, and Associate Oliwia Kruczynska.
Ellex has advised Altor Fund IV on divesting from Nordic Tyre Group to Axcel Fund VII.
NTG is an independent tire wholesaler across the Nordics and Baltics. According to Ellex, it was built on a foundation established in 2019 through a partnership with the founders of Gummigrossen and Rengasduo. In 2021, NTG expanded its reach by acquiring the Latakko group companies in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia – establishing itself as the largest tire distributor in the Baltics.
The Ellex team included Partner Sarmis Spilbergs, Senior Associate Kaspars Olsevskis, and Associate Eliza Semkina.
Ellex did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.
Polenak Law Firm founder Nikola Polenak has passed away.
“It is with a sad and heavy heart that we announce the passing of our founder, mentor, and well-esteemed colleague Nikola Polenak,” the firm stated. “Beyond being an outstanding lawyer, Nikola was highly respected by the local legal community and a distinguished figure in both professional and social circles. He embodied the highest ideals of private legal practice – integrity, unparalleled knowledge, and a strong moral compass interwoven with professional ethics.”
The firm added: “Nikola will be remembered as a visionary who, in 1976, established the first partnership functioning as a law firm in North Macedonia during the era of ex-Yugoslavia. As noted by the President of the Macedonian Bar Association, he was always accessible and open to cooperation, maintaining professional relationships with the entire legal community and being greatly appreciated and welcomed by all. He has mentored and inspired generations of lawyers, raising the level and quality of legal service throughout his career. Nikola is survived by his wife Zoja, his two sons, and three grandchildren. He will be dearly missed.”
Dentons Partner and and Head of the Capital Markets group in Bucharest Loredana Chitu highlights Romania’s vibrant M&A market, driven by strong investor interest in energy, technology, and logistics-focused real estate, while also cautioning that ongoing geopolitical and economic challenges, as well as upcoming elections, could influence investment activity throughout 2025.
“2024 was quite a vibrant year for M&A in Romania – we saw strong activity across several key sectors, particularly in energy, technology – with a focus on data centers and AI, real estate, with a notable focus on logistics investments, and consumer.” Chitu begins. “Investors were actively interested in buying or divesting, and overall, we were pleased with the market’s momentum,” she says, indicating that Romania’s economy continues to expand, driven by increased consumption, fiscal policies, and available liquidity. However, looking ahead to 2025, “this trend seems contingent on several factors – most notably, the absorption of EU Recovery and Resilience Facility funds, which specialists frequently cite as a key future driver of investment for Romania.”
Furthermore, Chitu says that 2025 has already brought both positive developments and challenges. “On one hand, Romania’s strategic role in CEE is growing, particularly due to geopolitical instability worldwide. This trend was already noticeable in recent years, but, in particular, we are now seeing increased FDI screening, especially in strategic industries, which makes sense given the region’s heightened importance.”
At the same time, Romania’s electoral cycle – with upcoming elections – has created significant political noise. “While we haven’t necessarily seen deals being canceled outright, investors are being more cautious in their decision-making, assessing whether the timing is right for transactions,” Chitu shares. Additionally, Romania, “like other CEE jurisdictions, faces increasing budget deficits, which limits government maneuverability and adds pressure to an already complex economic environment. Given this, we expect to see new tax and fiscal policy changes in 2025, which could directly impact the M&A pipeline and overall investment appetite.”
Focusing on positives, Chitu reports that Romania has achieved full Schengen integration, which stands to facilitate cross-border trade and the movement of goods. “We also expect increased focus on Romania’s OECD accession, which has already prompted several positive legislative changes, particularly enhancing corporate governance standards – not just for state-owned enterprises but for the broader market as well.” Additionally, she reports that RRF funds have been a major stimulus for private equity investment. “We’ve seen PE funds in Romania actively tapping into RRF funding, particularly alternative investment funds. This influx of capital is fueling investment activity, especially in Romania’s startup ecosystem, which surpassed the EUR 100 million investment threshold last year.” Moreover, Chitu expects to see “intensified defense sector activity, including increased funds allocated to acquiring defense-related assets and solutions.”
As for infrastructure, Chitu opines that “Romania must advance its infrastructure agenda, particularly in railways, roads, healthcare, and digital networks. Execution of projects in these sectors is expected to accelerate, driven in part by RRF funds absorption, changes brought by OECD requirements, and broader ESG compliance trends.”
Finally, looking at capital markets, Chitu says that “depending on how market conditions evolve, the stock exchange could either benefit significantly from the higher volatility that these changes can bring, or face increased liquidity challenges if investors move away from listed securities to mitigate risks. At the same time, we hope that market reforms and increased investment activity will drive liquidity up and lead to more capital market transactions in 2025,” she concludes.
From changes in government and potential alterations in tax reform to budget cuts in the court system and EU fines, the past few months have brought significant changes to Estonia’s legal and political landscape, according to Rask Partner Annika Vait.
“All in all, it’s been a few eventful months with lots of developments,” Vait points out. “First, Estonia’s government has gone through political shifts. The coalition will continue without the Social Democratic Party, with four ministers being already recalled. The Reform Party and Estonia 200, both liberal, remain in power and have decided to start bilateral coalition negotiations.” According to Vait, what makes this particularly interesting is that “the prime minister has publicly stated that changes to tax regulations are coming.” According to Prime Minister Kristen Michal, “Estonia returns to a simple income tax system.” What is unusual about the idea is that “the changes in corporate income tax and personal income tax, which the prime minister wishes to cancel, have been legally adopted but have not yet entered into force,” Vait adds. “There’s a chance these tax changes won’t be implemented after all, which is something foreign investors are watching closely.”
Another major issue, Vait notes, is the ongoing discussion around budget cuts in the court system. “The government has decided that every sector – except national security and important investments – must cut costs. This has sparked public debate on whether it’s appropriate for the legal system,” Vait emphasizes. “Judges are already dealing with high workloads, and there’s a concern that additional cuts will make court proceedings even longer. Beyond delays, there’s also a real fear that the quality of procedural management and court decisions will suffer. For the first time, we’re seeing judges consider stepping down by themselves – two have already announced their resignations, one from the district court and one from the Supreme Court.”
“Last week, we also received important news from the Estonian Bar Association,” Vait continues. “A new seven-member board was elected. What stands out about this new board is its diversity – board members come from both large and small law firms, and the combination of younger and more experienced lawyers, as well as women and men, reflects the modernization of the Bar Association, like what we see in contemporary private corporations.”
On the European front, Vait notes that Estonia has been fined twice by the EU Court for failing to transpose the directives. “One involves the competition directive, where Estonia received a EUR 400,000 fine, plus an additional daily fine of EUR 3,000 for each day of further delay. The competition directive is still not transposed to Estonian legislation.” Vait says. “The other fine concerns the EU whistleblower protection directive, which should have been implemented back in 2021. Our law on whistleblowing only came into force last year, leading to a EUR 500,000 fine. Although most of the work with whistleblowing protection regulation has now been completed, there are still some regulatory aspects that need to be finalized.”
Lastly, Vait mentions that the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs has released a report on crime trends in Estonia. “Fraud cases resulted almost in EUR 42 million in damages,” she says. “The report also highlighted an increase in computer fraud crimes, which rose by 14% compared to the previous year.” According to Vait, this trend aligns with developments in other countries, meaning that “while the numbers may be concerning, they’re not unpredictable.”
Brandl Talos has advised Xund on a EUR 6 million pre-series A financing round led by Lead Ventures with participation from J&T Ventures and existing investors MassMutual Ventures, TBA network, and Lana Ventures. Herbst Kinsky, and reportedly Erdos Partners, advised Lead Ventures.
Xund is an Austrian healthtech start-up specializing in AI-powered medical software to digitize the patient journey.
The Brandl Talos team included Partner Adrian Zuschmann and Senior Associate Elena Ciresa.
The Herbst Kinsky team included Partners Sonja Hebenstreit and Wolfgang Schwackhoefer and Attorney at Law Alexander Lotz.
Harrisons has advised the EBRD on an RSD 1.17 billion (approximately EUR 10 million equivalent) loan under the GEFF Regional framework program to Erste Bank.
According to Harrisons, the loan is designed to support green investment on-lending, providing access to finance in a gender-responsive manner for both the residential sector and the public sector.
The Harrisons team included Principal Mark Harrison, Consultant Ines Matijevic-Papulin, and Senior Associate Mina Zeljkovic.