CEE Legal Matters

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  • Dentons Advises Avestus on Sale of Four Seasons Hotel Prague

    The Dentons Prague Real Estate team has advised Avestus Capital Partners, a leading international private equity real estate group, on the sale of the Four Seasons Hotel in Prague to Northwood Investors.

    Avestus has been the asset manager of the hotel since 2001 and is being retained in this role by Northwood. Four Seasons is a luxury, 5 star hotel located in the city’s Old Town, close to Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge. According to Dentons, the hotel “unites the styles of four architectural periods – baroque, classical and renaissance, all interconnected by a modern building.”

    The Dentons team was led by Partner Jiri Strzinek, the Co-Head of the Prague Real Estate Group, and included Counsel Jennifer Foss and several unnamed associates. Strzinek commented that: “We were thrilled to be part of this transaction for such a prime real estate asset as the Four Seasons Hotel. This was the third high-profile transaction in the hotel sector in Prague that Dentons was recently involved in – the others were the sale of the Kempinski and the Intercontinental hotels.” Avestus is a long-standing client of the firm, and Dentons’ Prague team previously advised the company on a number of transactions, most recently on the sale of its shares (together with AFI) in a company owning the Palac Flora shopping center in Prague to Atrium European Real Estate Limited.

     

     

  • Mannheimer Swartling Advises Duni on Acquisition of Paper+Design Group

    Mannheimer Swartling has advised Duni on that company’s acquisition of the Paper+Design Group from equity partner Hannover Finanz Group and management.

    Paper+Design is a manufacturer of premium designed paper napkins and other tableware products. The company is based in the eastern part of Germany and has approximately 200 employees working in production, logistics, and sales. Paper+Design has an annual turnover of approximately EUR 38 million, with approximately 60% of sales coming from exports to more than eighty markets outside Germany. For its part, Duni is a leading supplier of products for table setting and take-away. The Duni brand is sold in more than 40 markets, and Mannheimer Swartling reports that it “enjoys a number one position in Central and Northern Europe.” Duni has some 1,900 employees in 18 countries, with headquarters in Malmo and production units in Sweden, Germany, and Poland. 

    Mannheimer Swartling’s team was led by Claes Albinsson and Oliver Cleblad from Malmo and Frankfurt, respectively, and included Jens Engelmann-Pilger, Christina Griebeler, Annika von La Chevallerie, Ulf Lohrum, Helena Ramadori, and Meike Johnsen.

     

     

  • Budapest Gide Co-MP and Team Take Off to Launch Boutique

    Eszter Kamocsay-Berta has left the Gide Loyrette Nouel Budapest office together with a team of lawyers from the firm and will set-up a new boutique in Hungary: KCG Partners. 

    Calls or e-mails addressed to former Co-Managing Partner of the Gide Budapest office receive a simple notice of her departure without disclosing any other details. A source that preferred remaining anonymous informed CEE Legal Matters that Kamocsay-Berta has left the firm together with Levente Csengery, head of the employment and litigation practice, Gabriella Galik, senior lawyer in charge for the real estate practice, Rita Parkanyi, key lawyer in the employment and litigation practice, Marton Hajnal, key lawyer in the projects and tax practice and Klaudia Ruppl, junior lawyer expert in data protection, and will set up a new firm: KCG Partners.

    Neither Kamocsay-Berta or Gide would comment on the move. 

    As reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 28, 2014, Eszter Kamocsay-Berta was the lead lawyer advising global toy maker LEGO on its project to build a EUR 354 million plant in the city of Nyiregyhaza, Hungary.

    This is the second team that Gide has lost in CEE this year, following the closure of its office in Bucharest back in February (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on February 10, 2014).

  • Weil Advises on Antenna Hungaria Sale to Hungarian State

    The Hungarian office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges has advised on the sale of Antenna Hungaria’s Acquisition by the Hungarian State.

    The firm advised the TDF Group (TDF) of France on 100% stake sale of Antenna Hungaria to the National Infocommunications Services company (NISZ), a Hungarian state-owned company providing governmental information and telecommunication operations and services. The transaction was announced as closed in a June 2, 2014, press release of TDF, two months of the execution of the purchase contract. 

    Antenna Hungaria is a major actor in the Hungarian telecommunications and broadcast sector. Its main activities include national terrestrial television, and radio broadcast network services, Pay TV programs distribution, hosting and maintenance services to telecommunication operators, and telecommunications solutions to corporates. The company has in the past years significantly developed its presence in the field of telecommunications; since 1998 the Group has been operating a National Transport Network, a high-speed, digital, microwave backbone network covering the entire territory of the country.

    NISZ is a company of strategic importance for providing info-communication and telecommunication services for the state, which are effectuated through the parent company and its three subsidiaries: Kopint-Datorg, IdomSoft and Pro-M. Its largest customers are government bodies and institutions with statewide competencies. According to the TDF press release, NISZ aims to to meet the innovative requirements the Hungarian public sector faces, forming an integral part of the european integration.

    The Weil team representing TDF Group in this matter included Budapest Managing Partner David Dederick, Senior Associates Annamaria Csenterics, Pal Szabo and Timea Bana, and Associate Daria Szabo.

     

  • Sorainen Advises on Danpower Boilers Contracts

    The Estonian office of Sorainen has advised Danpower on setting up a new 10 MW shale oil boiler and a new 6 MW biofuel boiler.

    The firm advised Danpower, the local subsidiary of a German district heating supplier, on the procurement, installation, implementation, and the contracts for the design and construction of the two heating installations and technical works. In addition to preparing the design and construction contracts, Sorainen also represented Danpower in the negotiations associated with the project. 

    The Sorainen team consisted of Partner Toomas Prangli, Specialist Counsel Urmas Volens, Senior Associate Kristjan Tamm, and Associate Kaija Riismaa. 

     

     

  • Gessel Advises Comperia.pl on Its Take-Over of Telepolis.pl

    Gessel has advised Warsaw-based Comperia.pl on its preliminary agreement to take over Telepolis.pl. 

    Comperia.pl is an IT company which operates Poland’s first Internet platform providing a comparison of banking and financial products. According to Gessel, the acquisition of Telepolis.pl, operator of one of the more comprehensive databases on various aspects of the telecommunications industry (in particular mobile networks), Comperia.pl will be able to expand its range of services. 

    The initial agreement is projected to finalize on June 30, 2014. The Gessel lawyers involved in the project were of Counsel Tomasz Dragowski, Trainee Attorney Barbara Lagiewka, and Trainee Advocates Marta Grabiec and Karolina Krzal. 

    Gessel previously advised Comperia.pl on its IPO on the Warsaw Securities Exchange, as CEE Legal Matters reported on March 14, 2014.

     

     

  • Drakopoulos in Group Revising Greek Code of Civil Procedure

    Drakopoulos in Group Revising Greek Code of Civil Procedure

    Drakopoulos participated in a working group on the revision and amendment of the Greek Civil Procedure Code, held by the Legislative Reform Committee of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

    The members of the Committee were invited to submit their proposals and positions regarding the amendment of current legislation and the introduction of new procedural provisions in favor of parties residing abroad.

    The Committee presented its final report and proposals before Nikolas Kanellopoulos, the Secretary General of Ministry of Justice, at a meeting held on June 4. In addition to Evangelos Margaritis, who represented Drakopoulos, others at the meeting included Judges Ioannis Hamilothoris and Panos Petropoulos, John Kyriakides and Panos Alexandris of the Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm, George Scorinis of Scorinis Law Offices, as well as Elias Spirtounias, Executive Director of the American – Hellenic Chamber of Commerce.

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  • White & Case Advises KI Chemistry on Tender Offer for Ciech Shares

    White & Case has advised KI Chemistry, a subsidiary of Kulczyk Investments, in connection with the acquisition of shares in CIECH.

    The transaction was carried out by way of a tender offer announced on March 5, 2014 for 34,781,939 shares in CIECH, constituting 66% of the company’s share capital. As a result of the offer, on June 4, 2014 transactions were concluded for 26,952,052 shares of CIECH, entitling their holder to exercise approximately 51% of voting rights at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. The price offered in the tender was ultimately determined at PLN 31 per CIECH share, which means that the value of the transaction amounted to approximately PLN 835,500,000 (EUR 203 million).

    White & Case’s advice in connection with the transaction included, among others, the preparation of necessary tender documentation, including transaction documentation, legal support in acquiring partial financing for the tender, and advice on the transaction’s compliance with the requirements of the Polish capital market. White & Case also provided legal services related to the procedure in which KI Chemistry obtained permits to concentrate from the appropriate antimonopoly authorities in Poland (the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection), Germany (the Federal Cartel Office), and Ukraine (the Ukrainian Antimonopoly Office).

    The transaction team was led by Partner Piotr Szelenbaum, and included Warsaw Partners Daniel Kaczorowski, Maciej Zalewski and Tomasz Ostrowski, Counsel Jakub Gubanski, and Associates Aneta Urban, Jacek Polewski, and Magdalena Zmyslowska, as well as Hamburg Partner Boerries Ahrens and Associate Lars Petersen.

     

  • Sinanides & Sinanides Merges with Drakopoulos in Greece

    The Drakopoulos law firm in Greece announced today that it has merged with the Sinanides & Sinanides law firm.

    Sinanides & Sinanides has been active in the Greek legal market for over 35 years. Hero Sinanidou-Sideridou, the founder and Managing Partner of her eponymous firm, is a leading authority in Gaming law. She will lead the Drakopoulos Gaming law practice across the firm’s 11 jurisdictions in Southeastern Europe, based out of the firm’s Athens headquarters.

    George Sinanides, the co-founder at Sinanides & Sinanides, is one of the most prominent litigators in Greece, as well as a Lecturer in Civil Procedure at the Athens Law School and Deputy Director of Legal Services at Alpha Bank. He joins Drakopoulos as Of Counsel, will be the Head of the firm’s Litigation practice, while Maria Sinanidou, also as Of Counsel, will lead the firm’s Copyright practice. 

  • Dentons Helps PSE Obtain First-Ever Polish Certificate of Independence

    Dentons has advised the national grid operator Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne (PSE) in proceedings conducted to grant the first certificate of independence ever issued in Poland.

    The first certificate in Poland to confirm the fulfillment of the criteria of independence provided for in Art. 9d Sec. 1a of the Energy Law was issued to PSE on June 4, 2014 by the President of the Energy Regulatory Office. According to Dentons, this was the culmination of several months of work in which PSE was supported by Dentons lawyers Arkadiusz Krasnodebski, Wojciech Boguslawski, Michal Motylewski, and Zbigniew Stasiak. 

    The certificate confirms PSE’s independence in terms of its legal form, organization, and decision making from other business activities unrelated to transmission. The certificate is a pre-condition for applying for the status of a transmission system operator — important for PSE as its status as a transmission system operator expires on July 1, 2014. The provisions imposing the obligation to apply for and obtain a certificate of independence were introduced to Polish law by Directive 2009/72/EC of July 13, 2009, concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC. The purpose of these provisions is, among other things, to ensure the security of supply of electricity, where the independence of operators is a pivotal issue. 

    Administrative proceedings to certify independence are conducted by the Energy Regulatory Office. They are initiated at the request of the owner of a transmission grid or an electricity undertaking licensed to conduct business activities involving the transmission of electricity, which fulfills the duties of an operator pursuant to an agreement signed with the transmission network owner. In the course of the proceedings the Office checks whether the applicant for the certificate of independence fulfills the statutory criteria for independence. The draft decision is subject to the European Commission’s opinion — which, in this case, was issued in April.

    According to Arkadiusz Krasnodebski, Dentons Managing Partner, “the issuance of the certificate of independence by PSE is an unquestionable success and opens the way for PSE to reapply for the status of transmission system operator.”