CEE Legal Matters

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  • Allen & Overy Advises on OTP Banka Hrvatska Purchase of Banco Popolare’s Branches in Croatia

    Allen & Overy has advised OTP Bank on the purchase by its Croatian subsidiary OTP Banka Hrvatska of 98.4% of Italy-based Banco Popolare’s branches in Croatia for HRK 107 million.

    The transaction expands OTP Banka Hrvatska’s network in Croatia by 33 branches and 30 ATMs, to a total of 130 branches overall and more than 250 ATMs.

    Banco Popolare Croatia is Croatia’s 14th-biggest bank in terms of assets, with total assets of HRK 2.3 billion as at end 3Q 2013, almost 54,000 clients, and more than 2% share of the Croatian retail consumer lending market. After completion of this deal, OTP Banka Hrvatska will have some 440,000 clients, and will add the acquisition’s capital stock to its own assets of some HRK 14.1 billion as at end 3Q 2013. Allen & Overy was the sole legal advisor to OTP Bank in the deal.

    The Allen & Overy deal team was led from the regional M&A practice headquarters in Budapest by Partner Hugh Owen, Head of Allen & Overy’s South Eastern Europe Desk. He was assisted in the transaction by Budapest-based Associates Marton Eorsi and Attila Komives.

    Of the deal, Owen commented: “We are pleased and proud to have advised OTP Bank on this strategic move by one of its key regional subsidiaries to expand its presence in the very promising Croatian market. OTP Bank has a strong and capable M&A team and the negotiations were cordial and sensible. This successful outcome confirms and vindicates our strategy of supporting major entities and sectoral trends across CEE/SEE from our Budapest hub, and we are glad to be able to advise one of Hungary’s most important companies in their own regional ambitions.”

  • CHSH Advises Raiffeisen Bank in Record Capital Increase

    The Vienna office of CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegel Hlawati has advised Raiffeisen Bank International on matters related to a recent capital increase with issue proceeds of EUR 2.78 billion.

    This is reported by CHSH to be the third-largest ever on the Vienna stock exchange. CHSH advised RBI in all aspects of structuring. The team at CHSH consisted of Partners Edith Hlawati and Volker Glas as well as lawyers Christian Aichinger and Gernot Wilfling.

  • Dentons Promotes Dispute Resolution Lawyer to Partner in Russia

    Russian Dispute Resolution lawyer Roman Zaitsev has been promoted to Partner in Dentons’ Moscow office.

    Zaitsev has successfully acted in major commercial disputes, bankruptcy proceedings, and disputes with state authorities, as well as in cases involving the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in the Russian Federation. He has also participated in general enforcement proceedings, due diligence investigations, alternative dispute resolution and various other commercial, civil, procedural, general corporate and administrative matters.

    Florian Schneider, Managing Partner of Denton’s Moscow office, said of the promotion that: “Roman joined our firm as an associate in the Dispute Resolution Practice in 2008. Since that time, he has shown himself to be a talented litigator, who finds creative solutions to the hardest problems. This promotion is the recognition of his personal contribution to the success of the practice over the past few years.”

     

  • Hogan Lovells Achieves USD 173 Million Victory for Otkritie in London

    London’s High Court has ruled that Otkritie, one of the largest financial services providers in Russia, was defrauded by a group of former employees and their associates.

    The judgment paves the way for the recovery of millions of dollars in already frozen assets and awards significant damages to Otkritie. Hogan Lovells advised Otkritie throughout the dispute.

    The High Court’s judgment confirms that George Urumov, Ruslan Pinaev, Sergey Kondratyuk, Eugene Jemai and Vladimir Gersamia all conspired to defraud Otkritie through a complex fraudulent trade. The Judge found that the defendants defrauded Otkritie of USD 173 million then used their friends and families to launder the proceeds through dozens of offshore companies and bank accounts. The money was then spent on lavish villas, luxury sports cars and diamonds.

    Mr. Justice Eder concluded that Otkritie was defrauded following “a cunning and well-orchestrated fraud.”

    The case, which lasted 46 days in London’s Commercial Court, spanned over 20 jurisdictions and drew on Hogan Lovells’ offices in Moscow, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Madrid and Amsterdam. The team advising Otkritie was led by Corporate Relationship Partner Oxana Balayan in Moscow and Litigation Partners Neil Mirchandani and Crispin Rapinet in London, supported by Of Counsel Neil Dooley. The multinational team at Hogan Lovells further included over 100 lawyers and associates across the firm. The firm instructed Steven Berry QC, as Leading Counsel, with Nathan Pillow and Anton Dudnikov all of Essex Court Chambers.

    Oxana Balayan commented: “This is another great example of a leading financial institution’s use of innovative strategies to pursue, and bring to justice, a global and multi-million dollar fraud dispute. Our lawyers at Hogan Lovells acted as an extension of Otkritie’s legal team, utilizing our firm’s global reach and strength in litigation to help the bank secure a comprehensive victory.”

  • White & Case Advises on Sale of T-Mobile Czech Republic to Deutsche Telekom

    White & Case has advised Falcon Group on the conclusion of a binding agreement for the EUR 828 million sale of its entire stake in T-Mobile Czech Republic to Deutsche Telekom. 

    Falcon Group is a consortium of investors 75% controlled by funds managed or advised by Mid Europa Partners, the leading buyout investor which focuses on Central & Eastern Europe and Turkey.

    Budapest-based White & Case Partner Rob Irving, Co-head of the Firm’s EMEA private equity practice, said: “We are very pleased to advise Mid Europa and Falcon Group generally on this successful exit. This is the culmination of more than three years of work for Falcon Group, including the EUR 574 million sale of Ceske Radiokomunikace to Macquarie Group in 2011 and EUR 365 million leveraged recapitalization of Falcon Group in 2012.”

    The White & Case team which advised Mid Europa Partners was led by Partners Rob Irving and Edward Keller, and included Partners Michal Smrek, Damian Beaven, Ludek Chvosta, Jason Yardley, and Rob Bennett, as well as Local Partner Alena Naatz, and Associates Rebecca Zaman and Richard Blackburn.

    The deal is expected to close by the end of February.

  • Schoenherr Promotes Real Estate Lawyer to Partner

    Schoenherr has announced that it has promoted Real Estate and IT specialist Wolfgang Tichy to Partner in the firm’s Vienna office.

    Tichy joined the firm in 2005, and has been focusing on contractual matters, construction contracts, and claim management and litigation in the real estate context, as well as drafting and negotiating software licenses and outsourcing projects as a member (and co-founder) of Schoenherr’s newTech team. Tichy also advises clients on the distribution law issues involved in structuring distribution and franchising contracts. 

    Christoph Lindinger, Schoenherr’s Managing Partner, said of the promotion that “Wolfgang Tichy is a good fit for Schoenherr. He combines a solution-oriented approach to providing advice with very far-reaching legal expertise. His promotion to partner helps strengthen the firm’s next generation in an optimal manner.

  • Gide Closes Bucharest Office

    Gide Loyrette Nouel has announced that, as of February 1, 2014, its Bucharest office will begin operating as an independent law firm.

    Former Gide Managing Partner in Romania Bruno Leroy continues to lead the new firm, now called “Leroy si Asociatii.” According to Eszter Kamocsay-Berta, Partner and Co-Head of the Budapest office, this is “in line with Gide’s strategy in South East Europe, which is to coordinate a network of independent firms from our central platform in Budapest, as we have done these past three years for Serbia.”

    The announcement follows closely on the January 30, 2014, announcement that White & Case has also withdrawn its official presence from Bucharest.

     

  • Romanian Voicu & Filipescu Promotes Competition/M&A Lawyer to Partner

    Voicu & Filipescu has promoted Senior Associate Georgiana Badescu to Partner.  

    Badescu, who specializes in Competition and M&A work, began her professional career with V&F back in 2005, and has risen through the ranks. She works primarily in the Energy, Banking, Insurance, Retail, Automotive, IT&C, Pharmaceutical, and Healthcare sectors.

    Daniel Voicu, Managing Partner of Voicu & Filipescu, released a statement asserting that “In the past years, Georgiana has proven her talent as business lawyer and her client development abilities, as well as a skill which is very valuable to us: the capacity to coordinate and motivate other team members. These results convinced us to include her in our partnership structure.”

    For her part, Badescu stated that “I’m glad that my involvement in the strengthening of some of the firm’s key practice areas was acknowledged. I value the trust I was given by those who over the years have contributed to my professional development, as well as the trust coming with this appointment.”

  • Baker & McKenzie Advises Monitise on Turkish Acquisition

    Baker & McKenzie has advised AIM-listed Monitise on the cross-border acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Pozitron Yazilim, Turkey’s leading mobile money company.  

    The deal included a share swap between the parties as well as a deferred consideration mechanism in which Pozitron Yazilim acquired shares in Monitise. The deal was signed and closed on January 31, 2014.

    According to a statement released by Baker & McKenzie, Monitise is at the center of today’s mobile money movement. Its technology platforms and services are utilized by over 24 million consumers, accounting for USD 50 billon in payments, purchases and transfers annually. Istanbul-based Pozitron was founded in 2000, and has since itself become a key player in Turkey’s mobile money space. Pozitron has grown 993% in the past five years and is one of the top 10 fastest growing businesses in Turkey, according to Deloitte.

    A team of lawyers from the Esin Attorney Partnership, the Turkish member firm of Baker & McKenzie, and Baker & McKenzie’s London office advised on the transaction, including Istanbul-based Partners Ismail Esin and Duygu Turgut and London M&A Partner Peter Strivens. Associates Emir Cami, Orcun Solak, and Asli Caglar in Istanbul and Stefan Kecman in London also provided support.

    “This transaction is a milestone for mobile banking services in Turkey. Not only does this deal strengthen Turkey’s position as a leader in the global mobile money movement, but it also attests to the vitality of Turkey’s local startup scene,” commented Istanbul-based M&A partner Duygu Turgut.

  • Specht Bohm Assists in Management Buy-out in Hungary

    The Budapest office of Specht Bohm has assisted the Hungarian management of Brinks Incorporated in a transaction involving the management buy-out of the company’s Hungarian subsidiary.

    Brinks is the world’s largest cash and valuables logistics company — the famous “Brinks Trucks”. In addition to its assistance on the management buy-out, Specht Bohm provided legal counsel on the subsequent rebranding, and restructuring of the new company, TrezEz, which is now owned and operated by the Hungarian management team.