Category: Austria

Former PwC Legal Attorney at Law Simon Baier has launched the eponymous SHB Law Office Simon Harald Baier.

SHB will focus on “business law, international trade, contracts, and proceedings” and also specializes “in both commercial aviation and national/European aviation regulation and supervision” as well as having “expertise in EU-Korea trade and legal advice in the Austria-Korea business nexus.” 

Eunyoung Yang, the former Financial Planning and Analysis Manager of Kompany, a Moody’s Analytics Company, joined the new firm as a Business Advisor.

Before setting up his new firm, Baier spent two years with PwC Legal Austria as an Attorney at Law. Earlier, he spent another two as Head of the National Authority for Air Traffic Controller Licensing and a Regulation & Compliance Manager with Austro Control. Before that, he spent six years with Austrian Airlines AG between 2013 and 2019, first as a Senior Legal Counsel and then as Director of Legal Services. He started his career with Gugerbauer & Partner in 2005 and left the firm in 2012, while also spending one year as Head of the European Desk for AJU Kim Chang & Lee in Seoul, between 2008 and 2009.

“Together with my team and based on my many years of experience both in management positions at international companies and as a business lawyer, I look forward to accompanying our clients on their path to success with efficient and tailored advice at the highest level,” Baier commented.

Rautner Rechtsanwaelte has advised Gugelsolar GesmbH and Erste Bank on their construction and financing of the Sonnenfeld Pellendorf agri-photovoltaic system as an addition to the existing Gugelberg wind farm.

Set up in the municipality of Gaweinstal in Lower Austria, the project “still allows agricultural use of the site areas. This means that there is no competition with food production, and the arable and grassland areas that have already been cultivated can therefore be used efficiently for both purposes,” Rautner reported.

According to the project’s website, out of a total of four hectares, 80% of the land will be used for agriculture, 18% to increase biodiversity (flower strips, bee pastures, fallow land), and only 2% will be taken up by solar power production. “Together with a wind turbine […] this will generate green electricity as a hybrid power plant” equivalent to the use of over 1,200 households.

According to Rautner, “the photovoltaic system was built with a nominal output of 3.125 megawatts. The purchase price for the entire production volume is secured by a business subsidy in the form of a market premium in accordance with the EAG.”

The Rautner team was led by Managing Partner Uwe Rautner.

The firm did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Rautner Rechtsanwaelte announced it had also advised Gugelberg 4 GmbH and Erste Bank on expanding the existing wind farm through the addition of a Vestas V162-6.2MW turbine.

Binder Groesswang, working with Willkie Farr & Gallagher, has advised PAI Partners on its acquisition of NovaTaste – formerly the Savory Solutions Group – from International Flavors & Fragrances. Cerha Hempel, working with Cleary Gottlieb, advised the seller.

PAI Partners is a private equity firm. 

International Flavors & Fragrances is an American corporation that produces flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic actives, which it markets globally.

According to Binder Groesswang, “NovaTaste provides a range of value-added savory ingredients and blends to improve taste and texture and extend the shelf life of food products. It operates most notably under the Wiberg and Piasa brands. NovaTaste serves more than 11,000 customers, including food manufacturers, butchers, and food service players, across Europe, North America, and Asia.”

Binder Groesswang’s team included Partners Thomas Schirmer, Clemens Willvonseder, Christian Wimpissinger, Ivo Rungg, Horst Lukanec, and Markus Uitz, Counsel Hellmut Buchroithner, Attorneys at Law Mona Holzgruber, Sabine Apfl-Trompeter, and Anian Gruber, and Associates Christopher Marchel, Larissa Constanze Wagner, Florian Defrancesco, Magdalena Schachinger, and Yasmina Bouzid.

Cerha Hempel’s team included Partners Clemens Hasenauer, Harald Stingl, Johannes Prinz, and Lorenz Pracht, Attorney at Law Tobias Tangl, and Associate Svitlana Kuzmenko.

Fieldfisher opened an office in Vienna on June 1 with former SCWP Schindhelm Partners and by integrating Meissner & Passin.

The new office will be led by Thomas Ruhm. Specializing in corporate/M&A, corporate finance, private equity, and capital markets, he joined from SCWP where he had worked since 2014. 

Also joining from SCWP as a Partner, Philipp Reinisch specializes in TMT/data protection. Reinisch first joined SCWP in 2016 and made Partner at his previous firm in 2021. Prior to that, he worked for the Austrian Federal Computing Centre as a Legal Counsel, DPO between 2013 and 2015.

Leonhard Reis, who had been working as a sole practitioner since 2013, joined the new office as a Partner and Head of Real Estate in Austria.

The new office is also incorporating boutique law firm Meissner & Passin, which was established in 2021 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 24, 2020). Specializing in international arbitration and corporate/M&A, Alice Meissner joined Fieldfisher as a Partner while Bernhard Passin joined the firm as a Director.

“We see Vienna as a strong commercial center in Europe and a gateway to Central & Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) regions,” Fieldfisher Managing Partner Robert Shooter commented.

“We are thrilled to be opening the newest office of one of Europe’s leading law firms,” Ruhm added. “I am proud to be launching Fieldfisher Austria with such a strong team, drawn from some of Austria’s most respected law firms and wider legal and business backgrounds.”

Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (the “FSR”) will become applicable this year on 12 July and 12 October (for M&A notifications) respectively.

It is a major step by the EU in tackling distortions of the internal market caused by various forms of subsidies from non-EU countries. It will clearly impact large deals and public tenders, but may also reach other market situations (e.g. mergers and acquisitions not hitting notification thresholds).

We already explored the main parameters of the FSR in our Legal Insight in November 2022. However, such a ground-breaking and far-reaching piece of EU legislation affecting businesses – and especially M&A practice – across the globe merits a closer look. That’s why we have prepared a special series of insights into all the relevant aspects of the FSR.

Series content
Over the next few months, we will bring you insights from a range of authors not only from the legal point of view but also from the broader economic and politic perspectives.

This series comes at an interesting and turbulent time for the FSR, as the European Commission is now preparing an implementing regulation and soft law documents elaborating on the FSR. So there will be plenty to keep an eye on. Our series strives to guide you through the latest news until the FSR comes into full effect on 12 October 2023.

Coming next
Next in our series you will hear from our competition and state aid expert Hanno Wollmann on what is and what isn’t a foreign subsidy. If you have any comments, suggestions or questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact us.

By Volker Weiss, Partner, Jan Kupcík, Attorney at law,  Schoenherr

EPS (Elektroprivreda Srbije) seeks a strategic partner to design, build, fund, operate and maintain at least 5 new solar power plants.

The purpose of the tender announced by the Serbian Government is to select a company to carry out the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of 5 or more self-balancing solar power plants, for a 2-year period, with a total installed capacity of 1,000 MWac (1,200 MWdc). These plants will be independent from one another and will all boast single-axis tracking of the sun’s movement. The project also includes the development of a battery storage system of at least 200MW of installed capacity able to accumulate a minimum of 400MWh of electricity. Also included will be a software platform and solution that allows EPS (as the owner) to optimize short-term forecasting and electricity generation.

The project is meant to be developed, constructed, and transferred to EPS as a turnkey project. This means that the strategic partner will be responsible for any and all additional activities, including the construction of auxiliary infrastructure (e.g. access roads and fencing), preparing the terrain for the PV plant and the battery systems, construction of connection infrastructure, including expansions of transmission and distribution capacities, if needed, along with the construction of telecoms infrastructure. EPS will be the sole investor and owner of the project. All generated electricity and battery system services will be integrated into EPS operational plans.

Obligations of the strategic partner:

1. Financing: securing letters of interest for the full financing of the project’s investment costs by international finance institutions or reputable export credit agencies. The offered financing should be suitable for the public sector (the Republic of Serbia as the borrower) with a minimum 18-year repayment period; other conditions may apply.
2. Project Development: following the award of the contract, the strategic partner should perform a Preliminary Feasibility Study, including choice of optimal location for solar plants and battery storage system, spatial planning and technical documentation, environmental and social impact assessment, etc. Serbian law conditions regarding requirements for areas of natural and/or cultural significance are to be applied.
3. Design: the strategic partner will prepare the required technical documentation for the implementation of the Project (Feasibility study with Design, Construction Permit Design, etc.).
4. Procurement: the strategic partner will procure equipment, software solutions and services for the Project. Obligation of equipment manufacturer to takeover equipment which cannot be recycled.
5. Construction: the strategic partner will be liable for construction works on all Project components, up until the building use permit and the license to perform electricity generation are granted.
6. Initial operation and maintenance: the strategic partner will carry out the operation and maintenance of the Project for 2 years once the plants have become operational. During that period, the strategic partner is responsible for sharing all know-how and training of the EPS technical team for optimal generation planning, optimal management of sun-tracking systems and the use of battery storage systems.

Qualification criteria:

The strategic partner must:

• secure the full financing in accordance with OECD rules;
• hold evidence of successful development and/or construction of at least 25,000 MW of projects;
• have an annual turnover of at least USD 5 billion in the past 3 years;
• have more than 5,000 employees (additional criteria will be published regarding the number and structure of qualified personnel);
• have a letter from the equipment manufacturer regarding technical characteristics, quantity, quality and life cycle, as well as a guarantee of delivery;
• work with solar panels with a long-life cycle, high efficiency and small degradation of generation, which will not fall below 82% of initial capacity over 30 years of exploitation, that are
• manufactured by a company that has installed panels on over 5,000 MW of solar power plants;
• have a system for placing single-axis tracking solar panels, with a long life cycle of at least 30 years, that are manufactured by a company that has installed panels on over 30,000 MW of solar power plants;
• work with invertors with long life cycle and high efficiency (over 98.5%), manufactured by a company that has installed panels on over 10,000 MW of their own batteries;
• work with high-reliability transformers with a long life cycle, manufactured by a company that has integrated at least 200,000 MW of installations onto the network;
• ensure Project implementation in as short a deadline as possible, whereby the applicant must provide a report on previous solar and battery system works, which should match or exceed the capacity requirements of this Project.

By Andjelka Todorovic, Partner, Wolf Theiss

Former Partner Dominik Zimm has been elevated to an Equity Partner position at DSC Doralt Seist Csoklich.

Specializing in public procurement, Zimm first joined DSC in 2015 as an Associate. He was later promoted to Attorney-at-Law in 2017 and made Partner in 2021. Between 2012 and 2015, Zimm was an Associate with an undisclosed Vienna-based law firm. He obtained his master’s degree in law from the University of Vienna in 2011.

“Dominik Zimm is an excellent lawyer and formidable advocate who has contributed significantly to the development of our Public Procurement Department,” DSC Partner Oliver Sturm commented. “Within a very short period of time, he has established an excellent reputation in this area. We are very pleased to further expand our services with him and to offer expertise at the highest level.”

“I am very proud to be able to help shape the dynamic development of the firm,” Zimm added. “Above all, I would like to thank DSC for the continuous support and excellent career opportunities I have been offered from the very beginning. I look forward to continuing to service our clients with utmost commitment.”

Hule Bachmayr-Heyda Nordberg has advised Dr. Rinner & Partner on its sale to Assepro Austria. Binder Groesswang reportedly advised Assepro.

Dr. Rinner & Partner is an Austrian insurance broker.

The Assepro Group is a Swiss insurance broker operating in the risk and pension sector for small and medium-sized enterprises. It was formed in 2016 through the merger of previously independent Swiss companies Swissbroke and Fraumuenster Insurance Experts.

The Hule Bachmayr-Heyda Nordberg team included Partners Christian Nordberg and Martin Frenzel.

Wolf Theiss, working with Milbank, has advised the initial purchasers and lenders on Salzburg-based Benteler Group’s capital market debut issuance and loans amounting to over EUR 2 billion.

According to Wolf Theiss, the Benteler Group issued “two high yield bonds, the first in the amount of EUR 525 million and the second for USD 500 million, both maturing in 2028.”

“Further, a syndicated loan facility worth EUR 810 million and a revolving credit facility equivalent to EUR 250 million were signed,” the firm reported. “Along with the drawings under the syndicated loan facility, the Benteler Group will use the proceeds from the bonds to finance general corporate purposes.”

The Benteler Group is a metal processing specialist that develops safety-relevant products, systems, and services for the automotive, steel, and engineering industries.

The Wolf Theiss team included Partner Matthias Schimka, Counsels Eva Stadler and Christine Siegl, and Senior Associate Markus Aigner.

Wolf Theiss could not disclose additional information on the matter.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Kinstellar announced it had advised the initial purchasers and lenders as well. The firm’s Czech Republic-based team included Partner Kamil Blazek, Counsel Martina Brezinova, Senior Associate Jakub Stastny, and Associate Dominik Ctvrtnicek.

Graf Patsch Taucher, working with Bird & Bird, has advised EFESO Management Consultants on the acquisition of shares in Tsetinis Consulting. KPMG Legal Germany reportedly advised the sellers.

EFESO Management Consultants is a consulting firm for operational strategy and performance improvement.

Headquartered in Austria, Tsetinis Consulting serves industrial clients. According to Graf Patsch Taucher, it is “known for its proprietary improvement approach that integrates product, sustainability, and business performance.”

“With global challenges such as sustainability, digitalization, strengthening and stabilizing supply chains, and developing innovative technologies, EFESO and Tsetinis together are even better equipped to support industrial companies transform into sustainable and future-proof businesses. Tsetinis’ 120-strong team complements EFESO’s global team of over 800 consultants and will significantly strengthen both EFESO’s ‘Idea to Value’ offering and discrete manufacturing capabilities,” the firm reported.

The Graf Patsch Taucher team included Partner Bernd Taucher and Associate Emre Erol.