Category: Austria

Tax specialist Clemens Willvonseder will become Partner at Binder Groesswang’s on February 1, 2021.

“Clemens Willvonseder translates legal expertise into practice-oriented counsel and has a network of international connections around the globe,” commented Binder Groesswang Partner Christian Wimpissinger. “We are very pleased that he will continue to support our clients in Tax law matters in his new capacity as Partner.”

After graduating from the University of Vienna in 2010, Willvonseder spent a year as a Research Associate at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law. He joined Arendt & Medernach in Luxembourg in 2011, where he stayed until joining Binder Groesswang in 2016. Willvonseder also holds a degree in International Business Administration, which he received from the Vienna University of Economics and Business in 2011.

Binder Groesswang Managing Partner Andreas Hable commented that: “The fact that we have invited one of our attorneys to become a partner demonstrates once again how important it is to us to promote our own employees and offer them attractive career opportunities – irrespective of difficult circumstances such as Covid-19.”

Cerha Hempel has advised Switzerland’s Stadler Bussnang on a EUR 240 million tender procedure for the sale of up to 20 new fire-fighting and rescue trains to the Austrian Federal Railways.

Stadler, which employs around 12,000 people at more than 40 service locations, produces high-speed trains, intercity trains, regional and suburban trains, metros, tramways, and trams. The company also manufactures main-line locomotives, shunting locomotives, and passenger carriages.

According to Cerha Hempel, Austrian Federal Railways — OBB — has already placed an initial order for the first five trains, which are valued at EUR 60 million and are scheduled to enter into service by the middle of 2024. The firm reported that “the vehicles are [designed] for interventions in the three new base tunnels of Koralm, Semmering, and Brenner, and will replace OBB’s first generation of fire-fighting and rescue trains.”

Cerha Hempel’s team consisted of Partner Georg Konrad, Senior Associates Wolfgang Schreiner and Christopher Peitsch, and Associate Michaela Kober.

CHG Czernich lawyers Arnold Autengruber, Clemens Handl and Daniel Tamerl have become new Equity Partners at the firm.

Autengruber is the Deputy Head of the Public Commercial Law practice group at CHG Czernich. In this role, according to the firm, “he supports clients in the implementation of major public sector projects, especially in the handling of procurement procedures and issues relating to state aid law.” He has a Magister’s degree and a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Leopold-Franzens in Innsbruck. He’s been with CHG Czernich since 2016. 

Handl is a member of the Corporate/M&A practice group and manager of the firm’s Vienna branch. In particular, the firm reports, he advises technology-based companies in the areas of IT, data protection law, M&A transactions, and international contract law. He has an LL.M. from the University of Vienna and a Magister’s degree in Law from the University of Leopold-Franzens in Innsbruck. He joined CHG Czernich in 2015.

Tamerl is a member of the Business Law and Real Estate Law practice groups of the firm. He has a Magister’s degree in Law and a Ph.D. from the University of Leopold-Franzens in Innsbruck. He joined CHG Czernich in 2014.

“We are pleased that three exceptionally qualified young lawyers have joined our partnership,” said firm founder Dietmar Czernich. “Each of the three already occupies an outstanding position in their respective specialist area and will further strengthen the professional competence of CHG Czernich Rechtsanwalte.”

Herbst Kinsky has advised the founders of the company and investor eQventure on the sale of 100% of their shares in Xaleon to TeamViewer. Eisenberger & Herzog advised the buyer on the deal.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Xaleon is a provider of customer engagement software designed for optimizing communication and collaboration between companies and their customers.

TeamViewer is a Germany-based provider of software solutions which can be used to connect devices of all kinds and thus remotely access and work on them. TeamViewer provides services to more than 500,000 customers and employs around 1,300 people worldwide.

EQventure is an Austrian venture capital and private equity fund which supports local high-tech companies.

Herbst Kinsky’s team consisted of Partner Philipp Kinsky and Attorneys-at-Law Carl Walderdorff, Tanja Lang, and Philipp Herold.

Eisenberger & Herzog’s team included Partners Peter Winkler and Jana Eichmeyer and Attorney-at-Law Peter Steindl.

BPV Huegel has advised Austria’s Herold and Dortmund-based Dogado Group — both subsidiaries of the EDSA Group — on their merger. Allen & Overy advised the EDSA Group, and SIWE Rechtsanwalte Sinzger & Partner also advised the Dogado Group.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Dogado is a provider of cloud hosting services to small and medium sized businesses.

This marks the second recent transaction BPV Huegel has advised Dogado on, after the firm assisted the company with its entry into the Austrian market last summer through the acquisition of Easyname (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 9, 2020).

BPV Huegel’s team included Partner Thomas Lettau, Attorneys-at-Law Nicolas Wolski and Paul Pfeifenberger, Associates Tamara Tomic and Stanislav Nekrasov.

Allen & Overy’s team in Frankfurt consisted of Partner Markus Kaepplinger, Counsel Roman Kasten, and Senior Associate Robert Jochim.

The SIWE team included Partner Martin Sinzger and Attorneys-at-Law Moritz Riebel and Bernd Tschope.

Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners has advised the founder of GREENoneTEC, Robert Kanduth, on his repurchase of 51% of the shares in GREENoneTEC Solarindustrie from China’s Haier Group. Fangda Partners in China and Weber & Co. in Austria reportedly advised the seller on the deal.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

GREENoneTEC Solarindustrie specializes in hydro-solar systems.

FWP advised on the 2017 sale of GREENoneTEC to the Haier Group as wel (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 6, 2017).

FWP’s team consisted of Partner Florian Kranebitter and Associates Matthias Gangl and Philipp Gailer.

Former Vaillant Group Austria Head of Legal and Compliance Manager Maria Lepuschitz has joined the INNIO Group as Regional General Counsel for EMEA.

Lepuschitz began her career in 2001 at Eastern Mediterranean Maritime. From 2004-2006 she practiced with Georgiou Nicholas Solicitors in London and Schoenherr in Vienna. She was a legal advisor at Lighthouse in Vienna from 2007 to 2009 and then at BMI until 2011. She spent the following five years at RHI AG. Lepuschitz moved to Vestas in 2016 and then to Greentube Internet Entertainment Solutions in 2017 where she stayed for a little over two years. She has spent the last 15 months at Vaillant Group Austria.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

Baker McKenzie has advised Kelag on the acquisition of 25 power plants in France and Portugal from the RWE Group. Local expertise for Portugal was provided by the Portuguese law firm Abreu Advogados, while the Dusseldorf office of Clifford Chance advised the RWE Group on the deal.

Financial details were not disclosed.

According to Baker McKenzie, twelve of the hydropower plants acquired by Kelag are in France, while seven of the small hydropower plants and six wind turbines the company acquired shares in are in Portugal. According to the firm, “the 25 power plants can supply enough energy to cover the annual requirements of more than 45,000 households.”

According to Baker McKenzie, “the acquisition further increases Kelag’s power plant output by five percent to 1,458 megawatts, while Kelag’s generation of own electricity increases by nearly five percent to 3.6 billion kilowatt-hours.”

Baker McKenzie’s team included Vienna-based Partner Eva-Maria Segur-Cabanac, Associate Armin Assadi, and Junior Associate Clara Fercsak, Berlin-based Counsel Holger Engelkamp, and Paris-based Partner Saveria Laforce, Counsel Remi Ducloyer, and Associates Sarah Belahcen and Roman Roussel.

K-B-K Kleibel Kreibich Bukovc Hirsch and the law firm of Leopold Hirsch have merged to form KBK Hirsch in Salzburg.

The new firm will consist of five partners — Leopold Hirsch, Wolfgang Kleibel, Christoph Hirsch, Florian Kreibich, and Robert Bukocv — supported by four other lawyers and three associates.

Schoenherr is advising Starwood Capital Group on its offer for a public takeover of VSE-listed CA Immobilien Anlagen AG.

CA Immo is a real estate group headquartered in Vienna with branch offices in seven Central European countries.

The Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate. Since its inception in 1991, the firm has raised nearly USD 50 billion of equity capital and currently has in excess of USD 60 billion of assets under management.

According to Schoenherr, “in accordance with the Austrian Takeover Act, the offer shall be launched at the outstanding ordinary shares with an offer price of EUR 34.44 per share, as well as convertible bonds issued by CA Immo that are not held by Starwood. Based on the offer price CA Immo is valued at approximately EUR 3.4 billion. The publication of the offer memorandum for the public takeover offer, which will be subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2021.”

Schoenherr’s team includes Partners Christian Herbst, Peter Feyl, and Volker Weiss, Counsels Sascha Schulz and Maximilian Lang, Attorney Marco Thorbauer, and Associates Alfred Amann and Maximilian Nutz.