Category: Austria

Cerha Hempel has advised OMV on the sale of its 51% stake in Gas Connect Austria GmbH to Verbund AG. Schoenherr advised Verbund on the EUR 271 million sale.

As part of the transaction, Verbund will also assume Gas Connect Austria’s outstanding liabilities to OMV, which, as of December 31, 2019, stood at EUR 165.9 million. According to media reports, subject to the amount of liabilities at closing, Verbnud will pay approximately EUR 436.9 million to OMV. According to Verbund, the acquisition cost implies an enterprise value of EUR 980 million for Gas Connect Austria.

The sale, which is part of OMV’s strategy to exit the regulated gas transport business, is expected to reduce OMV’s debt by over EUR 570 million.

Gas Connect Austria transports natural gas to Austria’s federal states and to Germany, France, Slovenia, Croatia, and Hungary. It operates a gas pipeline network of around 900 kilometers that has a transportation capacity of 143 billion cubic meters annually.

Cerha Hempel’s team included Partners Clemens Hasenauer, Johannes Prinz, Harald Stingl, and Lorenz Pracht, Senior Associates Alexander Reich-Rohrwig and Ferdinand Guggenmos, and Junior Associates Michael Ebner, Julia Digruber, Stefanie Praauer, and Denise Runceanu.

Schoenherr’s team was led by Partner Markus Piuk and included Partners Bernd Rajal and Franz Urlesberger and Associates Alfred Amann and Irina Hanin.

Former Clear Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton attorney Michael Mayr has become a partner in the Antitrust and Competition team at Cerha Hempel in Vienna.

Mayr joins Cerha Hempel’s Vienna office after 15 years at Cleary Gottlieb in Brussels and Cologne.  According to Cerha Hempel, “he has been advising clients for many years on all aspects of European, German, and Austrian antitrust, competition, and state aid law in a wide range of industrial sectors.” The firm reports that “in addition to his experience in European antitrust and merger control proceedings before the European Commission in Brussels, Michael Mayr brings with him extensive experience in advising on complex international transactions and antitrust proceedings in jurisdictions outside Europe. Michael Mayr also regularly represents clients in proceedings before the Austrian and German antitrust authorities. His practice also includes sector-specific regulatory law and foreign investment control law. Michael Mayr studied law and political science in Vienna, Paris, and London.”

“Cerha Hempel is one of the most prestigious law firms in Austria and has a leading position not only in antitrust and competition law but in all legal areas in which the firm is active in Austria and in Central and Eastern Europe,” Mayr said. “I’m extremely pleased to be part of the firm’s outstanding antitrust practice.”

“We’re very pleased that Michael Mayr has decided to join our antitrust and competition group,” commented Cerha Hempel Partner Bernhard Kofler-Senoner, who heads the firm’s Antitrust and Competition practice. “His experience and dedication to delivering the highest standards of legal advice are aligned with our own core values. His addition further solidifies our strategy of being a leading Austrian law firm in every area of corporate law.”

Editorial Note: In February 2022, a Cerha Hempel spokesperson notifying CEE Legal Matters that Mayr had left the firm in May 2021 to establish his own firm.

Schoenherr has advised Austrian fintech Bitpanda on a European Series A financing round, led by Valar Ventures, and including other fintech investors such as Speedinvest. The funding secures USD 52 million to further drive Bitpanda’s expansion.

Schoenherr describes Bitpanda, which was founded in 2014, as “a leading European neobroker on a mission to democratize the complex world of investing.” According to the firm, “Bitpanda removes complicated financial barriers by harnessing the innovative power of digitized assets and blockchain technology. With low fees, 24/7 trading and real-time settlement, Bitpanda empowers users to shape their financial futures – on their own terms.”

Valar Ventures is a New York-based venture firm with over USD 1.3 billion in assets under management. As part of the investment, one of Valar Ventures’ founding partners, Andrew McCormack, will join Bitpanda’s board.

Speedinvest is a European venture capital fund with more than EUR 400 million in assets under management and more than 40 investment professionals working across Europe and the United States.

Schoenherr’s team included Partner Thomas Kulnigg and Associates Maximilian Nutz, Andreas Lengger, and Dominik Tyrybon.

Former Wolf Theiss Counsel Walter Poschl has joined Taylor Wessing.

According to Taylor Wessing, Poschl, who will be a partner at the firm and will split his time between the firm’s Vienna and Klagenfurt offices, “will work in all areas of Employment law and will contribute his know-how in special areas such as remuneration systems in banks or Social Security law.”

“I think it is great to be able to continue my professional career as a partner in a law firm whose main focus is on Labor law – also on an international level,” Poschl said, adding that “I am particularly looking forward to making use of my network in my home town as a native of Klagenfurt.” 

Before joining Taylor Wessing, Poschl spent four years at Cerha Hempel, and the past ten at Wolf Theiss, where he was promoted to Counsel in 2016. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Graz in 2000. 

“Even before Corona, we at Taylor Wessing had already observed an increasing demand for advice in Labor law, especially in litigation,” commented Taylor Wessing Partner Wolfgang Kapek. “It was therefore a logical step for us to bring Walter Poschl, a very experienced expert, on board.”

Dorda has advised Patrizia AG on the acquisition of the Aira Tower residential project in the Reininghaus district of Graz from Aira Development Group.

Financial aspects of the deal were not disclosed.

Patrizia AG is an investment manager on European real estate markets that is primarily focused on purchase, management, value enhancement, and the sale of residential and commercial real estate.

According to Dorda, “the Aira Tower will have 104 apartments, and include a commercial unit as well as a day care center. The Aira Tower will be completed by the end of 2021 and will be a part of an area of around 520,000 square meters consisting of apartments, local amenities, offices, restaurants, and educational facilities.”

Dorda’s team consisted of Partner Stefan Artner, Attorney Magdalena Brandstetter, and Associate Caroline Lessky.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CEE Legal Matters learned that Eisenberger & Herzog had advised the Aira Development Group on the sale. The firm’s team consisted of Partners Alric Ofenheimer and Christopher Engel and Associate Susanna Falkenburg.

Binder Groesswang has advised Austrian cryptocurrency service provider SmartBytes GmbH, which offers digital cryptocurrency management under the name Coinpanion, on a pre-seed financing round.

According to a Binder Groesswang press release, “the investor was sweet.fund GmbH & Co KG, the shareholders of which are some of the founders of mySugr, a company that was sold to the Swiss pharma group Roche in 2017 in one of the largest Austrian exits of recent years.”

“By means of the Coinpanion platform,” Binder Groesswang reported, “customers without prior knowledge can set up a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies, which is automatically managed with the help of a Coinpanion algorithm.”

The signing took place on July 24, 2020, and, the firm reports, the capital increase took effect upon being entered in the commercial register on August 13, 2020.

“We plan to use a good part of the investment to increase our staff and thus support our growth course,” said Alexander Valtingojer, co-founder and CEO of Coinpanion. “Our vision is to make the highly complex crypto market accessible to a broad public and thereby open up a new range of opportunities for investors who until now had not considered including cryptocurrencies in their portfolios.” 

“The major strength of Coinpanion is its extremely strong team of founders,” explained Frank Westermann, the founding CEO of mySugr. “In times of increasingly inflated asset prices, I see great potential in the cryptocurrency field. Many crypto investors lack the know-how to diversify their crypto investments beyond Bitcoin. Coinpanion creates this diversification with an intuitive user interface and in compliance with the regulatory requirements of the EU and Austria.”

Binder Groesswang’s team consisted of Partner Christian Zwick, Senior Associate Mona Holzgruber, and Associate Hermann Beurle.

On July 3, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Cerha Hempel, working alongside Deloitte Legal in Germany, had advised Germany’s GBTEC Software + Consulting AG on the acquisition of all shares in Avedos. CEEIHM spoke with Sven van Berge Henegouwen, Partner at GBTEC, to learn more about the deal.

CEEIHM: To start, please tell our readers a few words about GBTEC Software + Consulting AG.

Sven: GBTEC is a leading software provider for the digital transformation of organizations. More specifically, it offers Business Process Modeling, Process Execution, Digital Process Automation, Robotic Process Automation, and Process Mining tools. On top of that, it uses these tools to offer specific Governance, Risk, and Compliance — “GRC” — solutions.

CEEIHM: What was it about Avedos that made it a particularly attractive target for you?

Sven: Avedos is one of the most renowned names in GRC in Europe. The company has a deep understanding of GRC functionality and a great customer base. GBTEC’s own approach for GRC is based on its Process Management skills. Combining GBTEC’s process optimization knowledge with Avedos’ deep domain knowledge of functional aspects to GRC helps us in creating a world-leading GRC tool.

CEEIHM: What’s next for Avedos post-acquisition in the short- and mid-terms?

Sven: We aim to continue its growth in the GRC space and combine the functional knowledge with GBTEC’s more process-based knowledge to create GRC tools that offer the best of both worlds. Furthermore, we will help the company continue its transition to fully-fledged cloud solutions. We are quite confident this will lead to one of the leading GRC tools in the world.

CEEIHM: Cerha Hempel noted the “extremely difficult circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” when describing the deal. How, in practice, did these pan out and how did you overcome them to push the deal through?

Sven: Like everyone, we really had to adjust to the new realities of a COVID dominated world. Luckily both GBTEC and Avedos provide solutions that are still in high demand. Both management teams also showed excellent poise to navigate the companies through these difficult times and I am happy to report both companies are still showing excellent performance. That made the decision to push through, for everyone involved, a lot easier. Logistically we had to adjust our processes a bit. Luckily the pragmatic stance of all players allowed us to navigate those issues as well. 

CEEIHM: And, since we mentioned them, why did you retain Cerha Hempel as your advisor on this deal?

Sven: Cerha Hempel is, of course, a well-known name in M&A in Austria, but it was the pragmatism that attracted us to them. They really know how to get deals done and to focus on the important business aspects. I am happy to say that they confirmed all our expectations during the process!

CEEIHM: What about the firm they worked alongside – Deloitte Legal in Germany? 

Sven: Deloitte Germany is the law firm in Germany that we have worked with the most in the past. We are very happy with their support and will continue to engage them for future transactions. Over the years of our cooperation, we have build up a good rapport and they know exactly what we think is important and what is of less concern. This makes our cooperation very practical.

CEEIHM: How did you find the pair worked together?

Sven: The two firms worked together very well and professionally.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

Monika Sturm has been promoted to Equity Partner at Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner, bringing the total number of partners at the firm to ten.

Sturm is an expert in Labor Law and Data Protection Law. According to Fellner Wratzfeld & Partner, “especially industrial and commercial businesses, as well as private clients, greatly appreciate Monika Sturm’s expertise right now in these times marked by economic challenges.”

Sturm has a Magister’s degree in law from the Karl-Franzens University in Graz. Prior to joining FWP, she spent 18 months with Binder Groesswang and four and a half years with the Mueller Partner Law firm.

“I want to thank FWP for their great appreciation and for the trust placed in me,” Sturm commented. “I am very pleased to work at a law firm where dedication and commitment are encouraged and balancing a career and a family is established practice. My work at FWP has been both challenging and exciting from the very start and I look forward to now being at the side of FWP’s team and clients as a partner and providing advice and support as best possible.”

Binder Groesswang and Bird & Bird have advised Blockpit on its acquisition of 21 Consulting.

Financial details were not disclosed.

Blockpit is an Austrian FinTech company that offers tax reports and portfolio management for crypto currencies as well as automatically generated transaction reports for compliance with anti-money laundering guidelines.

21 Consulting is a German company that offers tax services for crypto currencies under the brand Crypto Tax.

Binder Groesswang’s team included by Partner Christian Zwick, Associate Hermann Beurle, Lawyers Moritz Salzgeber and Clemens Willvonseder, and Trainee Lawyer Florian Dollenz.

Bird & Bird’s Munich-based team consisted of Partner Stefan Munch and Associate Marcel Nurk.

Binder Groesswang did not reply to an inquiry about the deal.

Former PwC Legal Partner Lukas Roper has joined PHH’s Corporate Practice, coming along with former PwC Legal Counsels Dominik Kurzmann and Evgeny Rodionov.

PHH describes Roper as “one of Austria’s leading experts in the field of banking & finance and financial services – with more than 15 years of experience in international banks as well as law firms and commercial law firms.” According to the firm, “Roper advises international banks and financial institutions on banking and regulatory law as well as financial, portfolio, and NPL transactions. He is an expert in bank M&A and advises international investors on the acquisition of banks and financial institutions as well as on start-ups. Roper is not only connected to the financial sector through his work as a consultant but also through his current and previous supervisory board positions in banks and securities firms.”

Roper has an LL.M. from University College Dublin, a Magister’s degree from Johannes Kepler Universitat Linz, and a J.D. from the University of Vienna. Before joining PHH, he spent over a year and a half with the Economic Chamber for Upper Austria, two years with Wolf Theiss, four years with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, two and a half years in-house with VTB Bank Austria, two and a half years in-house with Sberbank Europe, and almost four years with PwC Legal Austria.

“We are on good terms with PwC Legal and want to continue to cooperate in the future,” said Roper, of his team. “As an independent law firm, PHH offers new opportunities for collaboration in the banking & finance sector. Together we will push ahead with the expansion of financial legal services, especially supervisory law, with Evgeny Rodionov as a Russian lawyer, we will expand the advisory services for CIS Family Offices and HNWI, and with Dominik Kurzmann we will develop the field of energy law.”

“We are pleased that we are expanding our corporate practice in several areas with Lukas Roper, Dominik Kurzmann, and Evgeny Rodionov – banking & finance, energy law, and the CIS desk are strategically important growth areas for us,” commented PHH Managing Partner Rainer Kaspar. “In addition, the international experience of the team and the bundled know-how in international transactions are a great enrichment for PHH and a strengthening of our cross-border offer to clients.”