In cooperation with international law firm Eversheds Sutherland, Dvorak Hager & Partners has represented Raisio, a Finnish food company, on the EUR 100 million sale of its confectionary division to Valeo Foods.
Raisio’s confectionary division includes six production plants in Great Britain and the Czech Republic and such brands as Poppets, Fox’s, XXX, Just, and Pedro.
The Dvorak Hager & Partners team was led by Partner Stanislav Servus and Managing Attorney Marek Bomba.
Lawyers from DLA Piper’s offices in Germany, Italy, the United States, and the Czech Republic have advised Luxembourg-based private equity firm ASC Investment on its acquisition of Vitrablok, the Czech-based glass block division of the Seves Group, and on obtaining financing from RiverRock for the transaction. The sellers were advised by Giese & Partners in the Czech Republic and by LMS Studio Legale in Italy, and RiverRock was advised by TaylorWessing.
Vitrablok was part of the Seves Group, a Triton Fund III company. With more than 300 employees in Europe and the US, Vitrablok has a 40 percent share in the world glass block market. DLA Piper describes it as “the leading manufacturer of glass bricks for interior and exterior architectural applications.”
“We are looking forward to the next level of development of Vitrablok under the new ownership of ASC Investment,” said Petr Kralik, CEO of Vitrablok. “We want to develop our product portfolio, as well as support the company’s international expansion. Our company wants to be a leader in the glass blocks market, both in terms of technology and quality. Vitrablok will be the only independent player in the market, 100% focused on the glass block product.”
The multi-jurisdictional DLA Piper team was led by Czech Country Managing Partner Miroslav Dubovsky and Munich-based Corporate Partner Florian Hirschmann. They were assisted by Prague-based Senior Associates Petr Samec and Jan Rataj, Munich-based Senior Associate Silvio McMiken and Associate Tobias Schulz, and a Frankfurt-based team consisting of Germany Country Managing Partner Konrad Rohde, Finance and Projects Counsel Robert Hofbauer, and Tax Counsel Raimund Behnes. Further support was given by Luxembourg Country Managing Partner Catherine Pogorzelski, Tax Partner Geoffrey Scardoni, Milan-based Corporate Partner Alessandro Piermanni, and Atlanta-based Finance and Projects Partner Kevin Gooch.
The Taylor Wessing Prague team advising RiverRock consisted of Partner Thomas Rechberger, Senior Associate Ivana Menhartova, and Associate Barbora Skolkova.
Dvorak Hager & Partners has taken part in the creation of a General Data Protection Regulation calculator web project by Secure Data, which provides a basic risk assessment and recommendations for audits and measures to be taken in individual areas.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — is a regulation designed by the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, and the European Commission to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union. The regulation becomes enforceable from May 25, 2018.
The GDPR Kalulacka site created by DHP and Secure Data was launched late last year to make it easier for those affected by the GDPR to navigate through the regulation. Algotech A.S. was the main ICT advisor on the project.
“First of all, I have to say that the legal market and most of the firms are doing quite well right now in the Czech Republic,” says Martin Hrodek, Managing Partner at Baker McKenzie in the Czech Republic, “as the sector did some visible recovering during the past two years.”
Hrodek notes that the high effectiveness of tax collection proceedings and transfer pricing matters is drawing the attention of firms and clients. “On one hand, tax offices and directorates when reviewing various schemes and designs, are becoming more smart. But they still have a long way to go in order to better understand transfer pricing issues, which are particularly important for Czech companies, as we have here many production plants of international companies, which are delivering their products to parent companies which are then distributing them all over the world.”
The first round of the 2018 Czech presidential elections were held on January 12-13, 2018, but as no candidate won a majority, a run-off election between the top two candidates will be held on January 26-27, 2018. In Hrodek’s opinion these political events are not likely to affect the legal market at all. One thing that may, however, is that “the justice minister, Robert Pelikan, who served as justice minister for the former government as well, wants to make proceedings in front of the Czech Supreme Court more complex.” According to Hrodek, “right now we have to go through two instances of court proceedings – during the first instance courts issue the judgments, then the losing party has the opportunity for an appeal, so comes the second instance to decide whose judgment will be considered as final. Mr. Pelikan wants to introduce a third instance procedure, meaning that the judgment of the second instance would not be considered final and enforceable. He is pushing this idea, which evidently will slow down more already slow court proceedings.”
Otherwise, Hrodek reports, while no new legislation concerning Czech lawyers is expected right now, the development of artificial intelligence is affecting the way law firms operate. “In my opinion firms will have to reinvent themselves and come up with new solutions as to how to better serve the global clients in the changing future. If they won’t do that, IT companies could take over the market to some extent. Regardless, I think that law firms in the Czech Republic are opened up to new ways, I find them less conservative them some firms from the US for example.”
When asked what kind of deals are keeping companies busy these days in his country, Martin Hrodek said that the M&A market is booming, the GDPR, MIFID 2 and other regulations are also bringing more regulatory work for most firms, and new rules on Civil Procedures are anticipated, though he’s not sure when they will be approved by the Parliament.
Ludvik Juricka has become an equity partner and Marketing Director Veronika Rysavkova was promoted to partner at Havel & Partners in the Czech Republic.
“In our law firm, we attempt to create the best conditions for fast career growth at all levels,” said Havel & Partners Managing Partner. “In senior positions, not only is a top-level knowledge of the law key, but also managerial skills and the ability to achieve turnover goals and other expectations, whose common factor is a high benefit to the development of our firm. I am pleased that a large number of colleagues and still more and more female colleagues can combine these challenging roles together.”
Just two weeks ago, Havel & Partners announced that it was rebranding after dropping former Named Partner Jan Holasek, who left what was then Havel, Holasek & Partners in 2014, from the firm’s letter-head (as reported on January 5, 2018).
Tomas Slaby has been promoted to Partner at Randa Havel, the Prague member of the Act Legal network.
Slaby focuses on real estate law and construction, representing domestic and international clients in real estate transactions and investment projects in construction. According to Randa Havel, “he has extensive experience preparing and negotiating comprehensive contractual documentation, as well as with representing clients in permit proceedings before administrative bodies.” He also represents clients in judicial and arbitration proceedings connected with real estate and construction.
“I am delighted that Tomas has decided to continue his professional career in our firm,” said Martin Randa, Managing Partner of Randa Havel Legal. “Tomas is an excellent lawyer, and thanks to his experience and working enthusiasm he is a great asset to the firm and its clients.”
CMS Prague has advised Czech metal processing conglomerate Metal Trade Comax Group on its acquisition of the German Oetinger Aluminium Group from Orlando Management AG. Orlando was represented by Noerr’s Munich office. Financial details were not provided.
Metal Trade Comax is one of the first representatives in continuous coil coating in Europe, and the only producer of continuously coated sheets of metal in the Czech Republic. The company reports selling over 220 thousand tons of products per year.
Orlando Management AG, which is headquartered in Munich, Zurich, and Stockholm, advises institutional and private investors on investments in small and medium-sized companies, and corporate subsidiaries in the German-speaking area, as well as in the Nordics. The focus is on companies in special situations with revenues of up to EUR 500 million.
The CMS Prague team led by Helen Rodwell, with support from Partner Lukas Janicek and Senior Associate Frances Gerrard and lawyers James Oczko and Ediz Osman.
Clifford Chance Prague has advised the European Investment Bank on its up to EUR 50 million equity investment into Inven Capital, a Czech SICAV fund that is fully-owned by the regional energy group CEZ. Inven Capital reportedly was counseled by DBK Partners.
EIB agreed to co-invest into Inven Capital on a 50:50 basis with CEZ under a Joint Co-Investment Program. This is the first equity investment of EIB in the Czech Republic. The transaction is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments, which is the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe.
This EUR 100 million co-investment initiative will provide additional liquidity to leading European venture capital-dependent SMEs and midcaps in the energy sector, which, according to Clifford Chance, “are typically in a growth stage and need early-stage investments to innovate and expand their product and service offering, increase their productivity and manufacturing capacity and expand internationally.”
The Clifford Chance team advising on the transaction was led by Managing Partner Alex Cook, with Senior Associate Michal Jasek as executive lawyer. The team also included Associate Ludvík Ruzicka and Junior Associate Zuzana Moravkova.
DBK Partners did not reply to our inquiries.
Ludek Chvosta has left White & Case to join Noerr as Head of Banking & Finance in Prague.
Chvosta focuses on banking and finance work (including regulatory aspects), capital markets (with an emphasis on DCM) and insolvency law. According to Noerr, “being a licensed attorney in New York, the Czech Republic, and Washington DC, as well as licensed Solicitor in England & Wales, Ludek is well placed to offer unique multi-jurisdictional insight into key financing issues and their business impact. Furthermore, he has advised on many of the top Czech capital markets deals of the past decade and has represented creditors in some of the most well-known insolvency proceedings in the Czech Republic.”
Chvosta was at White & Case since February 2010. He received his Master’s Degree (2008), Juris Doctorate (2009), and Ph.D. (2016) from Charles University in Prague, and another J.D. (2010) from the Nova Southeastern University in Florida.
Barbara Kusak, Prague Office Managing Partner, explained that, “we are excited to have Ludek with us and I am convinced he will create real value for our Prague office and for the whole firm bringing to bear breadth and depth of experience in banking and finance law.”
Andreas Naujoks, International Head of Noerr’s Banking & Finance practice, added that, “the joining of Ludek Chvosta is part of our strategic process of building a premium quality Banking and Finance capability in Central Eastern Europe.”
Joerg Menzer, CEE Regional Managing Partner, added, “Ludek has excellent credentials having worked for White & Case for almost a decade, and we are delighted to have another out-standing professional on board to help and contribute to our regional business development, as well. Following the expanding of our Warsaw office last year, and the joining of Edina Schweizer in Budapest (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 21, 2017), we are sending a strong message to the market by Ludek that we are ‘in the game’ for banking and finance law.”
Randa Havel Legal represented the Jufa Investment Group in the acquisition of two large Czech solar power plants with a total capacity of 17 megawatts. The seller reportedly was advised by PwC.
The acquisition consisted of the purchase of FVE Dobre pole solar park with a capacity of 4 MW in Mikulov, in the Czech Republic, and a photovoltaic power plant with a total capacity of 13 MW located in Chomutov,
In 2017, Randa Havel Legal provided Jufa Investment Group with legal advice in connection with the purchase of most of its 20 solar photovoltaic plants, which have a total capacity of 43 megawatts.
Randa Havel Legal’s team included Partners Alois Satava and Matyas Kuzela.
PwC did not reply to our inquiries on the matter.