Category: Czech Republic

DRV Legal team is reporting that it successfully carried CP Praha, s.r.o. (a development project of Central Park Praha) through insolvency proceedings.

According to DRV Legal, “we are pleased to announce that insolvency court issued a decision on 16 August 2016 … confirm[ing] the fulfilment of the reorganization plan and the reorganization was successfully completed.”

The DRV Legal team’s assistance included the preparation and execution of the CP Praha reorganization plan, and was performed under the leadership of Partner Dusan Dvorak.

Randa Havel Legal has represented the Dutch company Bronswerk Heat Transfer Holding B.V. in the sale of its Czech subsidiary Bronswerk Heat Transfer spol. s.r.o. to PBS Industry. The DRV Legal firm advised PBS — which is owned by the Jet Investment investment fund — on the deal.

Randa Havel describes the Bronswerk Group as “a leading supplier of technology for heat exchange, with a focus on air coolers, condensers, depth exchangers and cooling towers,” and says that “its products and services are widely used by energy and petrochemical companies operating worldwide.”

The Randa Havel team was led by Partner Alois Satava and Senior Associate Michal Palinkas. 

The DRV Legal team was led by Partner Tomas Rada.

Balcar, Polansky & Spol. — working alongside global counsel Eversheds — has advised Hotel Properties Limited on its sale of the five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel in Prague to CEFC Group (Europe) Company. Pokorny, Wagner & Partneri advised the buyers, with support from England’s Moore Blatch firm.

The Balcar, Polansky & Spol. team included Partners Ludmila Neustupna and Radim Polansky.

The Pokorny, Wagner & Partneri team included Attorneys David Skopal and Vendelin Balog.

BPV Braun Partners is reporting that, following an August 15 Partner meeting, Arthur Braun has been reelected as Managing Partner of the law firm — which has offices in Prague and Bratislava — for another three year term.

Arthur Braun became a founding member of bpv Braun Partners in 2006, following many years as a Partner with Haarmann Hemmelrath. He also leads the CEE alliance bpv Legal.

In a statement released by the firm, Arthur Braun described his goals for the next three years: “Even with two record-breaking years in terms of economic indicators behind us, our firm still has more than enough challenges ahead. The legal services market continues to develop quickly and our clients’ needs are changing just as fast. We have to be ready to meet those needs, whether that involves acquiring the necessary technology, training our employees or simply remaining responsive and ready for action. One thing will never change, however: our commitment to quality, integrity and providing the best possible services to our clients.”

In that same statement Braun also referred to the firm’s intention to take on more partners in the near future.

An interview with Braun and the other Partners in the Prague office of BPV Braun Partners on the occasion of the firm’s 10th anniversary appeared in the June 2016 issue of the CEE Legal Matters magazine.

Dentons’ Prague office has advised Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company Limited on its acquisition of the Forum Liberec shopping center from the British retailer Tesco via a share deal worth approximately EUR 80 million. Tesco was advised by Wilson & Partners.

Forum Liberec is a regional shopping center located in the heart of Liberec, the capital of the North Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. According to Dentons, the 47,000 square meter center is visited by over 12 million people per year, and its tenants include retailers Tesco, Cinema City, C&A, Datart, Gant, H&M, Lindex, New Yorker, Nord Blanc, Norma, ProBest, Reserved, Sportissimo, and Tiger.

Rockcastle is a retail property investor and developer listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and on the Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited. According to Dentons, “Rockcastle’s strategy is to acquire, develop and manage dominant retail assets in Central and Eastern Europe with high-growth potential,” and “it has a significant retail property portfolio in Poland and investments in global listed property stocks in the UK, USA and Europe.” The acquisition of Forum Liberec is its first investment in the Czech Republic. 

Spiro Noussis, Rockcastle CEO, commented: “This deal marks an important step in our development in the Czech Republic and Central Europe, and we very much appreciate Dentons’ support throughout the transaction.”

Dentons’ team was led by Partner Jiri Strzinek and Counsel Marketa Tvrda.

The Wilson & Partners team consisted of Partner Bryan Wilson and Monika Kajankova.

Wilson & Partners have advised the Irish investment and development company Markland Holdings Limited on its sale of two multifunctional buildings in Prague to the VIG Fund, an Austrian real estate investor that was represented by Schoenherr. The transaction closed on July 21st, 2016.

The buildings, which are located at Revolucni 1 and 3 in the historical center of Prague, offer 6,300 square meters of retail space and 7,700 square meters of office space. The sale follows several others by Markland in the Czech Republic, including the Klimacentrum mixed use scheme and the Kotva Department store. Bryan Wilson, who led the Wilson & Partners team on the sale with colleague Monika Kajankova, commented “I’ve been advising Markland now for the past 14 years and to sell another asset is an achievement. It has been 14 years where we have seen the market peak and trough but to maintain a constant working relationship with the same client over this period of time has been a pleasure.”

The Schoenherr team was led by Partner Gabriela Porupkova, who commented that: “Commercial real estate investment in Prague is on the rise, drawing the interest of both foreign and local investors. The acquisition of these premium retail and office assets in the centre of Prague illustrates the appeal of the market and the persistent demand for premium and high street properties.” 

Porupkova’s team at Schoenherr consisted of Attorney Miroslav Dudek and Associates Katerina Jancova and Christoph Durr, as well as Attorneys Otakar Fiala, Jitka Linhartova, Natalie Rosova, and Veronika Hockova. 

JSK has successfully represented Ashok Leyland UAE on the ownership transfer of truck manufacturer Avia Ashok Leyland Motors to the Czechoslovak Group.  

Ashok Leyland Limited is the 2nd largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in India and one of the largest manufacturers of buses and trucks in the world. Ashok Leyland UAE is part of the Ashok Leyland Group.  

The Czechoslovak Group is, according to its website, “an industry holding representing a strong group of production companies based mainly in the Czech and Slovak Republic. Our companies offer complex solutions including deliveries of state-of-the-art technology and world-class post-sales services.” The website states that “our identity is based mainly on traditional values and fame of the Czechoslovak industry. Our core interest is impeccable quality of our products, robust manufacturing capability as well as the production of real, enduring values.” The Group includes companies operating in civil engineering and services, and its portfolio includes a major share in the Tatra Trucks cargo truck manufacturer.” Consolidated revenues of the Group exceeded CZK 12 billion (over EUR 444 million) in 2015.  

The JSK team was led by Tomas Dolezil, who said: “We are delighted to assist Ashok Leyland and Ashok Leyland UAE with this rather complex and lengthy project that included not only the transfer of ownership, but also the future relationship between the parties.” Dolezil was supported by JSK Senior Associate Helena Hailichova.  

The Czechoslovak Group was advised by the Toman Devaty Law Firm and NKL Legal.

Image Source: avia.cz

Peterka & Partners has advised Atlas Copco on the acquisition of the international business of Schneider Druckluft. The value of the transaction is not disclosed, and Atlas Copco’s acquisition remains subject to regulatory approvals. It is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2016.

Atlas Copco is a world-leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions. The group serves customers with compressors, vacuum solutions and air treatment systems, construction and mining equipment, power tools, and assembly systems.  The company was founded in 1873 and is based in Stockholm. In 2015, the company reported revenues of EUR 11 billion and more than 43,000 employees.

Schneider Druckluft is a German designer and producer of professional compressed air solutions with a large network of retailers and specialist shops. The company is based in Reutlingen (near Stuttgart), Germany, and has about 110 employees. It also has subsidiaries in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The company focuses mainly on piston compressors but offers a range of related products and services. It had revenues of around EUR 27 million in 2015.

Peterka & Partners’ Partner Premysl Marek and attorney Ludek Trykar worked on the transaction in cooperation with German law firm Loschelder Rechtsanwalte.

Peterka & Partners reported that it was unable to disclose the identity of counsel to Schneider Druckluft on the deal.

Randa Havel Legal has advised the shareholders of the HSI spol. s r.o. and Enlogit s.r.o. technology companies to Unicorn Systems a.s. and Servodata a.s., respectively. Unicorn Systems was advised by the Simane law office, and Servodata was advised by the Law Office Chamrad – Lausmanova.

In the case of HSI, Randa Havel advised shareholders Jan Becvarik, Miroslav Kanka, and Zdenek Svenka. According to Randa Havel, “or 20 years, HSI … has been one of the most successful companies on the Czech market offering comprehensive IT solutions with graphical support. The company designs and implements operational-technical and geographic information systems, property management and facility management information systems and software for the creating, processing, managing and controlling graphically oriented data.”

In the case of Enlogit, the firm represented sole shareholder Ondrej Suchy. According to the firm “Enlogit s.r.o. provides IT services for the corporate sector in the areas of infrastructure virtualization, cloud architecture, security and IT administration.”

BBH has announced that is has acted as advisor to Allianz Pojistovna, a.s. in connection with its merger with two Wustenrot insurance companies (Wustenrot Pojistovna, a.s. and Wustenrot, Zivotni Pojistovna, a.s.) with the two Wustenrot entities being merged into Allianz Pojistovna. According to BBH, this is the first-ever merger of three insurance companies in the Czech Republic.

Allianz Pojistovna is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allianz New Europe Holding GmbH and part of the global Allianz SE insurance group. It entered the Czech market in 1993 and has since become one of the three largest Czech insurance companies. 

The BBH team was led by Partner Tomas Sedlacek and included Adam Necas and Petr Strakos. Sedlacek said “We are very glad to have this opportunity to assist Allianz Pojistovna in this complex and unique transaction, which led to the strengthening of one of the largest insurance companies in the Czech Republic. It is not every day that you see a merger of three insurance companies taking place on the Czech market. ”