Bryan Wilson has stepped down from his firm to join Dual Asset as Head of CEE.
Dual Asset provides transactional insurance solutions in legal indemnities, M&A, probate, and aviation. In his new role, Wilson aims to expand the company’s business in the region.
Wilson established his eponymous firm Wilsons in 2007.
Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.
Clifford Chance has advised Europa Capital on the acquisition of the D2 Logistics Park project together with partner White Star Real Estate. Dentons advised the undisclosed seller.
According to Clifford Chance, “the D2 Park is an industrial site located in Hrusky, in the South Moravia region, with direct access to the D2 highway which connects Brno and Bratislava. The acquired area spans around 170,000 square meters and will offer 57,000 square meters of warehouse spaces.”
“The construction works have already commenced, and the first tenant should start using the premises at the end of the year 2022. The park should operate at its full capacity at the beginning of 2023,” the firm informed.
Founded in 1995, Europa Capital is a pan-European real estate investment manager with logistics developments in the UK, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. White Star Real Estate is a Central and Eastern-European developer and asset manager.
“The D2 Park presented an opportunity to invest in a high-quality, well-located logistics scheme targeted at both logistics companies and production operations,” Europa Capital Partner and Head of Investments Robert Martin commented. “The Czech Republic, including the area of South Moravia, is experiencing a dearth of high-quality logistics supply and, with a historically low vacancy rate of below 2%, D2 Park is well placed to meet this demand.”
The Clifford Chance team was led by Counsel Aneta Disman and included Partner Emil Holub, Associate Ondrej Dolensky, and Junior Lawyer Jan Christelbauer.
The Dentons team included Partner Jiri Strzinek and Counsel Jan Hrivnak.
According to the Supreme Court, it is. In the case under review, a settlement agreement was concluded between the employer and an employee challenging their dismissal by the employer sending a scan of the signed copy of the agreement to the employee in an e-mail attachment, to which the employee’s lawyer responded by e-mail confirming that the agreement was approved and signed by the employee.
The employer subsequently questioned the conclusion of the agreement, stating that the rules for delivery under the Labour Code were not observed. The Supreme Court stated that the Labour Code lacks a comprehensive regulation of legal acts, and therefore the rules in the Civil Code will apply to concluding agreements. This means that even if the rules for delivery in employment relations are not observed, bilateral legal acts may arise in the manner described above, which is in accordance with the Civil Code.
The problem, however, is that the Supreme Court (with regard to the appeal argumentation) did not address the question of the validity of such a legal act in this case.
(Judgment of the Supreme Court file no. 21 Cdo 2061/2021 of 27 April 2022)
By Klara Smidova, Attorney at Law, PONTES
Weinhold Legal has advised investment company Amundi Czech Republic on the sale of its former headquarters in Prague’s Dlouha Street. The Ferenc & Co law firm reportedly advised the buyer.
Amundi is a European asset manager offering retail, institutional, and corporate savings and investment solutions in active and passive management.
The Weinhold Legal team was led by Partner Martin Lukas and included Managing Associate Vaclav Straser and Senior Associate Petra Karabut.
Weinhold Legal has advised the Czech Viamilk cooperative on its merger with Moravian Morava to form the Mleko.cz cooperative.
The merger received the approval of the Office for the Protection of Competition in the Czech Republic.
According to the firm, “the successor cooperative now operates under the business name Mleko.cz and controls one-fifth of the Czech milk market. The successor cooperative now has 322 members, 280 of whom are milk producers and 42 beef and veal producers. Total daily milk production is 1.7 million liters.”
Established in 2009, Viamilk is a Czech company that specializes in trading raw milk, dairy production, and other food commodities. The company operates in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Italy. Moravian Morava is a dairy marketing cooperative with several hundred members.
The Weinhold Legal team was led by Partner Martin Lukas and included Managing Associate Anna Bartunkova and Junior Associate Jaroslav Denemark.
Havel & Partners has successfully represented the Roche Group before the Czech Arbitration Court in a domain dispute.
According to Havel & Partners, “when registering a new medicinal product, Roche discovered that the required Czech domain name had already been registered by someone else. That registration took place on the day Roche publicly announced the name of the new medicinal product. This was therefore an example of so-called cybersquatting, which is the deliberate registration of a domain name at the expense of another brand. The domain name holder demanded several million Czech crowns from Roche for the domain name transfer.”
“Based on the award of the Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic in ADR proceedings, the domain name was subsequently transferred to Roche for no consideration,” the firm added.
Roche is a Basel-headquartered pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company focusing on the production of medicinal products in the areas of oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology, and central nervous system diseases. The Roche Group operates in more than 100 countries worldwide.
The Havel & Partners team included Partner Ivan Rames and Associates Tomas Chmelka and Matej Kurtin.
Dentons has advised GeneProof founders Radek Horvath and Milos Dendis on the company’s merger with the American Laboratory Products Company, leading to the establishment of the ALPCO Group. Glatzova & Co and Sidley Austin advised the Silicon Valley Bank on financing the merger. Goodwin Procter and Schoenherr reportedly advised Ampersands, the owner of ALPC.
According to Dentons, “the main shareholders of the new group will be Ampersand Capital Partners, a US private equity fund, Radek Horvath, and Milos Dendis.”
GeneProof is a Czech molecular diagnostics company that provides customers with solutions in the field of molecular in vitro diagnostics of serious infections and genetic diseases.
The American Laboratory Products Company is a US specialty in vitro diagnostics company.
Silicon Valley Bank is a US-based high-tech commercial bank specializing in lending to technology companies and providing multiple services to venture capital, revenue-based financing, and private equity firms that invest in technology and biotechnology.
According to Dentons, “the ALPCO Group aims to become a global market leader in the diagnostic products market, with broad capabilities spanning novel immunoassay testing kits, real-time PCR testing products, and automated laboratory instrumentation solutions.”
Dentons’ Prague-based team included Partners Jan Prochazka and Daniel Hurych, Senior Associates Vojtech Novak and Adam Prerovsky, Associates Ondrej Vales and Michal Pelikan, Junior Associate Blanka Crhakova, and Honorary Member Petr Kotab, with the help of New York-based Partner Ilan Katz.
The Glatzova & Co team included Partner Libor Nemec, Managing Associate Jarmila Tornova, and Junior Associate Tomas Farnik.
PRK Partners Partner Vaclav Bily has been appointed as the new Managing Partner of the firm.
According to PRK Partners, Bily, who specializes in banking and finance, insolvency and restructuring, real estate and construction, and corporate law, “takes up his new management role alongside long-time Managing Partner Radan Kubr.”
According to the firm, Bily and Kubr are taking over from Robert Nemec and Jan Kohout, who are retiring as Managing Partners after more than a decade. “Robert Nemec, who was elected as Chairman of the Board of the Czech Bar Association, will be devoting himself to management and activities related to this office for the next two years at least. Jan Kohout will be focusing on the development of PRK Partners’ client practice and business development. Both have been appointed as holders of general commercial power of representation.”
Cytowski & Partners and Mavericks have advised the sellers of SatisMeter on its sale to Productboard. Novalia, working with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, advised Productboard on the acquisition.
SatisMeter is a Czech marketing tech startup developing marketing tools that measure customer loyalty.
Productboard is a customer-centric product management platform. The startup was founded in 2014 in the Czech Republic.
Cytowski & Partners’ team included Partner Tytus Cytowski and Associate Eresi Tracy Uche.
The Mavericks team included Partner Tomas Ditrych and Associate Stepan Kvapil.
Novalia’s team included Partner Pavel Marc and Associate Vojtech Tancos.
Havel & Partners has advised Czechoslovak Capital Partners on its acquisition of the Vanickova 5 building in Prague from Ceska Posta. Ceska Posta was reportedly advised by Pavel Vanerek.
According to the firm, CSCP bought the property from Ceska Posta as part of an auction and, together with its strategic partner, is preparing a new development project that will include the Ceska Posta office, as well as new apartments.
CSCP is an investment group with over CZK 3 billion invested since its establishment. Ceska Posta is a state-owned enterprise founded by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.
The Havel & Partners team included Managing Associates Jan Fikar and Lena Frycova and Legal Trainee Petr Potucek.