Category: Czech Republic

Ondrej Majer and Jan Sturm have made Equity Partner and Josef Adam has made Partner at Havel & Partners.

According to Havel & Partners, Ondrej Majer specializes in commercial and contractual law, company law, and mergers and acquisitions, among other areas. According to Havel & Partners he will be responsible, along with other partners, for the development of the firm’s office in Bratislava. Before joining Havel & Partners in 2016, Majer spent eleven years at Peterka & Partners. He received his Master’s degree in Law from the Charles University in Prague in 2004. 

Jan Sturm focuses on Litigation and Arbitration. Sturm spent 11 years at Weil, Gotshal & Manges before joining Havel & Partners in 2014. He made Partner in 2016. He received his first Master’s degree in Law from the Masaryk University in Brno in 2004 and his second from University College London in 2008. 

Josef Adam’s specializes in real estate, mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, and corporate governance and compliance. Adam was Legal Affairs Manager at Prague Airport from 2007 to 2010 and worked with Czech Airlines twice: first from 2009 to 2011 and then from 2014 to 2018. He joined Havel & Partners in 2019. Adam obtained his Doctor of Law at the Charles University in Prague in 2016. 

“All promoted colleagues have worked in support of our individual practice groups for many years,” commented Jaroslav Havel, the firm’s Managing Partner. “I am pleased that we are successful in educating the next generation of top senior experts and managers from a pool of extraordinary legal talent.”

Havel & Partners has advised Ceska Zbrojovka Group SE on the acquisition, with Brazil’s CBC ammunition manufacturer, of a stake in New Lachaussee, a Belgian designer and builder of ammunition production machines.

According to Havel & Partners, the buyers “acquired a joint share of 80% in the Belgian company, with the Czechs holding a minority stake. New Lachaussee is a Belgian arms manufacturer, with a history dating back to the first half of the 19th century. CZG and its subsidiaries are [among] the leading European manufacturers of firearms for the armed forces, personal defense, hunting, sports shooting, and other civil use.”

Havel & Partners’ team included Partner Jan Koval and Senior Associate Tomas Navratil.

Havel & Partners did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Former Clifford Chance Senior Associate Marian Husar has joined J&T Finance Group as its Head of Legal.

Husar joins J&T after a decade at Clifford Chance. He graduated from Charles University in 2011 and obtained a master finance degree from Masaryk University, a Magister Juris degree from Oxford and an LL.M. from the University of London.

Husar commented: “Being a part of J&T is a highly motivating opportunity for me. I am very enthusiastic about my new role and look forward to working on challenging and diverse legal matters. Above all, I trust my long-term transactional experience in the banking and finance area will bring value to J&T group.“

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

BPV Braun Partners has advised Immofinanz on the acquisition of retail parks in the Czech town of Litvinov and the Horni Mecholupy neighborhood of Prague from Mitiska Reim. Kinstellar advised Mitiska Reim on the deal.

The transaction closed on December 17, 2020, and financial terms were not disclosed. 

BPV Braun Partners team included Partners Miroslav Dudek and Gabriela Spak Porupkova and Attorney David Plevka.

Schoenherr’s Prague office has advised Beijer Ref AG on the acquisition of a majority stake in Czech Sinclair Global Group s.r.o. from private individuals Ivo Nespor, Vladimir Pakosta, and Zdenek Cizek. Novalia advised the sellers on the deal.

Schoenherr describes Beijer Ref, which was founded in 1866 in Sweden, as “the world’s largest global wholesaler of cooling technology and air conditioning.” According to the firm, the company has 70 subsidiaries in Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa, and employs approximately 3,700 employees in 36 countries.”

Sinclair Global Group s.ro. has been operating on the Czech market since 1990 as a supplier of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning equipment with a focus on air conditioners and heat pumps.

Schoenherr’s team included Partner Vladimir Cizek and Attorney Jiri Marek.

Novalia’s team included Partner Ondrej Manek and Lawyer Lukas Pelcman.

The Czech Competition Authority (CCA) announced in a press release that it had imposed a fine of CZK 32m (approximately EUR 1.2m) on the Czech retail chain HRUŠKA, spol. s.r.o., for an alleged abuse of significant market power. The decision is not final and an appeal has been filed.

According to the press release, the retail chain allegedly violated the Czech Significant Market Power Act (SMPA) by fully transferring all business risks and losses associated with the sale of goods nearing their expiration date to dozens of its suppliers between 2016 and 2019. The retail chain was said to have provided its suppliers with a so-called full-service within which it demanded that the suppliers reduce the price of goods already in stock if the expiration date was near. If these goods were not sold before the expiration date, a corrective invoice was issued to the supplier. As a result, the supplier had to return part of the money for the goods to the retail chain. According to the SMPA, a retail chain commits an offence by negotiating or exercising a right to return purchased food, except for a material breach of contract. Hence, the CCA concluded that the above-described practice falls under this provision.

In addition to the fine imposed, the retail chain was requested to inform its food suppliers in writing of the contents of the CCA’s decision within 14 days of the decision becoming final, and remove the full-service provision (under which the party to the proceeding could return goods to the supplier before the expiration date or lower the purchaser’s price of the stock nearing the expiration date) from contracts with its food suppliers within six months after the decision becomes final.

The decision is the first SMPA-related decision of the CCA in 2020 after the Czech Constitutional Court decision declaring the 3 % limit on marketing payments set by the SMPA unconstitutional. Nevertheless, the CCA is expected to be active in fighting unfair trade practices in 2021, with an amendment to the SMPA in the pipeline and a new chairman, who has stated his admiration for the practices of the German Competition Authority.

By Claudia Bock, Attorney at Law, Schoenherr

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised J&T Banka on its EUR 2.1 billion acquisition of Rustonka Development II, which owns the Rustonka office building in Karlin, Prague, with over 17,900 square meters of leasable area.

In September 2020, the bank moved its headquarters — and approximately 750 employees — to the building.

KSB’s team included Partner Jiri Hornik, Senior Associate Josef Kriz, and Junior Associates Filip Sperl, Lukas Weiss, and Ondrej Siska.

KSB did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Clifford Chance informed CEE Legal Matters that it had advised Gramexo, which is part of the J&T Group, on the CZK 2.1 billion sale. The firm’s team included Partner Emil Holub, Counsel Aneta Disman, and Junior Lawyer Ondrej Dolensky.

Clifford Chance has advised Corporate Finance House Group on a joint acquisition with Ceskomoravska Nemovitostni of the Churchill Square office from Penta Real Estate. AK Evan advised Penta Real Estate on the deal.

Clifford Chance reports that the over-CZK 4 billion value of the deal made it the largest real estate office transaction of 2020 in the Czech Republic.

The Churchill Square office complex is located near Prague’s main train station. One of the office buildings is currently the headquarters of Deloitte and most of the second is occupied by the Fortuna Entertainment Group.

Clifford Chance’s team was led by Partner Emil Holub and Counsel Milan Rakosník and included Associates Josef Lysonek and Tereza Rehorova.

AK Evan’s team included Partner Jan Evan, Senior Associate Denis Michon, and Associate Nina Macinkova.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Arete Invest’s real-estate fund on the EUR 113 million sale of a portfolio of 11 logistics and industrial parks in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Australia-based fund Cromwell. 

According to KSB, Cromwell acquired over 125 thousand square meters and 140 thousand square meters of land for construction. The transaction is expected to be concluded in the first quarter of 2021.

KSB’s team was led by Partners Jiri Hornik and Martin Krejci and included Senior Associates Jakub Porod, Josef Kriz, and Jaroslav Zahradnicek, and Junior Lawyer Ondrej Siska.

KSB did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Clifford Chance announced that it had advised the Cromwell Property Group on the deal. The firm’s team included Prague-based Partner Emil Holub, Senior Associate Stanislav Holec, Counsel Aneta Disman, and Junior Lawyers Ondrej Dolensky and Daniela Bencova. 

Glatzova & Co has advised Reflex Capital on the sale of its stake in Brno startup Webnode to the Belgian company Team.Blue.

According to Glatzova & Co, “Webnode offers users the ability to create their own websites very easily.”

Glatzova & Co’s team included Partner Jiri Sixta and Lawyer Gabriela Praskova. The firm did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.