Category: Deals and Cases

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen and Dorda, working with Heuking and Wenger Vieli, have advised Inner Mongolia Mengtai Group on the acquisition of the Alu Menziken Group from Montana Aerospace.

The parties have not disclosed any financial details about the transaction. The transaction itself remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Mengtai Group is a privately owned Chinese group of companies with a main focus on energy generation and distribution, agriculture, and aluminum.

Alu Menziken is a manufacturer of lightweight components from aluminum, including solutions for e-battery systems, structural components, and crash management systems. The Alu Menziken Group consists of Alu Menziken Group, Reinach in Switzerland, Alu Menziken Euromotive, Ranshofen in Austria, Alu Menziken, Satu Mare in Romania, and Alu Menziken Germany, Dillingen in Germany.

Montana Aerospace is a highly vertically integrated manufacturer and supplier of system components and complex assemblies for the aerospace, e-mobility, and energy industries.

The NNDKP team included Partner Ruxandra Bologa, Managing Associates Mihai Fifoiu and Emanuel Flechea, and Associates Laurentiu Neacsu, Malina Trifu, and Raul Arama.

The Dorda team included Partners Martin Brodey, Florina Thenmayer, Magdalena Brandstetter, Nino Tlapak, and Bernhard Mueller, Counsels Andreas Seling and Magdalena Nitsche, Principal Associate Patricia Backhausen, and Associates Aleksandra Huebl-Langer, Julia Huber, Safiye Unuvar, Vivien Lux, Noah Hofer, Stefanie Dirnbauer, Sarah Gruber, and Dairine Sonnek.

Dentons has advised DRI on the acquisition of a 126-megawatt solar park project in Vacaresti Dambovita county, Romania from local developers. Glodeanu & Partners reportedly advised the sellers.

DRI is the EU renewable energy arm of the Ukrainian energy group DTEK.

The Dentons team included Bucharest-based Partners Claudiu Munteanu-Jipescu, Bogdan Papandopol, Alexandra Radulescu, and Raul Mihu, Counsel Elena Vlasceanu, Senior Associates Andreea Predescu, Angelica Pintilie, Isabela Gheorghe, and Stefi Ionescu, and Associate Alin Dimache, Diana Ceparu, Iulia Titirisca, and Cristina Staicu and Kyiv-based Partner Maksym Sysoiev.

Dentons has advised Regionala Investiciju Banka on its financing of Farmak. Cuatrecasas reportedly advised Farmak.

Regionala Investiciju Banka is the eighth largest bank in Latvia, according to assets on December 31, 2023. 

Farmak is a Ukrainian pharmaceutical company.

According to Dentons, “the transaction marks RIB’s entrance into the Spanish market. The financing is a part of RIB’s West Bridge project, a loan program, which aims to help Ukrainian businesses obtain financing for development in Europe. The loan will be used to finance the launch of a new pharmaceutical plant in Barcelona, Spain.”

“I am proud of our cooperation with Farmak and this particular project,” commented RIB representative Yuriy Voievoda. “Opening a new manufacturing facility in Europe is not an easy task for a Ukrainian business, but starting a pharmaceutical plant from scratch is many times more difficult. It was really a challenge, involving comprehensive collateral examination of large production during the construction process, financial analysis in various countries, and a new jurisdiction for Regionala Investiciju Banka – Spain.”

In 2023, Dentons advised Farmak on a series of acquisitions from a portfolio company of private equity house Novator (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 19, 2023).

The Dentons team included Kyiv-based Partner Natalia Selyakova and Madrid-based Partner Jabier Badiola, Senior Associate Ignacio Fernandez, and Associate Adelaida Torres.

Wardynski & Partners, working alongside E+H, has advised Coveris Group, backed by Sun Capital Partners on the acquisition of Hadepol Flexo. Grant Thornton reportedly advised the sellers.

Hadepol Flexo is a manufacturer of high-end paper and plastic packaging and laminates, based in Poland. 

Coveris is a European packaging company with over 4,100 employees and annual sales of EUR 1 billion.

In 2023, E+H and Wardynski & Partners advised on Coveris’ Acquisition of D.K. Lamin (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 3, 2023). In 2020, E+H also advised Coveris on its acquisition of Plasztik-Tranzit (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 11, 2020).

The Wardynski & Partners team included Partners Jakub Lerner and Marcin Wujczyk, Senior Associate Marcin Rzysko, and Attorneys at Law Monika Gorska, Piotr Zabkiewicz, Waldemar Orynski, Karolina Romanowska, and Adrianna Ogonowska.

Baker McKenzie has advised Worthington Enterprises on the USD 10 million sale of 49% of Worthington’s Sustainability Energy Solutions business segment to Hexagon Composites forming a joint venture with Hexagon Composites. Saxinger, Chalupsky & Partner reportedly advised Hexagon.

Worthington Enterprises is a designer and manufacturer of consumer and building products.
According to Baker McKenzie, “Hexagon Composites acquired 49% of Worthington’s Sustainability Energy Solutions business segment for approximately USD 10 million to form a joint venture focused on capitalizing on the global clean energy transition specific to the storage, transport, and distribution of hydrogen and compressed natural gas. Worthington Enterprises will maintain 49% ownership and the existing executive management team will hold the remaining 2%. Based in Europe, the Sustainability Energy Solutions business segment has more than 500 employees working in its Austria, Germany, and Poland facilities.”

The Baker McKenzie team included Austria-based Counsels Claudia Fochtmann-Tischler, Edmund Schuster, Philipp Stanek, and Robert Wippel, Senior Associates Sophie Schubert and Nina Lenhard, and Associates Clara Fercsak, Klara Kastner, Mariella Neidhardt, Jakob Jaritz, Valentin Polla, Balint Oszvar, and Elias Parzer, Warsaw-based Associate Dominika Dec, and further team members in the US, Luxembourg, and Germany.

BPV Braun Partners, working with Watson Farley & Williams, has advised Creditas company UCED on the acquisition of GGE.

The parties did not disclose any financial details of the transaction.

The Prague-based Creditas Group has been active in the energy sector since 2013 and is owned by Pavel Hubacek. Its energy division, UCED, is an energy distributor in the Czech Republic. In addition to energy distribution, it focuses on electricity and heat generation. GGE is a Slovak energy group with a 213-megawatt heat network and an electricity network with more than 70 megawatts.

Previously, in 2023, Bpv Braun Partners advised UCED on its investment in the Prostejov power plant (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 18, 2023) and has also advised Creditas on the acquisition of British energy group InterGen (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 30, 2023). 

The BPV Braun Partners team included Partners David Vosol, Igor Augustinic, Ondrej Ponistiak, and Pavel Vintr, and Senior Associates Ivana Horakova, David Plevka, Juraj Gazda, Zuzana Dzilska, and Monika Kardosova.

BPV Braun Partners did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Schoenherr has advised the BHM Group on the sale of its majority stake in the Block Group to the Czech investment fund Central Europe Industry Partners. Rowan Legal reportedly advised CEIP.

BHM Group is a private investment company founded in 2014 and majority-owned by Tomas Krsek. It focuses mainly on investments in projects and companies in the fields of new technologies and renewable resources as well as on development projects.

Block Group, based in Valasske Mezirici, is a construction and engineering group of companies specializing in comprehensive deliveries of cleanrooms and technologies for industry and pharmaceuticals. 

Central Europe Industry Partners is a private equity fund managing the financial resources of institutional investors.

Earlier, in 2023, Schoenherr advised on BHM Group’s acquisition of Trencin Industrial Park (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 24, 2023).

The Schoenherr team included Czech Republic-based Partners Vladimir Cizek and Ondrej Havlicek, Counsel Michal Jendzelovsky, Attorney at Law Jan Kupcik, and Associates Karolina Hlavinkova and Martin Svoboda, Slovakia-based Partner Sona Hekelova and Attorney at Law Jan Farbiak, and Ukraine-based Attorney at Law Tatiana Iurkovska.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Rowan Legal announced it advised CEIP. The firm’s team included Partners Martin Subrt and Vladimir Hejduk.

Havel & Partners has represented HP Tronic and NAY on merger clearance from the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition and the Slovak Antimonopoly Office for their merger.

Both HP Tronic and NAY are multi-channel retailers in the consumer electronics sector, with more than 25 years of history in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, operating Datart, ETA, Electro World, and NAY store networks. According to Havel & Partners, the granting of approvals in both proceedings before the competition authorities of both countries was a necessary condition for the successful implementation of the planned merger of the two groups into a joint holding.

Earlier, Havel & Partners advised HP Invest on its acquisition of HP Tronic from Genesis Private Equity Fund III (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 14, 2024).

The Havel & Partners team included Partner Robert Neruda, Managing Associates Roman Svetnicky and Dusan Valent, and Junior Associates Robert Nersesjan and Monika Jurikova.

Selih & Partnerji, Polenak, Maric & Co, Kalo & Associates, and BDK Advokati have advised NLB Skladi on its acquisition of Generali Investments in North Macedonia. Papazoski and Mishev, an independent law firm in cooperation with PwC, advised Generali Investments.

NLB Skladi is a Slovenian mutual fund and asset management company and part of the Nova Ljubljanska Banka banking group.

Generali Investments Skopje is an investment fund management company.

The Selih & Partnerji team included Partners Mia Kalas, Jera Majzelj, and Spela Arsova.

The Polenak team included Managing Partner Kristijan Polenak, Partner Tatjana Shiskovska, and Associate Andrej Stojkovich.

The Maric & Co team included Partners Dzana Smailagic-Hromic and Ezmana Turkovic.

The Papazoski and Mishev team included Attorneys at Law Ivan Mishev and Vasko Sotkaroski.

The Kalo & Associates team included Special Counsel Jona Bica Kacinari.

The BDK Advokati team included Partner Bisera Andrijasevic.

Wolf Theiss has advised Addiko Bank on navigating the takeover bids submitted by Agri Europe Cyprus Limited and Nova Ljubljanska Banka. Cerha Hempel advised Agri Europe. Schoenherr advised NLB.

The Addiko Group is a specialized banking group for consumer and small and medium-sized enterprises focusing on providing consumer and SME lending and payment services. The Group consists of Addiko Bank AG – the Austrian parent bank based in Vienna, which is listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange and supervised by the Austrian Financial Market Authority and the European Central Bank as a licensed credit institution – and six subsidiary banks registered, licensed, and operating in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina (two banks), Serbia, and Montenegro.

According to Wolf Theiss, “following the announcement on March 25, 2024, of Agri Europe Cyprus Limited’s intention to launch a voluntary partial takeover offer to the shareholders of Addiko Bank, on May 16, 2024, Nova Ljubljanska Banka announced its intention to launch a voluntary offer aimed at control addressed to all shareholders of Addiko.”

The Wolf Theiss team included Partners Claus Schneider, Florian Kusznier, Kurt Retter, and Stefan Wartinger, Counsels Christopher Juenger and Christine Siegl, and Associate Klemens Kendler.

The Cerha Hempel team included Partners Albert Birkner, Nadine Leitner, Peter Knobl, and Martin Eichinger, Senior Counsel Wolfgang Sindelar, Senior Associate Alistair Gillespie, and Associates Jakob Weber, Liliana Niederhauser, and Lela Ghoreishi.

The Schoenherr team included Partners Sascha Schulz, Sascha Hoedl, and Peter Feyl, Local Partners Vid Kobe, Peter Gorse, and Matej Crnilec, Counsel Matthias Pressler, and Associate Beatrix Schima.