Category: News

Roedl & Partner has advised the DKV Mobility Group on acquiring Osauhing Port One Estonia, UAB State Port Group, and Port One Polska Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia.

The DKV Mobility Group is a provider of cashless payment, toll collection, and VAT refund services to the logistics and transportation industry.

According to Roedl & Partner, “the three companies now acquired by DKV are already well-known and established in their home markets as fuel card specialists and leading providers of comprehensive fueling solutions.” According to the firm, the DKV Mobility Group aims to significantly expand and strengthen its presence in the Baltic States and Poland through the acquisition.

Roedl & Partner’s team consisted of Riga-based Partner Jens-Christian Pastille, Vilnius-based Associate Partner Michael Manke, Warsaw-based Associate Partner Jaroslaw Kaminski, and Tallinn-based Head of Office Alice Salumets. The firm was not able to disclose additional information about the deal.

Cobalt has advised Treeland OU on the acquisition of a 51% stake in Latvian catering company Lido AS for an undisclosed amount.

Treeland OU is an Estonian company owned by Ivar Vendelin. 

Lido AS is the owner of 20 restaurants operating in Latvia and Estonia and nine grocery shops in Latvia. It was registered in 1991 and posted a turnover of EUR 59 million in 2019.

Cobalt’s team included Estonia-based Partner Aivar Taro and Senior Associate Liina Saaremets and Latvia-based Managing Partner Dace Silava-Tomsone, Senior Associates Elina Locmele, Kristine Patmalniece, and Inga Tenisa, and Associates Juta Gulkevica, Zane Caune, Gabriela Santare, and Vadims Zvicevics.

Cobalt did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Baker McKenzie has advised MOL Group on the acquisition of a 92.25% stake in OMV Slovenija d.o.o. for EUR 301 million. Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners advised MOL on Slovenian law.

According to Baker McKenzie, “the transaction includes 120 service stations across Slovenia under 3 brands: OMV (108); EuroTruck (4); and Avanti / Diskount (8). MOL Group and INA will become the 100% owner of the wholesale business of the acquired company, as well.” It added that the transaction is subject to merger clearance.

Baker McKenzie’s team in Budapest was led by Partner Akos Fehervary and Senior Attorney Daniel Orosz, supported by a Vienna-based team that included Partner Gerhard Hermann.

Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners’ team was led by Partner Gregor Pajek.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Schoenherr informed CEE Legal Matters that it had advised OMV on the deal. The firm’s team included Austria-based Partners Markus Piuk and Franz Urlesberger, Attorney Alfred Amann, and Associate Irina Hanin, Slovenia-based Partners Vid Kobe and Eva Skufca, Attorneys Peter Gorse and Eva Mozina, and Associate Borce Malijanski, and Hungary-based Partner Kinga Hetenyi.

RTPR and Allen & Overy have achieved a successful outcome for Premier Energy in an international arbitration case conducted under London Court of International Arbitration arbitration rules.

According to RTPR, “the dispute arose between two companies which operate in the oil & gas industry, Premier Energy (Romania) as claimant and Adler Energy (Austria) as respondent, due to the impossibility of delivery of the initially agreed quantity of gas. The main legal issue of the case was to determine the price of gas that should have been delivered, based on a mathematical formula. The Arbitral Tribunal awarded to the claimant all damages claimed, including the price difference paid by Premier Energy to cover Adler’s breach of contract.”

The RTPR team was led by Partner Valentin Berea and included Senior Associates Vicu Buzac and Raluca Tudoroiu.

Allen & Overy’s was led by Partner Lucia Raimanova and included Associate Matej Kosalko.

Ellex Klavins and Ellex Valiunas have advised Livonia Partners on the sale of 100% of the shares in Santa Monica Networks to LMT in Latvia and Lithuania, respectively. Eversheds Sutherland advised the buyer.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to Ellex, the deal will facilitate 5G network implementation for both companies.

Livonia Partners is a Baltic private equity firm with EUR 83 million in assets under management. Santa Monica Networks is a provider of data transmission and IT security services for telecommunications, IT, and media companies, as well as public sector and financial institutions in Latvia and Lithuania. LMT is a Latvian mobile operator, founded in Riga in 1992.

The Ellex Klavins team included Managing Partner Liga Merwin, Associate Partner Sarmis Spilbergs, and Tax Consultant Zinta Jansons; Ellex Valiunas’s team consisted of Partner Robertas Ciocys and Expert Simona Jaunciauskaite.

The Eversheds Sutherland team included Senior Partner Maris Vainovskis, Of Counsel Vadim Chaban, Senior Associates Aigars Gozitis and Gunta Lokastova, Associate Dmitrijs Nemirovskis, and Lawyer Liene Lelde Rieba.

Wolf Theiss and Spain’s Uria Menendez have advised Spain’s Glovo on its EUR 170 million acquisition of Delivery Hero’s food delivery service businesses in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Croatia. Cuatrecasas advised Delivery Hero.

Glоvо, which wаѕ fоundеd іn 2015 іn Ваrсеlоnа, is primarily еngаgеd іn thе ѕuррlу оf rеаdу-mаdе fооd. The brands acquired by the company include Fооdраndа іn Вulgаrіа аnd Rоmаnіа, Dоnеѕі іn Ѕеrbіа, Воѕnіа аnd Неrzеgоvіnа, аnd Моntеnеgrо, аnd Раuzа іn Сrоаtіа.

The acquisition remains contingent on rеgulаtоrу аррrоvаl.

Wolf Theiss’s team was led by Romania Partner Ileana Glodeanu and, in Romania, included Partner Anca Jurcovan, Counsel Flaviu Nanu, Senior Associates Luciana Tache, George Ghitu, Andreea Stan, and Sorin Dumitru, and Associates Cornelia Postelnicu, Iulia Cumparatu, Nina Lazar, Costin Salaru, and Ionescu Maria. 

In Serbia and Montenegro, the team was coordinated by Partner Natasa Lalovic Maric and included Counsels Vidak Kovacevic and Maja Stankovic, Senior Associates Aleksandar Ristic, Marijana Zejakovic, Marko Tesanovic, and Milos Andjelkovic, and Associate Aleksandra Andjelkovic.

In Croatia, the team was coordinated by Partner Luka Tadic-Colic and included Consultant Ira Peric Ostojic.

In Bulgaria, the team was coordinated by Counsel Katerina Novakova and included Associates Zulieta Markova, Nikoleta Ratcheva, Yanitsa Radeva, Bisera Petsovska, and Kristian Yabalkarov.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the team included Partner Naida Custovic and Associates Lamis Kulenovic and Alija Genjac from the Law Office Naida Custovic in cooperation with Wolf Theiss, and Wolf Theiss Associates Vedran Hadzimustafic and Ajla Delic.

The Cuatrecasas team was led by Partners Diana Rivera and Kai Christian Fischer and included Lawyers Paula Martinez Moreno, Miguel Angel Castano Martin, and Julio Otero Vazquez.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Gugushev & Partners Law Office informed CEE Legal Matters it had acted on behalf of the seller in Bulgaria. The firm’s team was led by Partner Victor Gugushev and included Partner Dimitrinka Metodieva and Associate Kiril Gyorev.

In December 2021 Wolf Theiss announced that it had successfully assisted Glovo in the transaction clearance process before the Competition Council in Romania. The Wolf Theiss team was led by Partner Anca Jurcovan and included Associate Maria Ionescu.

CMS offices in Slovenia and Serbia have jointly advised the Sportina Group on the implementation of a new online sales channel in cooperation with Shoppster.

The Sportina Group is a clothing retailer that operates more than 350 stores and offers 90 global fashion brands in Central and Southeast Europe.

Shoppster is a provider of e-commerce services that sells a variety of goods via its website and through a shopping-focused TV network.

The CMS Slovenia team consisted of Partner Ales Lunder, Senior Associate- Sasa Sodja, Associate Robert Kordic, and Attorneys-at-Law Irena Sik Bukovnik and Amela Zrt. CMS Serbia’s team included Partner Milica Popovic and Attorneys-at-Law Ksenija Boreta, Ksenija Ivetic Marlovic, Srdjan Jankovic, Jelena Djordjevic, and Igor Djordjevic.

BDK Advokati and Lakatos, Koves & Partners have advised Hungarian real estate investor Indotek Group on its EUR 267.6 million acquisition of 11 office buildings from Globe Trade Centre in Belgrade, Serbia. Zavisin Semiz & Partneri advised GTC on the Serbian legal aspects of the deal. The Budapest office of Dentons also reportedly advised the seller.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

According to BDK Advokati, the GTC office portfolio purchased by Indotek consists of 122,175 square meters across 11 office buildings in Belgrade’s Green Heart, FortyOne, Belgrade Business Center, 19 Avenue, and GTC House business parks.

The GTC Group is a real estate investor and developer operating in Poland, Budapest, Bucharest, Belgrade, Zagreb, and Sofia.

BDK Advokati’s team consisted of Senior Partner Dragoljub Cibulic, Partner Milan Dakic, Counsel Dragoljub Sretenovic, Associates Djordje Zejak, Marija Gligorevic, Mladen Vujic, and Igor Matic, and Junior Associates Tijana Martinovic, Sanja Dedovic, David Vucinic, and Luka Radojevic.

LKT’s team was led by Partner Ivan Solyom, who was assisted by Associate Gyorgy Toth.

ZSP’s team included Partner Stojan Semiz and Lawyers Jasna Milosavljevic-Stepanovic, Jelisaveta Stanisic, and Nikola Sugaris.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Dentons informed CEE Legal Matters that it had acted as the main legal advisor to GTC. The firm’s team included Partners Judit Kovari and Marcell Szonyi, Associate Rita Varnagy, and Junior Associate Marcell Kovari. Additionally, LKT also announced the closing of the transaction. The firm also confirmed that it had advised Indotek Group on financing for the transaction provided by OTP Bank, OTP Banka Srbija, and DSK Bank. The firm’s team, working on the transaction included Partners Ivan Solyom and Szabolcs Mestyan and Lawyer Gyorgy Toth.

Cobalt has advised Estonia’s Aktiva Finants on its acquisition of Viena Saskaita, the first and largest specialized payment platform in Lithuania, from ME Investicija.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Aktiva Finants, which operates in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, provides various loan-related services. The company’s clients include companies providing finance, telecommunications, and utility services.

UAB ME Investicija is an investment company with businesses including Girteka Logistics and commercial real estate developer SIRIN Development.

Cobalt’s team included Partner Elijus Burgis and Senior Associate Zygintas Voronavicius.

Cobalt did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, Sorainen announced that it had advised ME Investicija on the deal. The firm’s team included Partners Mantas Petkevicius and Augustas Klezys, Counsels Stasys Drazdauskas and Lina Ragainyte-Mezene, and Associates Laura Matuizaite, Goda Drasute, and Simona Vaicekauskaite.

Krehic & Partners in cooperation with Deloitte Legal has advised Slovenia’s Iskra on its acquisition of Croatia’s Elka Cables from Cotra d.o.o and Miljenko Hacek.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Elka, which was founded in Zagreb in 1927, produces power lines and different types of cables, including telecommunication and fiber optic cables, halogen-free and flame retardant marine cables, and cables for the petrochemical industry.

The Iskra Group, founded 75 years ago, has become the largest Slovenian company dealing with process automation, electrical distribution system, water purifiers, power line communication, rail and road transport automation, and software solutions in the field of energy and logistics.

The Krehic & Partners team was led by Partners Ivan Zornada and Tarja Krehic and included Attorney Valerija Cerovski and Associate Jelena Kraljevic.