CEE Legal Matters

Category: News

  • Ondrej Florian and Stepan Starha Join Partnership at Havel & Partner

    Ondrej Florian and Stepan Starha Join Partnership at Havel & Partner

    Former Managing Associates Ondrej Florian and Stepan Starha have become Partner at Havel & Partners.

    Both Florian and Starha joined Havel & Partners as junior associates in 2010.

     “With Ondrej’s promotion, we seek to further strengthen our advisory group focusing on private clients,” says Managing Partner Jaroslav Havel, who heads the firm’s Private Clients team. “For many years, Ondrej has specialized in domestic and foreign corporate acquisitions and transformations, which is often the case with family businesses, and in market terms, our experience with handing over and transforming these businesses is unparalleled.”

    Starha, who is based in Havel & Partners’ Bratislava office, advises technological and IT companies as well as financial, energy, and telecommunications companies. He started working at the firm as a paralegal/legal assistant in 2009. He specializes in contractual law, intellectual property law, information systems and telecommunications law as well as private international law. In the area of intellectual property law, he focuses in particular on the legal aspects of creating and using copyright works and on the protection of industrial property. In the area of information technology law, he deals especially with aspects of implementing information systems and licensing computer programs.

     

  • Schoenherr Assists the Republic of Moldova in ICSID Tribunal

    Schoenherr Assists the Republic of Moldova in ICSID Tribunal

    Schoenherr has represented the Republic of Moldova in front of an ICSID Tribunal, which on June 28, 2018, dismissed the bulk of damages sought by a group of US investors in a claim filed against the country under the state’s bilateral investment treaty with the USA.

    The dispute arose out of the investors’ acquisition and subsequent loss of agricultural lease rights in Moldova’s northern Floresti District. The investors claimed around USD 15 million in lost profits, interest, and other damages, and over USD 3 million in costs.

    The arbitration commenced in February 2016. An evidentiary hearing, the first in Austria, was held at Schoenherr’s Vienna office in December 2017.

    In its award, the Tribunal dismissed the investor’s claim for lack of jurisdiction, and awarded “only a small fraction of the amount claimed” — around USD 400,000. According to Schoenherr, “since the State made no contribution to the costs of the proceedings, the investors were also awarded a portion of their arbitration costs and legal fees. Their other claims were all dismissed.”

    The Schoenherr team was led by Counsel Leon Kopecky and Associate Victoria Pernt, supported by Chisinau-based Attorney at Law Vladimir Iurkovski and Associate Anna Cusnir.

     

  • Motieka & Audzevicius Successful for Lithuanian Municipality Administration in Public Procurement Dispute

    Motieka & Audzevicius Successful for Lithuanian Municipality Administration in Public Procurement Dispute

    Motieka & Audzevicius has successfully represented the Administration of Lithuania’s Plunge District Municipality in a public procurement case.

    The Administration of the Plunge District Municipality (“the Administration”), as contracting authority, is conducting a public procurement process relating to a street reconstruction project in the city of Plunge. The project, which is valued at over EUR 2.2 million, will be financed by the EU Structural Funds.

    Motieka & Audzevicius reports that the dispute between two tenderers and the contracting authority arose when the Administration decided to reject their tenders as noncompliant with the requirements set out in the contract documents.

    The excluded tenderers, objecting to the decision, filed a lawsuit in Klaipeda Regional Court, requesting interim measures. The Court upheld the claim and required the Administration to suspend its procurement procedures. In response, Motieka & Audzevicius submitted a request to annul those interim measures.

    According to Motieka & Audzevicius, “the Court of Appeal of Lithuania agreed with the arguments set out in the request, and the interim measures were annulled.”

    The Motieka & Audzevicius team consisted of Partner Jovitas Elzbergas, Senior Associate Valentas Mitrauskas, and Associate ELvina Jurciukonyte.

     

  • DLA Piper and Binder Groesswang Advise on Sale of Haas Group to Buhler

    DLA Piper and Binder Groesswang Advise on Sale of Haas Group to Buhler

    DLA Piper has advised the Haas Group, an Austrian wafer, biscuits, and confectionery production company, on the sale of the company, which is headquartered in Austria, to Switzerland’s Buhler AG. The buyer was represented by Binder Groesswang and Zurich-based Homburger.

    Buhler AG is a technology group that processes grains, rice, cocoa, coffee, and other raw materials, as well as operating as a solution provider of die-casting and surface-coating technologies in high-volume application areas such as automotive, optics, and inks.

    The DLA Piper team was led by Vienna-based Partner Christoph Mager and included lawyers from DLA Piper offices in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and United States, as well as DLA Piper’s cooperation partners in Brazil, Campos Mello Advogados. 

    The firm’s Ukrainian team was led by Partner Galyna Zagorodniuk, with support from Associate Andrii Zhupanyn. 

    Binder Groesswang’s team included Partners Florian Khol and Christian Wimpissinger, Attorney at Law Hemma Parsche, and Associate Christoph Schober.

     

  • Wolf Theiss Advises Hisense on Takeover of Gorenje

    Wolf Theiss Advises Hisense on Takeover of Gorenje

    Wolf Theiss has advised the Chinese home appliance producer Hisense on its takeover offer for 95% of the shares in Slovenian white-goods manufacturer Gorenje. Jadek & Pensa advised Gorenje on the sale. The transaction value exceeds EUR 250 million.

    Among the selling institutional shareholders were Panasonic, the IFC, and Slovenian state-owned company KAD d.d. Final closing of the transaction is subject to clearance by competent antitrust authorities, including the European Commission.

    According to Wolf Theiss, Gorenje is listed on the Ljubljana and Warsaw stock exchanges and has overall revenues of EUR 1.2 billion.

    The Wolf Theiss teams were led by Slovenia Co-Managing Partner Markus Bruckmuller, Vienna-based Partner Gunter Bauer, and Poland Co-Managing Partner Ronald Given. The firm’s team included, in Ljubljana, Partner Klemen Radosavljevic, Counsel Teja Balazic Jerovsek, and Associates Ziga Dolhar, Neja Nastran, Larisa Primozic, Primoz Sega, Martina Mahnic, and Tjasa Golobic Smon. The Vienna team included Counsel Jochen Anweiler, Senior Associate Jiayan Zhu, and Associates Nina Lenhard and Florian Prischl. The Belgrade team consisted of Counsel Vidak Kovacevic, Senior Associates Maja Stankovic, Marina Bulatovic, Marijana Zejakovic, and Associates Andjelka Todorovic, Aleksandra Andjelkovic, Tatjana Radivojevic, Marko Tesanovic, Aleksandar Ristic, and Marijana Zejakovic. The Prague team involved Counsel Jan Kotous and Associates Martin Kolacek, Barbara Timkova, and Klara Kovandova. The Warsaw team consisted of Partner Jacek Michalski and Counsel Dariusz Harbaty. Partner Adrian Ster led the Bucharest team, while Partner Naida Custovic and Associate Ilma Kasumagic worked from Sarajevo. The Tirana team included Partner Sokol Nako and Associate Denis Selimi. The Sofia team included Partner Anna Rizova and Senior Associate Hristina Dzhevlekova. The Kiev team consisted of Partner Taras Dumych, Senior Associate Olga Ivlyeva, and Associate Mykhailo Razuvaiev.

     

  • Wolf Theiss Advises on Republic of Srpska Debut Bond Issue

    Wolf Theiss Advises on Republic of Srpska Debut Bond Issue

    Wolf Theiss has advised BMI Securities Ltd, Hong Kong as lead manager on the debut issue of an international bond by the Republic of Srpska of up to EUR 200,000,000, 4.75% Notes due 2023.

    The closing took place on June 28, 2018. The bonds are governed by Austrian law and are included in the Third Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange.

    “This is a double debut,” explained Wolf Theiss Vienna Partner Claus Schneider, who led the firm’s team on the matter. “It is the first listing of a SEE-sovereign entity on the Vienna Stock Exchange, and it was the first international issue of bonds by the Republic of Srpska.”

    Belgrade Associate Nevena Skocic worked alongside Schneider in structuring the transaction and quarterbacking the multi-jurisdictional Wolf Theiss capital markets team that worked on the transaction as sole legal advisor. Partner Naida Custovic and Associate Jasmin Omerdic from Wolf Theiss Sarajevo and Partner Miroslav Stojanovic from Wolf Theiss Belgrade addressed the legal issues under the laws of the Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

     

  • Turkish, Russian, and Ukrainian Lawyers Included in Baker McKenzie’s Global Partnership Round

    Turkish, Russian, and Ukrainian Lawyers Included in Baker McKenzie’s Global Partnership Round

    Baker McKenzie has announced the election of 67 new partners, including Olha Demianiuk in Kyiv, Sergei Lomakin and Kirill Vikulov in Moscow, and Caner Elmas and Duygu Gultekin in Istanbul.

    The promotions take effect on July 1, 2018. 

    Olha Demianiuk is a Partner in the Corporate M&A Practice and the Head of the Healthcare Industry Group of the Kyiv office of Baker McKenzie. She has over 13 years of experience in advising local and international clients on M&A, private equity, equity capital markets, and corporate matters. Demianiuk primarily advises companies from the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector on domestic and cross-border transactions and regulatory issues. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2005, after obtaining her law degree from Ukraine’s European University Viadrina in 2004 and Kyiv Mohyla Academy in 2003. 

    Sergei Lomakin joined the Moscow office of Baker McKenzie in 2006. He has over 12 years of experience, primarily in regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare, state procurement, and advertising compliance. He studied law at the Cleveland Marshall College of Law and Novgorod State University. 

    Kirill Vikulov, the newly promoted Tax Partner, has over 13 years of experience in advising Russian and multinational clients on a range of tax issues, including M&A deals, joint ventures, international holding and financing structures, and various financial and capital markets transactions. His practice focuses on tax planning and restructuring for corporate and private clients, tax advice for M&A and corporate reorganizations, and wealth management. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie in 2007, Vikulov worked as a tax consultant at PwC. 

    Caner Elmas, in Istanbul, has over ten years of experience. His areas of expertise include capital markets, corporate finance, and M&A. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie in 2008, he worked at Turkey’s Paksoy Law Firm, Ortak Law Firm, and Denizcilik Mustesarligi. He studied law at Bilkent University.

    Duygu Gultekin, also in Istanbul, is Head of Corporate Maintenance and Global Reorganizations in Istanbul, where she specializes in post-acquisition integrations, pre-transaction reorganizations, spin-off and carve-outs, insolvency and bankruptcy solutions, joint venture structuring and corporate governance. She also spent four years in the Tax practice group, advising clients on their Turkish structuring’s tax consequences and how to create tax efficient solutions by using corporate instruments. Gultekin received her law degree from Galatasaray University.

     

  • Arda Alposkay Becomes Head of Legal at DeFacto

    Arda Alposkay Becomes Head of Legal at DeFacto

    Arda Alposkay has been promoted from Legal Affairs Senior Manager to Head of Legal at DeFacto.

    DeFacto is a brands in the apparel and fashion sector in Turkey, established in 2005. According to DeFacto, the company offers “affordable and high-quality products, has managed to include designs that adapt to the world trends.” Currently, DeFacto operates in 24 markets: Turkey, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Egypt, Belarus, Morocco, Kosovo, Albania, Georgia, Russia, Pakistan, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Malaysia, Moldova and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

    Prior to joining DeFacto in 2015, Alposkay worked with the Kidemli Law Firm, Devres Law Office, and Zorlu Energy Groups. He received his law degree from Istanbul Bilgi University.

     

  • Wolf Theiss and Weber & Co Advise on Hendrickson Acquisition of Frauenthal U-Bolt Division

    Wolf Theiss and Weber & Co Advise on Hendrickson Acquisition of Frauenthal U-Bolt Division

    Wolf Theiss’s Vienna office and Winston & Strawn’s Paris office have advised US automotive supplier Hendrickson on its acquisition of the U-bolt division of Frauenthal Group. Weber & Co. acted advised Frauenthal. The deal was signed on May 30, 2018.

    Wolf Theiss and Winston & Strawn also, previously, advised Hendrickson on its acquisition of Austria’s Frauenthal Group subsidiaries in Austria, France and Romania in 2014.

    The Wolf Theiss team was led by Counsel Doris Buxbaum.

    The Winston & Strawn team included Partners Jerome Herbet and Sara Susnjar.

    The Weber & Co. team was led by Partner Stefan Weber.

     

  • Act Legal BSWW Advises YIT on Parkur Tower Business Park Acquisition

    Act Legal BSWW Advises YIT on Parkur Tower Business Park Acquisition

    Act BSWW and WMWP Rechtsanwalte have advised YIT on the acquisition of Parkur Tower Business Park from UBM plc.

    As a result of the acquisition, YIT — a Finnish developer listed on the stock exchange in Finland 

    — purchased 100% shares in GF Ramba, a company belonging to Austria’s UBM capital group.

    According to Act BSWW, GF Ramba is the perpetual usufructuary of the land on which Parkur Tower Business Park is located in Warsaw. YIT intends to develop over 400 residential apartments with accompanying infrastructure on the site.

    The Act BSWW team was led by Managing Partner Michal Wielhorski and included Partner Malgorzata Wasowska and Associate Mateusz Prokopiuk.

    The WMWP Rechtsanwalte was led by Partner Roman Hager.