Wolf Theiss has advised the largest Chinese producer of SUVs, the Great Wall Motor Company, on its creation of an Austrian subsidiary.

Wolf Theiss has advised the sellers on the acquisition by Vivatis Holding AG of Frisch & Frost. Wildmoser/Koch & Partner reportedly advised Vivatis on the transaction, which took place on October 3, 2017. The Austrian Federal Competition Authority is yet to approve the transaction.

Wolf Theiss has advised Volksbank Wien on its issuance of a subordinated bond (tier 2) with a volume of EUR 400 million. The bond has a term of 10 years.

Karanovic & Nikolic was part of a consortium of advisors to the City of Belgrade and the IFC on local law aspects of a PPP project for the landfill remediation and development of a waste treatment facility in the Vinca section of Belgrade.

Slaughter and May and Wolf Theiss were the two Chairman Sponsors of the 2017 General Counsel Summit in Warsaw, and the individuals from both firms who actually chaired the proceedings – Jonathan Marks, Partner at Slaughter and May on Day 1 and Ron Given, Partner at Wolf Theiss on Day 2 – were kind enough to speak with us about their involvement at the event.

This year’s General Counsel Summit – the annual gathering of leading in-house counsel from across Central and Eastern Europe – convened in Warsaw, on June 1-2. 

Wolf Theiss has advised The Student Hotel Group on preparations for a new 822-room flagship hotel in Vienna, including on its acquisition of real property and on the drafting and development (design and build) agreement. Hule Bachmayr-Heyda Nordberg reportedly advised the sellers and developers of the real property, the S+B Gruppe.

Who knows more about lawyers than other lawyers? In the Face-to-Face feature, we step back and allow private practitioners to sit down directly with in-house counsel to discuss their challenges, strategies, and solutions. 

In The Corner Office, we invite Senior and Managing Partners at law firms from across the region to share information about their careers, management styles, and strategies. For this issue, we asked them to describe their least favorite part of their jobs. 

The Bucharest office of Wolf Theiss has expanded its TMT and data protection & compliance practice by adding former EY Senior Manager Maria Maxim to its team. 

Wolf Theiss has advised Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego on the financing of OT Logistics' expansion in Croatia. OT Logistics was advised by Wiewiorski Legal on the deal.

The OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project 

A few years ago OECD and G20 Leaders noticed that the international tax landscape had changed dramatically. The financial crisis and aggressive tax planning by multinational enterprises had resulted in significant losses to state budgets, and perceived tax evasion had become part of the political agenda. Consequently, joint actions were taken to increase transparency and the cross-border exchange of information in tax matters and to address the weaknesses of an international tax system that had created opportunities for questionable tax tactics.

Wolf Theiss is announcing the arrival of former Allen & Overy Partner Jacek Michalski as a Partner and head of the corporate and M&A practice in the firm's Warsaw office.

Wolf Theiss has advised private equity investor Kohlberg & Company on its purchase of the winter sport division of Newell Brands. The signing took place on May 25, 2017, and the deal closed on July 14, 2017.

Legislators on both the European and Czech level have been active in adopting new regulations that influence several areas of the modern economy. Financial services, with consumer finance on one side and markets in financial instruments on the other, have been at the center of these efforts. Financial regulation is not, however, the only measure heavily affecting banks, investment firms, and FinTech companies by putting new compliance requirements in place. Another huge legal instrument – the General Data Protection Regulation adopted on the EU level in 2016 – imposes new requirements on all companies dealing with personal data.

Przemyslaw Kozdoj has moved from Greenberg Traurig in Poland to joined the Warsaw office of Wolf Theiss as a Partner and head of the Banking and Finance practice group.

Current developments in the technology sector concern the Internet of things, industry 4.0, smart solutions, and the sharing economy. One may think that advances in technology barely affect the legal profession.

Wolf Theiss Bucharest and Warsaw, working alongside Radulescu & Musoi, have advised Poland's Credit Value Investments asset management company on its EUR 12 million investment in Impact Developer & Contractor. Impact Developer & Contractor was advised by PeliFilip and Linklaters.