Reals has advised Redside on the sale of its Nova Real Estate Fund portfolio, comprising 16 retail and office properties in the Czech Republic, to Ceskomoravska Nemovitostni and Nemo Fund. Clifford Chance advised the buyers.

On January 3, 2025, RTPR announced that MidEuropa's EUR 1.3 billion sale of Profi to Ahold Delhaize (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 1, 2024) has now closed.

White & Case has advised TPG Real Estate on the EUR 470 million sale of CT Real Estate to funds managed by Blackstone. Schoenherr, working with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, advised Blackstone. Talers reportedly advised TPG Real Estate as well.

Lambadarios has advised BriQ REIC on its merger with Intercontinental International REIC. Machas & Partners advised Intercontinental International REIC.

Koutalidis, working with Clifford Chance, has advised Attica Bank on a EUR 220 million synthetic securitization of its SME and Large Corporate portfolio.

Filip & Company has advised Mozaik Investments on its sale of a minority stake in 5 To Go to Invenio Partners and Accession Capital Partners. Schoenherr advised ACP. Dentons reportedly advised Invenio Partners.

Havel & Partners, working with Milbank, has advised Capiton on the sale of Gritec to the Viessmann Generations Group. Rowan Legal advised the Viessmann Generations Group. Frankfurt-based Schalast and the Nuernberg office of Roedl & Partner reportedly advised the Viessmann Generations Group as well.

CMS has advised ABB on its investment in Engineering Software Steyr.

TGS Baltic has advised HeavyFinance on forming a partnership with Multitude Bank – backed by the European Investment Fund’s Sustainability Guarantee – to bring more than EUR 17.5 million in funding for farmers in Lithuania and Poland.

Ellex has advised Delfi Lithuania on its acquisition of the EBIT and HR Week conferences in Lithuania and Latvia.

Cobalt has advised Hanza on the acquisition of the Leden Group.

Rowan Legal has advised AMiT on its acquisition of the Bustec Group. Act Legal reportedly advised the sellers.

Paksoy has promoted former Counsel Gulce Saydam Pehlivan to Partner.

Milorad Gajic has joined Radovanovic, Stojanovic & Partners as a Partner and the firm’s new head of the Real Estate and Construction practice group.

Former Wolf Theiss Partner Horst Ebhardt has joined Kinstellar as a Partner to launch the firm's new office in Vienna.

Montenegro-based Jovovic, Mugosa & Vukovic and Serbia-based Zivkovic Samardzic have joined the South East Europe Legal Group.

BDK Advokati has entered North Macedonia via a cooperation agreement with a local qualified independent Attorney at Law Josif Filipovski. Moreover, the firm has expanded its presence in Bosnia & Herzegovina with the addition of Melika Basic.

Ergun has promoted former Senior Associate Irmak Yensel Nergiz to Partner.

Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners (BD2P) has rebranded to Draskovic Popovic & Partners (D2P) following Marija Bojovic's departure.

Former Hogan Lovells Partners Beata Balas-Noszczyk, Tomasz Grygorczuk, and Bartosz Romanowski have joined DWF.

Jakub Celinski and Pawel Grabowski have been elected as the new Managing Partners of Dentons’ Warsaw office with their term to begin on January 1, 2025.

Peterka & Partners has appointed Bratislava-based Attorney at Law Michal Rampasek as the new Co-Leader of its Polish desk.

Former Rowan Legal Lawyers Lucie Kacerova and Jan Mekota have joined forces to establish Kacerova Mekota Advokati in Prague.

Magdalena Pyzik-Walag has become the new Managing Partner at Rymarz Zdort Maruta.

With effect from 21 December 2024, the National Bank of Ukraine (“NBU”) introduced new exemptions from the moratorium on foreign currency cross-border transfers. Notably, these changes broaden the scope of existing exemption for Ukrainian corporate issuers permitting to make payments in connection with Eurobond-related obligations, described in our earlier legal alert.

Although abuse of the right to a leave of absence due to temporary impairment for work (sick leave abuse) is explicitly stated in the Labor Law as grounds for termination, in practice, terminating an employment contract on this basis is very difficult, even when abuse is obvious. Beyond the fact that the concept of sick leave abuse is not legally defined, employers face a host of formal and factual obstacles when attempting to determine abuse, resulting in losses for both employers and the state, which often bears the cost in cases of long-term sick leaves.

On 13 December 2024, the new "Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on General Product Safety" ("GPSR") came into force.

The implementation of EU Directive 2019/1937 has established Romania as part of a broader European trend toward increased transparency and accountability in business practices. For many Romanian companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, this shift has introduced a steep learning curve, but also significant opportunities.

On December 20, 2024, Hungary has enacted two new cybersecurity laws, namely the Act No. LXIX of 2024 on Hungary's Cybersecurity ("2024 Cybersecurity Act"), which replaces the former national implementation of the NIS2 Directive, and the Act No. LXXXIV of 2024 on the Resilience of Critical Entities (“The Act on the Resilience of Critical Entities”), re-implementing Directive (EU) 2022/2557 on the resilience of critical entities in Hungary.

Initially, the role of Office Managers in law firms was focused on administrative and organizational tasks, such as managing documentation, coordinating meetings, and ensuring the smooth operation of the office.

On 21 December 2024, a new package of foreign currency (“FX”) easings came into effect. It is aimed at supporting domestic producers and improving the business environment in Ukraine. The amendments, introduced by Resolution No. 155 of the National Bank of Ukraine (the “NBU”) dated 20 December 2024 (“Resolution No. 155”), include the following measures:

Law 5162/2024 (“New Law”), which aims to enhance business innovation and competitiveness through tax incentives for investments in start-ups, introduces significant changes in Law 4172/2013 (Income Tax Code) and Law 5038/2023 (Immigration Code) providing substantial benefits and opportunities to Angel Investors.

With the Cybersecurity Act entering into force in February 2024, Croatia was, unexpectedly, one of the first EU member states to implement NIS2, and it seems this happened just in time. Throughout this year as well as in 2023, government and financial institutions, companies, and even airports and hospitals were targets of multiple cyberattacks. Unsurprisingly, these resulted not only in temporary loss of availability of crucial services but also in loss of data – at times even life-and-death patient data.

Six years after the introduction of the GDPR, many businesses still treat it as if it were a “new law,” a regulation to be addressed later, rather than a priority today. It took years for the GDPR and data protection in general to even make their way onto Q&A lists in legal due diligence, competing alongside other established legal risks when analyzing target companies.

Energy law in Croatia is governed by a series of laws and regulations designed to ensure energy security, promote renewable sources, and support environmental protection. The key legal framework in the energy sector in Croatia includes the Energy Act (Zakon o energiji, Official Gazette no. 120/12, 14/14, 95/15, 102/15, 68/18) and the related Energy Development Strategy of the Republic of Croatia until 2030, with a view to 2050, adopted on February 28, 2020. The Energy Act, which has seen a few amendments since its adoption, is still slowly trying to meet the challenging EU requirements in terms of the green transition, which emphasize renewable energy integration, energy efficiency, and environmental responsibility.

The Croatian M&A market in 2024 is experiencing significant changes, largely driven by two key factors: the rise of sustainability and ESG considerations alongside a notable surge in energy-sector transactions. These trends reflect both global movements and Croatia’s commitment to the EU’s broader climate goals.

RADULESCU & MUSOI provided comprehensive legal support for the successful completion of the transaction through which DigiRay, whose majority shareholder is the investment fund Black Sea Fund, acquired the three Maraffka clinics in Ploiești.

Schoenherr has won Best Law Firm of the Year at the 2024 CIJ Awards Hungary gala in Budapest. In the last three years, Schoenherr's real estate practice has played a prominent role in landmark deals in Hungary. 

IMMOFINANZ takes further step to optimise group structure. IMMOFINANZ Group holds 100% of the shares in S IMMO following completion of the squeeze-out.

RTPR announces the successful closing of a new M&A transaction in the energy industry, the sale of the renewable energy portfolio of Evryo Group, owned by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management, to PPC Group.

Nechala and partners advised the seller, Mr. Heimo Wallisch, on the successful sale of EASYS s. r. o.

Vienna, 04 November 2024. The experienced tax partner Nicolas Wolski (42) will take over as Head of Tax at bpv Huegel with November 2024.

JŠK advised PRE Group on its acquisition of 100% stake in solar power plant supplier SolidSun.

The Reverse Share Split at a ratio of 10:1 to reclassify the company's share capital was resolved at the Annual General Meeting on 14 June 2024.

The IMMOFINANZ Group acquired a further approx. 38% of S IMMO shares from CPI Property Group SA for a purchase price of around EUR 608.5 million.

Drakopoulos is pleased to announce the launch of its new Data and Digital practice, dedicated to providing comprehensive legal solutions to clients navigating the increasingly complex landscape of data protection, digital transformation, AI, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.

The Montenegrin Law on Business Organizations prohibits the return of contributions to shareholders. But is capital reduction with simultaneous payment to shareholders permissible? This article explores the legal ambiguities and practical challenges arising from this question.

The ITR Tax Awards recognise the best tax consultants and tax lawyers every year. bpv Huegel was awarded twice this year.