The District Court of Liberec as plaintiff called into question the constitutionality of Section 138 Par. 1 of the Criminal Code that determines the property damage threshold after which criminal liability arises. The Court concluded that the regulation contradicts Art. 40 Par. 6 of the Charter, which stipulates that the criminality of a fact must be determined and the punishment must be decided according to the law that is in force at the time when the crime was committed. More recent laws should be applied when it is beneficial to the offender.

DLA Piper's multi-office team has advised Inven Capital on an unspecified investment in Sweden's Eliq AB.

A European Parliament press release from the 22^nd of June about agreement on the revised text of the directive on representative actions has raised hopes for the swift finalization of legislation on class actions (“representative actions” in European jargon) on an EU level. The directive, which is part of the new concept of consumer protection – the so-called New Deal for Consumers – was introduced more than two years ago, but due to the strong response to the first motion and the fact that bringing about European class actions is overall a tricky process, it is only this year that some significant progress has finally been made.

Dentons has advised CPI Property Group on a successful tender offer and the issue of EUR 525 million 4.875% undated subordinated notes callable in November 2026. 

Kinstellar’s Prague office has advised Czech investment group Portiva and Micronix on its CZK 2 billion acquisition of the Central Kladno shopping center in Kladno, a town about 30 kilometers west of Prague, from Crestyl. White & Case advised Crestyl on the deal.

Baker McKenzie’s Prague office has advised Worldline SA/NV on its acquisition of a 53% of stake in Gopay. JSK and Urban & Hejduk advised the seller on the deal.

DLK Legal in Poland and Kinstellar in Hungary and the Czech Republic have advised Infosys on its EUR 30 million acquisition of GuideVision. Osborne Clarke’s offices in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany, Sorainen in Belarus, and Castren & Snellman in Finland, reportedly also advised Infosys on the deal. Havel & Partners reportedly served as GuideVision’s advisor in the Czech Republic.

Kocian Solc Balastik has helped the Walteran Company obtain a license from the Czech National Bank to operate an investment company.

KSB has advised the WY Group on its acquisition of Hosting90 System and Hosting Zdarma in the Czech Republic.

Schoenherr’s Budapest and Prague offices have advised Covivio on its lease of the Carlo IV hotel in Prague and the New York Palace and New York Residence hotels in Budapest to the NH Hotel Group. CMS advised the NH Hotel Group on the deal. 

Pierstone’s Prague office has advised the Prague-based Socialbakers social media marketing company on the sale of its global business to U.S.-based customer engagement company Astute.

DLA Piper’s Prague office has advised Russia's Trust Union Fund on its acquisition of the Kovosvit machine tool manufacturer from Industry Innovation, which itself is owned by Czech businessman Jaroslav Strnad. NKL Legal reportedly advised the sellers on the deal.

Havel & Partners has assisted eMan a.s. with the listing of its CZK 45 million securities on the Prague Stock Exchange's START exchange.

The NGL Symbio law firm alliance has announced its creation in five countries of CEE, and its plans to be fully operational by January 1, 2021.

BPV Braun Partners has advised ECO Finance Group s.r.o on establishing a joint venture with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olomouc. 

The EU has been preparing for a substantial transition of its energy sector to address the urgency of climate change. The Czech Republic has proposed raising the share of its renewable energy sources (RES) in the gross final energy consumption from the current 15% (approximately) to 22% by 2030 to contribute to the EU-wide goal of obtaining 32% of gross final energy consumption from RES by the same year. This means there will be a focus on developing RES in the Czech Republic, and the Czech government also plans to substantially strengthen the role of nuclear energy while allowing the coal-fired energy to decline.

Studnicki, Pleszka, Cwiakalski, Gorski has advised the Oriens Bijou Group on the sale of the network to the Tous group. Garrigues advised Tous on the deal.

Former Havel & Partners Senior Associate Rene Cienciala has joined Urban & Hejduk as the firm's new Head of International Arbitration.