I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be a part of the CEE legal community for the better part of 30 years. I arrived in Prague as a young associate in July 1991 and, after a small hiatus in New York in the mid-90s, have been based in Budapest for the last 26 years, initially with White & Case and for the last eight years with Dentons. While I’ve had the privilege of working with other, more qualified lawyers than I in a variety of commercial situations, my heart and soul has been in the mergers and acquisitions world.

Reals has advised J&T Real Estate CZ on the sale of the Red Court office building in Prague to a BlackBird Real Estate group company. Dentons advised the buyers.

On April 27, 2023, Act Legal BSWW announced that Develia's sale of the Wola Retro office building in Warsaw to Adventum (reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 3, 2023) had closed.

A new law implementing a wide range of international agreements and standards is aimed at improving global transparency in Ukrainian tax reporting and will have implications for a variety of taxpayers.

Dentons has advised the CPI Property Group on its successful tender offer of outstanding bonds due in 2026, 2027, and 2028.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, only ten lawyers have worked on five or more reported Infrastructure/PPP/Public Procurement deals in CEE over the past ten years?

Dentons, working with Kirkland & Ellis, has advised AXA IM Alts on its sale of data center platforms Data4 to Brookfield Infrastructure.

On the evening of April 25, 2023, the Deal of the Year Awards Banquet brought together, under the same roof, top-tier lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe's leading law firms and ILFs active in the region in Istanbul.

Dentons Partners Anna Pukszto and Bartlomiej Kordeczka have been elected the new Poland Co-Managing Partners following a vote of the Partners in Warsaw. They take over from Arkadiusz Krasnodebski, who stepped down after serving as Managing Partner in Poland since 2014.

Dentons has advised NEPI Rockcastle on a EUR 200 million secured green real estate financing from Erste Group Bank and Raiffeisen Bank. Wolf Theiss reportedly advised the banks.

New legislation amending the Labor Code and other relevant acts was signed by the President and published in the Journal of Laws. This legislation implements two European Union Directives: Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union. New provisions will come into force on 26 April 2023.

As Lexpo – The Legal Innovation Event returns in 2023 after a three-year hiatus, showcasing the latest trends in legal innovation in Continental Europe, CEELM spoke with Dentons Europe Director of Innovation and Member of Lexpo's Advisory Board Andrea Miskolczi to gain an insight into the current state of technology and innovation in CEE, and what the event's attendees have to look forward to.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta has advised Projekt-Solartechnik and its subsidiaries on their private debt financing agreement with the Eiffel Investment Group for Polish solar power plants. Dentons reportedly advised the lender.

Former White & Case Associate Ondrej Barton has joined the Dentons Prague office as a Partner, starting on April 1, 2023.

Dentons and its Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership have advised Akfen Holding on its acquisition of the approximately 33% outstanding stake in Akfen Yenilenebilir Enerji from the EBRD and the IFC.

Hungary has been traditionally the go-to hub for filming in Europe.

The Polish Parliament is finally moving forward with the implementation of the EU directive on predictable and transparent working conditions (Directive (EU) 2019/1152).

Dentons has advised the CPI Property Group on its debut sustainability-linked loan through a bilateral facility with MUFG.