New Counsel Victoria Pernt on Schoenherr’s impressive Arbitration practice.

Over the last couple of months, CEE Legal Matters reported on the launch by Romania's Mares & Mares law firm of two new alliances with firms specialized in White-Collar Crime – one in Moldova and one in Israel. We spoke with Mihai Mares, founder and Managing Partner of the firm, about his career and his firm's history, as well as the rationale behind the new alliances.

SBGK’s busiest practice over the last few months has been Data Protection, according to Partner Andras Gyorgy, driven by both the COVID-19 pandemic and, more importantly, by fines for GDPR breaches raising awareness among companies.

An interview with Stephanie Beghe Sonmez of Paksoy, about her path from France to Turkey.

On June 3, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that White & Case and its associated Turkish firm, GKC Partners, had advised interactive entertainment company Zynga Inc. on its USD 1.8 billion acquisition of Istanbul-based mobile gaming company Peak Oyun Yazilim ve Pazarlama, A.S. Baker McKenzie, working with its Turkish affiliate, the Esin Attorney Partnership, advised Peak on the transaction, which represented the largest acquisition of a start-up in Turkey to date, and makes Peak the country’s first “unicorn.” Dentons, along with its affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Avukatlik Ortakligi, advised selling shareholder Hummingbird Ventures CVA, Abcoo advised Peak Founder and CEO Sidar Sahin, the Verdi Law Firm advised selling shareholders Earlybird Verwaltungs GmbH, Evren Ucok, and Demet Suzan Mutlu Ucok, and BTS & Partners advised selling shareholder Endeavour Catalyst.

On July 28, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Bulgaria’s Sabev & Partners law firm, working alongside DLA Piper, had advised the Government of Bulgaria on the tender procedure for the 35-year concession agreement for the Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, which was ultimately awarded to SOF Connect Consortium, led by Meridiam and including Munich Airport and Strabag, on its successful bid. We spoke to Sabev & Partners Iskra Neycheva and Boryana Boteva about the firm’s work on the project.

Although Bosnia & Herzegovina is relatively small, and despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Bojana Bosnjak-London, Partner in the Corporate/M&A practice of Maric & Co in Sarajevo, reports that her team has been busy, noting that they were “lucky to land quite a few good deals.”

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen's Public Procurement team has been running at 115% this year, according to NNDKP Partner and Co-Head of Public Procurement and PPP, Adina Chilim-Dumitriu. And she has reasons to be optimistic that the practice will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

The IT and Telecommunications sectors have been the main source of work for Partner Lovro Gasparac’s Corporate/M&A team at Croatia's Savoric & Partners in the first half of 2020, and he expects that to continue going forward.

Laszlo Krupl, Attorney at Law and Head of the Real Estate Practice in Hungary at Schoenherr, on the status of the Hungarian Real Estate Market in a COVID-19 world.

Founding Partner Haluk Bilgic reports that BilgicLegal’s busiest team was the one focused on restructuring transactions and debt financing in the first half of 2020. “That includes not just project and transaction financing but also shipping finance transactions,” Bilgic explains, while noting that the primary focus has been on restructuring existing deals, “since it’s not the best time to initiate new transactions.”

DLA Piper Hungary’s busiest practice lately has been its Litigation and Regulatory team, headed by Partner Andras Nemescsoi. COVID-19-generated legal uncertainty and a set of opportunities arising from a relaxation on state-aid rules fuel the workload.

On February 11, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Filip & Company, working with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, had advised RCS & RDS / Digi Communications N.V. on its issuance of two series of senior secured bonds with a total value of EUR 850 million. Clifford Chance Badea and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised the lead arrangers, which included Citibank, ING Bank N.V., and UniCredit Bank S.A.

An interview with Simon Dayes, Partner at Dentons in Bucharest, about his path from the UK to Romania.

On March 11, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Kinstellar had advised Austria’s European City Estates – a group of companies owned by the Austrian Humer Private Foundation – on its acquisition of the 22,000-square-meter Rosum office complex in Bratislava from Penta Real Estate, which was advised by Skubla & Partneri.

Daniel Bilak is the former Managing Partner at CMS Kyiv, Chairman of UkraineInvest, and new Senior Counsel at Kinstellar, on his diverse background and fascinating career.

An interview with Asli Basgoz of White & Case and Emre Ozsar of GKC Partners about their firms’ work on the CEE 2019 Deal of the Year for Turkey: Sisal’s successful bid to operate the Turkish State Lottery.

Evan Lazar is Co-Chairman, Global Real Estate, Global Vice Chair, and Chairman of the Europe Board for Dentons. We spoke to Lazar from his home office in Prague about how his firm has responded to the COVID-19 crisis and to gain his perspective on how the crisis has affected the real estate industry in CEE, and on what he expects the long-term consequences of the crisis to be, both on the economies of the region, and on the legal industry in particular.