The Deal: In July 2017, CEE Legal Matters reported that Romania’s Leroy si Asociatii law firm had advised France’s Lactalis group on its acquisition of Romania’s Covalact S.A. dairy producer from the SigmaBleyzer private equity firm, with Schoenherr advising SigmaBleyzer on the deal.
Marketing Law Firm Marketing: Your Last Job
Law firm marketing and business development experts apply skills honed over many years and often in other industries. To explore their backgrounds, we asked them: What was the last job you had before joining a law firm, and why did you make the change?
Mastering the Law: A Walk Through an American LL.M. Program
A steadily increasing number of lawyers from Central and Eastern Europe travel overseas to obtain graduate degrees from prominent law schools in the United States and United Kingdom. To learn a bit about how a successful graduate program works we reached out to Polly Lawson, the Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies at the top-tier University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Expat on the Market: Interview With Rob Shantz of Redcliffe Partners
Rob Shantz is a partner and the Head of the Corporate practice of Redcliffe Partners. He is a US-qualified lawyer with over 28 years of experience, including some 20 years in Central and Eastern Europe. Shantz specializes in cross-border corporate law and corporate governance matters, as well as in FCPA compliance investigation.
Expat on the Market: Interview with Egons Pikelis of Ellex Klavins
UK-born Egons Pikelis is a Partner and Head of Banking/Finance at Ellex Klavins in Latvia.
Inside Out: Primus, Cobalt, Sorainen, and Ellex Raidla Advise on BaltCap Acquisition of Estonian Classified Portals from Sanoma Media Finland
The Deal: On March 20, 2017, CEE Legal Matters reported that Primus’s Tallinn office had advised BaltCap on its acquisition of 100% of Sanoma Baltics AS – the operator of the Estonian online classified sites auto24 and Kuldne Bors – from Sanoma Media Finland Oy. Sorainen advised Sanoma Media Finland, and Cobalt advised the management of Sanoma Baltics on the transaction, with Ellex Raidla advising AS LHV Varahaldus on its provision of financing for the transaction.
Face-to-Face: Alina Popescu and Gelu Maravela of Maravela & Asociatii and Mihaela Popescu of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
Who knows lawyers better than other lawyers? In this issue’s Face-to-Face feature, Maravela & Asociatii Partners Gelu Maravela and Alina Popescu interview Mihaela Popescu, the former Head of Legal at Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
Schoenherr's Daniel Gera's Thoughts on the Upcoming Hungary GC Summit
As the CEE Legal Matters team prepares for the upcoming Hungary General Counsel Summit, we sat down with Daniel Gera of Schoenherr to learn about the panel discussion he will be leading titled "Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation - Challenge or Opportunity."
Chairman Views
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.
Behind the Curtain: Interview with OPL’s Miklos Orban About the Hungary GC Summit
Building upon the successes of the three past regional GC Summits in Budapest, Istanbul, and Warsaw, CEE Legal Matters is excited to be hosting the Hungary GC Summit – our first ever country-specific GC event. We sat down with the Chairman of the conference, Miklos Orban, Partner at Orban & Perlaki, to get his thoughts about the upcoming event. More information about the event itself can be found on the event website, here.
Expat on the Market: Interview with Daniel Cousens of Linklaters
English lawyer Daniel Cousens has been based in Linklaters’ Warsaw office since 2006. He advises international corporates, private equity sponsors, and strategic investors on M&A deals and inbound and outbound investments in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly in Turkey, Ukraine, and Poland. Cousens co-heads Linklaters’ Turkey desk and is a member of the firm’s CEE and CIS teams. Before moving to Warsaw, he spent five years in Linklaters’ Moscow office. He studied English and French law at University College, London and Universite Aix-Marseille, and he speaks English, French, Russian, and Polish.
Inside Out: Advent International Invests in Integer.pl
The Deal: In February 2017, CEE Legal Matters reported that CMS had advised Integer.pl S.A. on the investment made into the company by private equity fund Advent International. Clifford Chance advised Advent International on the deal.
Tending the Polish Bar: Interview with Maciej Bobrowicz, President of the National Council for Legal Advisors
As part of our year-long series of interviews with the bar associations presidents of CEE, we spoke recently with Maciej Bobrowicz, President of Poland’s National Council for Legal Advisors, at his office in Warsaw.
Face-to-Face: Jan Myska and Petr Syrovatko of Wolf Theiss and Edit Rosta of 3M
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.
Expat on the Market: Jeffrey McGehee of Squire Patton Boggs
Jeffrey McGehee is an American lawyer living and practicing as a Partner at Squire Patton Boggs in Prague. He received his law degree from Baylor University in Texas in 1989 and moved to Central Europe in 1996.
Inside Out: Glatzova & Co. and Allen & Overy Advise on Denemo Media's Acquisition of a 50% Shareholding in FTV Prima from Modern Times Group
The Deal: On February 16, 2017, CEE Legal Matters reported that Glatzova & Co. had advised Denemo Media s.r.o. on its acquisition of a 50% shareholding in FTV Prima, with Allen & Overy advising Modern Times Group, the seller. Denemo Media is a Czech joint venture between Alphaduct, a.s. (with 75% ownership) and GES Media Asset, a.s. (with 25% ownership). Alphaduct, a.s. is owned by Czech businessman Vladimir Komar. GES Media Asset a.s. is part of the GES Group, which already owned 50% of FTV Prima Holding.
Paving the Way: Schoenherr’s Pioneering Payment Services Practice
As consumers conduct an ever-increasing amount of their shopping and banking on-line, the digitalization revolution is having a significant effect on both industries, and payment service providers – companies offering online services allowing merchants to accept electronic payments by, among other forms, credit cards or bank-based payments such as direct debit, bank transfer, and real-time bank transfer based on online banking – are working with both merchants and banks to facilitate their operations.
Expat on the Market: Dan Cocker Partner at Allen & Overy
Dan Cocker is a Partner in Allen & Overy’s Global Projects, Energy, and Infrastructure Group. He covers the Central and Eastern Europe region and has been based in Warsaw since 2011, after previous stints in the firm’s London, Frankfurt, and New York offices.