The COVID-19 crisis continues to plague much of Europe. To get an overview of its effects across CEE – both on investment in the region and on the legal industry itself – we reached out to the members of Pontes the CEE Lawyers legal alliance, a Regional Sponsor at the upcoming Dealer’s Choice International Law Firm Summit.

JSK has advised the shareholders of the North Moravian investment company Cresco&Finance on the sale of its Silnice Morava subsidiary to Imos Brno.

Former Clifford Chance Of Counsel Tomas Richter has moved to JSK in Prague as the firm's new Head of Restructuring and Insolvency.

JSK, working in cooperation with solo practitioner Daniel Marousek, has advised TGA Holding on the sale of Znacky Morava and its Grames and Silverton affiliates to CIDEM Invest. Hladky Legal advised CIDEM invest on the deal.

On December 15, 2020 CEELM gathered legal experts from across the region for its annual Year-in-Review Round Table conversation. In a wide-ranging discussion, participants shared opinions and perspectives on their markets, on strong (and less-strong) practices across the region, and the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on both, as well as on how technology is changing the legal industry, and what the industry will look like in 2021.

The M&A market in 2020 has been significantly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the latest quarterly M&A overview prepared by CzechInvest, the leading agency supporting business and investments in the Czech Republic, “in a very short period of time and on a large scale, many companies have had to close down or limit their operations, dismiss stuff members, and disrupt supply chains.” Although there has been some recovery since May, the situation remains unpredictable. The second and next presumed waves will likely bring even more uncertainty.

On September 24, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Baker McKenzie’s Prague office had advised Worldline SA/NV on its acquisition of a 53% of stake in GoPay. JSK and Urban & Hejduk advised the sellers on the deal, Pavel Schwarz Jr. and BUDEX Direct.

JSK has advised shareholders Petr Janu, Jan Zvonik, Ladislav Partl, and Jiri Trcka on the sale of TKZ Polna, spol. s r.o. to the Rose Investments Group.

JSK has advised Poland's R22 Group on its acquisition by auction of a 100% stake in ProfiSMS s.r.o. and its two Czech fully-owned subsidiaries, Axima SMS Services s.r.o. and SMSbrana s.r.o. The sellers – Net Brokers Holding, which is owned by the Bauer Media Group – were represented by Noerr.

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.

We decided to lighten the mood this time around by asking our Law Firm Marketing experts from across the region a non-law-firm related question: “What did you most want to be when you were little?”

Roman Kramarik, Partner at JSK in Prague, is making every effort to distance himself from politics, although he reports that “you can’t even call it politics anymore, but rather a showing off of the state’s executive power.”

JSK has advised Tilia Impact Ventures and Nation 1 on their investment in Dot Glasses, a provider of a radical new concept for prescription eyeglasses for people in need. The Mavericks law firm advised Dot Glasses on the deal.

In December 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on the interpretation of the Solvency II Directive regarding the right to cancel a life insurance contract and the duty of the insurer to inform customers of the right.

In a preliminary ruling procedure, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed that the law of the Member States must make it possible for compensation for damages caused by a cartel to be granted to persons who are not direct participants in the market in which the cartel operates.

Kinstellar has advised Raiffeisenbank on acquisition financing for KWR Czech's acquisition of DCK Holoubkov, a company that produces all-plastic outdoor low-voltage distribution switchboards, from two unnamed individuals. KWR Czech, owned by BHS Fund II Private Equity, was advised by JSK both on the financing and on the underlying acquisition. The amount of the financing was not disclosed.

Czech attorney Marta Fisnerova has become the fifth partner at JSK in Prague.

Another in our series of articles leading up to the 2020 Dealer’s Choice Law Firm Summit and Deal of the Year Awards in London.