Karanovic & Partners has advised Ionity, a Munich-headquartered joint venture of the BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford, and the Volkswagen Group with Audi and Porsche, on opening its first 350 kW charging stations in Slovenia.

Karanovic & Partners has advised the German company ZF on matters related to the opening of its factory in Pancevo, Serbia, as part of the first phase of a EUR 160 million investment. The factory will start producing machines, generators for hybrid and electric drives, gearshift switches, and microswitches in the first half of June.

“It has been busy in the business arena,” says Marko Ketler, Senior Partner and Attorney at Law in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners, citing ongoing consolidation in banking sector with the potential sale of Abanka, the third largest bank in Slovenia, and recent major M&A transactions, including the sale of Intereuropa, the largest Slovenian logistics company, to Posta Slovenije. "We can expect a busy summer with several large M&A deals pending."

JPM, Clifford Chance, and Kocian Solc Balastik have advised Pepsico and Karlovarske Mineralne Vody on the acquisition of Knjaz Milos, a producer of mineral water and soft drinks in the countries of former Yugoslavia, from Mid Europa Partners. Karanovic & Partners advised the sellers.

At the end of 2018, the Government of the Republic of Serbia extended the validity of the Decree on Incentive Measures for the Production of Electric Energy from Renewable Energy Sources and High-efficiency Cogeneration of Electric Energy and Thermal Energy (the “FIT Decree”) until the end of 2019. The FIT Decree was initially valid until the end of 2018.

After a few troublesome years during the global financial crisis, it seems like Slovenia is on a positive economic route again. On December 14, 2018, S&P Global Ratings affirmed an “A+/A-1” credit rating for Slovenia with a positive outlook. Slovenian GDP has grown in the last two years between three and four percent annually, with a growth forecast for 2019 of 3.4 percent.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Japanese automotive company Calsonic Kansei on its EUR 5.8 billion acquisition of Magneti Marelli, a high-tech components manufacturer for the automotive industry, from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Dentons reportedly advised the seller.

After the announced reform of the public procurement procedures in 2017, at the beginning of this year the National Parliament adopted the new Public Procurement Law (“Law”). This new piece of legislation embodies the current EU public procurement rules and sets the legal landscape which is expected to result with transparent and efficient spending of public funds. The Law entered into force on 1 April 2019, but its applicability will be de facto prolonged in practice due to the start of the presidential elections.

The new Trade Secrets Act will enter into force on 20 April, introducing further clarity to Slovenian legislation with a renewed definition of business secrets. The new Act comprehensively regulates business secrets, as it uniformly defines the concept of a business secret – which was, until now, regulated in several sector-specific acts. In the event of potential violations of business secrets, the Act also provides for different protective measures and judicial proceedings.

If you are a company conducting business in the automotive industry with intentions of expanding on the European market, where do you look? The answer may be the Central European country of Slovenia.

In The Corner Office we ask Senior and Managing Partners across Central and Eastern Europe about their unique roles and responsibilities. The question this time around: “What is the one skill, ability, or characteristic that fresh law school graduates in your country most commonly lack?”

A transformation of the legal profession is happening globally, and its effects are also felt, slowly but surely, in the law firms of Southeast Europe. Due to the changing expectations concerning the quality, speed, and commerciality of services, we are seeing a move towards even more client-oriented solutions. Traditional sectors are being replaced with emerging industries, and where we previously had slow processes, with low profit margins, we see value being generated at lightning speeds. Also, a new generation that entered the workforce recently is slowly imposing their own values and approaches, necessitating changes in structure and the values of traditional legal practices.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Conscia Holding on its acquisition of NIL Skupina from 24 private individuals. Jerman & Bajuk advised the sellers.

Karanovic & Partners has advised the Czech Republic's PPF Group on its acquisition of Telenor Banka, the first fully mobile and online bank operating in Serbia, from Norwegian mobile operator Telenor. Schoenherr and Latham & Watkins advised the sellers.

Kinstellar, Shearman & Sterling, and Radonjic Associates have advised Masdar on its acquisition of a 49% share in Krnovo Green Energy from a subsidiary of Akuo Energy. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Karanovic & Partners advised Akuo Energy, while Allen & Overy acted as general counsel for the lenders.

Karanovic & Partners has supported Epic Games in its acquisition of 3Lateral, a developer of digital humans technology and creative content. Osborne Clarke advised 3Lateral on the matter. No other details were released.

The NPL market in Serbia traditionally knows of only two concerns, embodied in the numbers 48 and 204. Although you would assume that numerology had something to do with this assertion, the backstory is actually a lot more appealing.

"Two major things are happening right now which are the focus of our practice: The Tech Industry and Chinese Investors,” says Ivan Nonkovic, Partner and independent attorney at law in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners in Belgrade. "Both things are happening all over the region,” he concedes, ”so not exclusively in Serbia, but they’re definitely significant here too."