Drahomir Tomasuk has been made Partner at Kocian Solc Balastik in the Czech Republic.

Kocian Solc Balastik has successfully represented Asiana in a dispute with transportation company Student Agency before the Regional Court in Brno.

Recently-introduced reforms to the Czech Code of Civil Procedure, the country’s new Act on Insurance Distribution, and the Istanbul Convention on Domestic Violence are among the topics Czech lawyers are most commonly discussing at the moment, according to Kocian Solc Balastik Partner Sylvie Sobolova.

Former Kocian Solc Balastik Partner Christian Blatchford has accepted an offer to become the first General Counsel of KSB client Energo-Pro a.s.

Clifford Chance has advised Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka, a. s., as mandated lead arranger, facility agent, security agent, and underwriter on the initial finance documentation and in relation to subsequent syndication and transactional closing with Ceska Sporitelna, a.s. and the EBRD on  financing provided to Karlovarske Mineralni Vody's for its acquisition of PepsiCo's assets and operations in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. Kocian Solc Balastik advised KMV on the financing and on the underlying acquisition, and represented KMV in proceedings before the Czech Competition Authority.

Representatives of more than sixty law firms from across Central and Eastern Europe and from as far away as the United States, United Kingdom, and China came together in Prague on June 6, 2018, for the first ever Dealer’s Choice international law firm conference and CEE Deal of the Year Awards Banquet.

After a valuable and information-rich day of panel discussions on important business development and law firm management topics, participants reconvened that evening (and were joined by several dozen newcomers) at the first ever CEE Legal Matters Annual Banquet and Deal of the Year Awards Ceremony – a celebration of CEE’s legal markets and the lawyers who work within them. Awards were presented for 17 qualifying markets in CEE – plus a surprise award for overall CEE Deal of the Year – with many of the lawyers playing key roles in nominated deals joining the celebration.

Start-Ups represent a unique subset of clients for major law firms, as they are often unable to pay the fees those firms generally require, but – particularly in the tech sector – hold out the potential of significant profitability down the road. Intrigued by the unique challenges and opportunities for law firms offering their services to these cash-poor but potential-high clients, we invited partners from four prominent law firms in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to share their strategies and experiences with Start-ups with us in the offices of Kocian Solc Balastik in Prague. KSB Partner Christian Blatchford moderated the conversation. 

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Continuum Search Fund on its acquisition of exhibition stand manufacturers Best Expo and IRE — the first acquisition by a search fund in the Czech Republic. The sellers — entrepreneurs Hellen Berends and Petr Kotvas — were advised by Havel & Partners.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Skoda Auto DigiLab on its Care-Driver Project: a German service based on combining transportation and home care services for children, seniors, and disabled citizens.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation is, according to the EU-hosted GDPR website, “the most important change in data privacy regulation in the past 20 years.” The Act, which was approved by the EU Parliament on April 14, 2016 and will become fully effective on May 25, 2018, was designed “to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens’ data privacy, and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy.”

It’s been quite a wait, but the D4 Motorway PPP project should be coming to market in April. The project will involve the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a 36 km stretch of motorway between Pribram and Pisek in the south west of the Czech Republic, with operation and maintenance of an adjacent 16 km of existing motorway.

Kocian Solc Balastik, Linklaters, BLC Law Office, Paksoy, and Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski have acted as legal counsels to Energo-Pro a.s. in its EUR 250 million Eurobond issue in London, advising on Czech, English, Georgian, Turkish, and Bulgarian law, respectively. The Joint bookrunners and the trustee were advised by Allen & Overy's London and Prague offices, Tbilisi-based BGI Legal, Boyanov & Co. in Sofia, and Istanbul-based Gedik & Eraksoy.

Supporting the generation of electricity and heat from renewable energy sources has a long-standing tradition in the Czech Republic.

A consortium of Kocian Solc Balastik, PwC Legal Germany, PwC Legal Czech Republic, and Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek has won a tender to advise the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency on public procurement law, competition law, and contract management issues.

KSB has advised Karlovarske Mineralni Vody on its purchase of PepsiCo’s Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian operations. The transaction remains subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.

KSB has advised Skoda Auto DigiLab on its HoppyGo project, a car-sharing application developed by CreativeDock, which brings car owners together with drivers who want to rent a vehicle. The seller was advised by Novalia.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Czech game development studio Warhorse on the initial crowdfunding for the launch of its "Kingdom Come: Deliverance" video game and on legal aspects of the game’s development, including licensing arrangements with external software developers.