Kocian Solc Balastik has advised real estate investment fund Nemomax on its first EU growth prospectus.

It was another strong year for the leading law firms in Central and Eastern Europe, which, combined, worked on over a thousand deals and other client matters across the region reported on by CEE Legal Matters this year. According to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, Clifford Chance, which worked on an impressive 95 CEELM-reported CEE client matters in 2023, led the international firms in the region, with Schoenherr, which worked on 90, close behind. Dentons (82), CMS (71), Wolf Theiss (65), Cobalt (66), Kinstellar (50), White & Case (45), and Allen & Overy (42) took notable places on the leaderboard as well.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised on the establishment of two endowment funds in the Czech Republic: Eva Pavlova’s Endowment Fund and Vaclav Cigler’s Endowment Fund.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised J&T Arch Investments on its investment in the BHP Hotels fund, which acquired a 45% stake in The Westminster London, Curio Collection by Hilton hotel.

KSB has advised J&T Banka on the refinancing of the Fidurock Group, with the value of the financing obtained potentially reaching up to CZK 1 billion.

KSB has advised the Seyfor Group on its acquisition of the KS-Program software company.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Jet Investment on its acquisition of building insulation producer Likov via the Jet 3 Qualified Investor Fund.

With ESG having been a buzzword in the Czech real estate market for a few years now, Clifford Chance Partner Emil Holub, Kocian Solc Balastik Partner Jiri Hornik, VIDD Partner Ondrej Hampl, Taylor Wessing Counsel Radka Nenickova, and Act Legal Czech Republic Partner Tomas Slaby look at how ESG principles are being applied in practice and in what areas there is still room for improvement.

The impact and perception of ESG considerations in the CEE region, and specifically in the Czech Republic, is still in the early stages of its evolutionary path, compared to, say, the U.K., the U.S., or larger Western European economies. There is certain skepticism and uncertainty as to what this new trendy acronym means and if, at the end of the day, it will really impact a Czech industrial family business, a hotel, or a high-tech start-up. ESG considerations, policies, and metrics are likely to be more familiar (and implemented to a certain degree) to a large Czech company – moreover, when it’s a part of an international corporate group – rather than a smaller Czech enterprise, but of course, there are exceptions to the rule.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised web hosting company Webglobe on the acquisition of its eBola Czech competitor operating under the eBola.cz brand name.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised founders Ivana Stefkova, Barbora Dvorakova, and Marketa Trubacova on the establishment and incorporation of the Tisina Endowment Fund.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised REMA System in obtaining an authorization from the Ministry of the Environment to operate a collection system for all groups of electrical equipment, including solar panels.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised the Prazska Plynarenska group on its intra-group restructuring and the creation of a new holding structure.

Did You Know that a total of 20 Partners worked on five or more reported CEE client matters in the first half of 2023? According to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, that group of 14 is led by Alper Onar of the Aksan Law Firm in Istanbul, who worked on 12 client matters, and Milos Felgr of Clifford Chance in Prague and Bratislava, who worked on nine reported client matters in the first half of this year.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised the Vaclav Havel Library on changing its legal form from a public benefit corporation to a foundation.

Contributed by Kocian Solc Balastik

Contributed by Kocian Solc Balastik.

Contributed by Kocian Solc Balastik.