In The Debrief, our Practice Leaders across CEE share updates on recent and upcoming legislation, consider the impact of recent court decisions, showcase landmark projects, and keep our readers apprised of the latest developments impacting their respective practice areas.

Did you know that 10 of the 18 law firms in Romania that have reported four or more client matters so far in 2023 are independent law firms, unaffiliated with international or regional law firms? According to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, that group of domestic Romanian law firms is led by Filip & Company and RTPR, both of which have reported working on 12 client matters so far in 2023.

On August 3, 2023, Musat & Asociatii and Firon Bar-Nir both announced that the sale of Adesgo’s seamless apparel business to Tefron Europe (reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 18, 2023) had closed.

Jones Day and Musat & Asociatii have advised the Geely Holding Group and Geely Automobile Holdings on their binding 50/50 joint venture agreement with the Renault Group to launch a new powertrain technology company. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Renault on the JV and the carve-out of its internal combustion and hybrid engines business.

The Romanian legal market seems to indicate a substantial downturn in law firm spin-offs, of late. Musat & Asociatii Managing Partner Paul Buta, Popescu & Asociatii Senior Partner Gheorghe Buta, and Simion & Baciu Managing Partner Cosmina Maria Simion share their thoughts on this trend, the reasons behind it, and the likelihood of it continuing.

Musat & Asociatii has advised Magna International Inc. on its acquisition of Veoneer's active safety business from private equity firm SSW Partners. 

Baker McKenzie and Musat & Asociatii have announced that Sika’s EUR 5.3 billion acquisition of Master Builder Construction Chemicals from Lone Star Funds (reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 23, 2022) had closed.

Musat & Asociatii has advised Adesgo on the sale of its seamless apparel manufacturing, marketing, and distribution business to Tefron Europe.

Recruiting staff in Romania may seem daunting to employers, specifically to those foreign-owned, unfamiliar with Romanian employment legislation. Nevertheless, if certain basic rules are determined and further observed, the recruiting procedure should run smooth and clean from a legal perspective.

Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii has advised Redport Capital on its EUR 3.2 million acquisition of over one hectare of land in the Petrom City area from Havi Logistics. Musat & Asociatii reportedly advised Havi.

After years of anticipation and waiting, 2023 appears to be the year in which crypto-assets, as major applications of blockchain technology in finance, will be finally regulated by the European Union („EU”) legislation, namely, by the Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (“MiCA Regulation”), which is susceptible to affect the rights, obligations and interests of many existing and future generation of businesses and investors across the globe.

2018 saw the introduction of the Romanian movie production cash rebate system and a subsequent uptick in movie productions seeking to develop in Romania. The ambitiously outlined rebate system seemed quite appealing, initially. However, over the past three years, it failed to live up to its original goals.

Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii has advised Speedwell on the EUR 60 million sale of a 75% stake in the Miro office building to Hili Properties. Musat & Asociatii advised the buyer.

A key institution enshrined by the Romanian legal provisions governing public procurement, the ascertaining document is issued by contracting authorities upon the finalization of a public contract and indicates whether contractors failed to fulfill their contractual obligations or have fulfilled them in a defective manner.

Musat & Asociatii has advised the Catted Group on the financing provided by Libra Internet Bank for the development of the Catted Family residential project. 

Musat & Asociatii has advised a syndicate of banks including Jefferies Finance LLC, J. P. Morgan, and Danske Bank A/S on financing for the EUR 650 million acquisition of four B2B distribution companies by FSN Capital. 

Paul Buta has been appointed to Managing Partner, while Alexandru Terta, Iuliana Iacob, and Andrei Ormenean made Partner at Musat & Asociatii.

In a previous article we have analysed the dilemmas resulting from the thematic tax audit campaign aimed at auditing the tax treatment of purchased gift vouchers, in terms of income tax and social security charges. A very sought after extra-salary employee benefit, companies bought and offered gift vouchers amounting to over RON 1 billion (approx. EUR 200 million) in 2018 alone and we can only assume that these figures have only risen since then.