CEE Legal Matters
In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets
It may perhaps be symbolic that I pen this rather reflective article for CEE Legal Matters now, considering that August 2016 marks twenty years to the month since I first stepped off the plane at Otopeni Airport in Bucharest, Romania, to serve as a liaison for the American Bar Association’s Central and Eastern European Legal Initiative (CEELI), having taken a one-year leave of absence from my litigation practice in Los Angeles.
According to Ron Given, Partner at Wolf Theiss, “the Polish market is doing better than most of the world where M&A is down.”
PeliFilip has assisted Cable Communications Systems N.V. and RCS & RDS S.A. in relation to the refinancing of their existing loans.
Dentons has advised P3 Logistic Parks on Polish and Romanian aspects of a EUR 1.4 billion pan-European refinancing of its logistics portfolio, with White & Case advising P3 on Czech and Slovakian aspects and Freshfields advising P3 on separate facilities for Western Europe (including Poland). Financing in Poland and Western Europe was provided by Morgan Stanley with Pbb as agent (advised by Allen & Overy), in Romania by Raiffeisen Bank International (advised by CMS), and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by CSOB, CSOB Slovakia, Komercni Banka, UniCredit Bank, and Ceska Sporitelna (all advised by Clifford Chance).
Stratulat Albulescu, working with Mishcon de Reya, has advised Teads on the acquisition of Brainient, a UK-based ad-tech company. The acquisition closed on September 15, 2016.
Wolf Theiss has confirmed that it advised Smartown Investments on its EUR 30.3 million acquisition of the Swan Office & Technology Park in Bucharest from Casa de Insolventa Transilvania (CITR), the bankruptcy administrator for Swan Property.
White & Case (working with Bondoc si Asociatii in Bucharest) and CMS have advised US-listed The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. and Romania-based Astra Rail Management GmbH, respectively, on a joint venture entered into by the two.
Stratulat Albulescu has announced the arrival of three new Partners: Leontin Trifa, Otilia Petrescu, and Ioana Bratu.
Assignment agreement is a legal instrument often used by parties (assignor and assignee) for a voluntary transfer of trademark ownership. National legislation provides the mandatory requirements for trademark assignment agreements (“TA Agreements”).
Milan Lomic is the General Counsel Adria & Balkan at L’Oreal, a company that he joined in October 2012. Prior to that he worked for Metro Cash & Carry as a Legal Advisor and Antitrust Officer. He has also worked as a Legal Advisor at Unicredit Bank Serbia and as an Assistant to the Judge at the Fifth Municipal Court in Belgrade.
Schoenherr is reporting that, on September 30, 2016, Michael Lagler was elected as the new Managing Partner at the firm, where he will take over from Christoph Lindinger, who has led the Central and Eastern European law firm for the past 16 years. Lagler's term will begin at the start of the firm’s next fiscal year, on February 1, 2017.
Case: Tobias McFadden vs Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH
Biris Goran has announced that it advised Dacris, a stationery and office supplies provider on the Romanian market, in its acquisition of Echo Plus, an office supplies company specialized in telesales.
Biris Goran has announced that it has advised Romanian property manager Adval Asset Management on the successful restructuring and refinancing of the Cascade Office building in Bucharest.
RTPR Allen & Overy has advised private equity fund Catalyst Romania on its investment in the SmartDreamers S.R.L. online recruitment platform. Eversheds Lina & Guia advised SmartDreamers on the investment, which targets the development of its business and its international expansion.
Kinstellar has provided local law advice in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, and Ukraine to Arkema SA on its acquisition of the Dutch sealant-and-adhesives maker Den Braven from Egeria, a Benelux buyout house. The deal, which was valued at EUR 485 million, was managed by Loyens & Loeff.
The Bucharest office of Schoenherr is reporting that it is assisting the BraasMonier group in acquiring the Elpreco concrete tile plant in the southern Romanian city of Craiova from the CRH group. D&B David and Baias advised the sellers on the transaction, which is valued at RON 33 million (approximately EUR 8 million).
The overriding theme at the moment in Romania, according to Alina Popescu, the Co-Managing Partner of Maravela & Asociatii, is the fall-out from the government’s successful and ongoing efforts to combat Romania’s reputation for corruption.
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