On 16 January 2024, the Law No. 17/2024 amending and supplementing Law No. 237/2015 on the authorisation and supervision of insurance and reinsurance activities, as well as amending and supplementing certain regulatory acts was published in Official Gazette Of Romania No. 36., aiming to strengthen the protection of both policyholders and beneficiaries by ensuring the stability of the insurance market and a greater degree of predictability in the development of each individual company and the insurance market as a whole.

Dentons has advised Syntaxis Capital on its exit from the XP oil and gas company. Leroy si Asociatii reportedly advised XP.

Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii has successfully represented Azomures before Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice in a dispute hinging on intra-group tax relations.

Radu Taracila Padurari Retevoescu has advised Arobs Transilvania Software on the acquisition of Infobest Romania from founders Yvonne Abstoss-Becker and Christian Becker. Filip & Company, working with PPR & Partner Pape Rauh, advised the sellers.

Clifford Chance has advised the arranging banks – Citi, Erste, HSBC, JP Morgan, and Societe Generale – on Romania's first issuance of green bonds, to the tune of EUR 2 billion, and simultaneous EUR 2 billion issuance of conventional bonds. Filip & Company, working with Linklaters, advised Romania's Ministry of Finance.

The Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (“ANRE”) has announced important amendments to the rules for connecting new power-generation capacities to the public network.

A new piece of the complex puzzle of public private partnerships in Romania came recently into the form of a new law, namely Law no. 7/2024 for the approval of Government Emergency Ordinance no.39/2018 on PPP (“Law 7/2024”), which brings significant amendments to the PPP regime. Also, in order to further support the recourse to the PPP tool, the Public Investment Management Unit within the Ministry of Finance commissioned a technical assistance project with DG Reform following which a comprehensive package of guides were published on 9 February 2024 on the website of the Ministry of Finance, with the aim to facilitate the understanding by the public sector of this tool, in order to increase its use in practice.

Teodorescu Partners has advised Autonom Protect on its acquisition of a majority stake in Romania's Nova Ria24 from Nicoleta Zamfir. Zamfirescu Racoti Vasile & Partners advised the seller.

Former Eversheds Sutherland Partner Carolina Baloleanu has joined Nyerges & Partners in Bucharest as a Counsel to advise on banking/finance and M&A matters.

DLA Piper and Rizoiu & Poenaru have advised Affidea Romania on its acquisition of the local network of three Explora clinics in Suceava.

CMS has advised the OTP Group on the binding agreement to sell its stake in OTP Bank Romania and all subsidiaries to Banca Transilvania for a combined purchase price is EUR 347.5 million. Filip & Company advised Banca Transilvania on the acquisition.

For us, 2023 was a stable year, with constant and varied activity in the real estate field, despite the less favorable context, characterized by high inflation, geopolitical instability and the impact on the economy. Our team has successfully completed several transactions, “pure” real-estate and especially transactions with a predominant M&A component. We were happy to notice a series of projects with 100% Romanian capital, initiated in 2023 and completed in the same year, targeting especially companies that have expanded and diversified their portfolio.

Schoenherr has advised Enery on its ten-year virtual cross-border power purchase agreement with Asahi Europe & International's Dreher Breweries in Hungary.

DLA Piper has advised Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines on the sale of charter operator Animawings to Christian Tour Holding.

In the context of mergers & acquisitions (M&A), Intellectual Property (IP) plays an extremely important role in assessing the value and risks associated with the target company.

Stratulat Albulescu has advised Tobii on the acquisition of the AutoSense and Imaging businesses from Xperi.

PeliPartners has advised the Adventum Group on the lease extension agreement with Genpact Romania for business premises in the Hermes Business Campus, in northern Bucharest.

Schoenherr has advised the TeraPlast Group on its acquisition of the Wolfgang Freiler Group from Austria's Uhl family.