Under Austrian law, incorrect land register entries may trigger public liability. But the Austrian Supreme Court recently held that such incorrect entries only create public liability claims for of a certain group of people, thereby potentially increasing the risk management costs of mortgage-backed loans.

Schoenherr, working with lead counsel Kirkland & Ellis, has advised Apax Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in the ADCO Group. The ADCO Group’s shareholders were advised by King Wood & Mallesons on the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the year.

How do law firms in Austria promote themselves to current and prospective employees? A series of conversations with several leading firms revealed more than expected.

At the end of April, 2019, Sopharma Trading announced the creation of “SOinventure” – a corporate acceleration program in the field of health-tech, organized in partnership with Bulgarian investment fund Eleven Ventures. We decided to ask Mr. Ivaylo Simov, Partner at Eleven Ventures, and Mr. Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Sopharma Trading, three questions about the development of the alliance between healthcare and new technology, and we added our experience-based opinion to their answers.

Dorda has advised European hotel developer UBM Development and real estate developer S IMMO AG on the sale of the QBC 1&2 office properties in Vienna to EPH Eastern Property Holding. Schoenherr advised EPH on the deal, which was valued at approximately EUR 233 million.

DLA Piper has advised a consortium of South Korean investors working with asset manager Mastern Investment Management on the EUR 375 acquisition, made as part of a joint venture with Munich-based asset manager Wealthcore Invester Management, of the Hilton Parkview Vienna. The sellers — two Austrian family firms — were represented by Invester United Benefits and advised by Schoenherr.

Schoenherr has advised the Tscherne family — the owners of Hotel Weismayr in Bad Gastein, Austria — on their entrance into a 20-year lease with the Selina hospitality group. DLA Piper advised Selina on the deal.

By outsourcing production of major parts of car components, carmakers have also outsourced a substantial amount of their financing needs and associated risks to their suppliers. Still, despite rather slim margins, the prospect of a fairly stable cash flow over a number of years has made the automotive supplier business viable in the past. However, this viability is becoming questionable. This is visible in the number of struggling or even insolvent suppliers, the German group Eisenmann being a very recent example.

Former Schoenherr Partner Florian Kusznier will be joining the Corporate/M&A team of Wolf Theiss at the beginning of September 2019.

On 27 June 2019 the Commission on the Protection of Competition (CPC) issued a decision in which it penalised funeral agency Elida MG EOOD (formerly Pokoy-1945 EOOD) for failing to comply with an earlier CPC decision. Such cases in which an undertaking fails to comply with a CPC decision and is therefore fined again are extremely rare due to the substantial pecuniary penalties which may be imposed on violators.

Schoenherr has advised the shareholders of the Synergis Informationssysteme GmbH on the sale of SynerGIS GIS & FM Solutions — its geographic information systems and facility management software development business — to AED-SICAD. The buyers were advised by White & Case and Eisenberger & Herzog.

What do human rights have to do with financial institutions? At first glance, one may think nothing. Originally, the protection of human rights was considered as the duty of governments only. However, it is becoming clear that those universal rights may be violated, but also protected by private sector actors. Recently, multiple international initiatives have started to develop regulations regarding human rights in the private sector, including the financial sector.

Schoenherr has advised France's Thales Group on its July 24, 2019 acquisition of insolvent motor manufacturer Steyr Motors GmbH. Grassner Lenz Thewanger & Partner reportedly advised the unnamed seller on the deal, which remains subject to the approval of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority.

Schoenherr, working with lead counsel Herbert Smith Freehills, has advised BNP Paribas on a EUR 345 million term and revolving facilities agreement for Financiere SNOP Dunois S.A. in relation to its acquisition of manufacturing facilities from Tower International. Sullivan & Cromwell was lead counsel to the borrower; and Barthelemy & Partners provided Czech counsel.

Bulgarian legislation on the legal cultivation of cannabis could make for interesting reading. Some readers might feel that the regulations and definitions are “the most hilarious things ever.” This ar-ticle aims to show why.

Natural or legal persons directly or indirectly acquiring shares granting more than 33% of the vot-ing rights in a Romanian listed company are required to make a bid as a means of protecting the company’s minority shareholders. Under the European legal framework, the offeror must address that bid to all minority shareholders, offering to purchase all their holdings at an equitable price.

Wolf Theiss worked with lead counsel Clifford Chance in advising the Blackstone Group on its EUR 1.64 billion acquisition of CRH's European distribution business. Slaughter and May advised CRH on the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approval.

The Constitutional Tribunal recently analysed regulations regarding dawn raids carried out by the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (OCCP) and ruled that the respective law is not in line with the Constitution insofar as it excludes the possibility to challenge rulings allowing searches to be conducted.