Schoenherr has advised Herba Chemosan Apotheker and its management board on the management buy-out of the company. Herbst Kinsky, working with Linklaters, advised previous majority shareholder McKesson Corporation on the sale of its Austrian business to Quadrifolia Management through the MBO. SCWP Schindhelm has advised private equity company Invest AG on participating in the acquisition. Wolf Theiss advised the financing banks led by Raiffeisen Banking Group Upper Austria.

Schoenherr has advised Queisser Pharma Bulgaria on the acquisition of its new office space in Sofia from real estate developer Tremont. 

On 11 November 2021, the Moldovan Parliament passed a series of legal amendments ("Law 175/2021"), including to the existing Law on Personal Data Protection. Law 175/2021 entered into force on 10 January 2022 and partially transposes the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR").

The crowdfunding regulation of the European Union (Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 on European crowdfunding service providers for business, "ECSPR") entered into force on 10 November 2021, which was a long-awaited legal development both within the European Union and on the Hungarian market. Even the Hungarian National Bank suggested in its Fintech Strategy that a regulatory framework for crowdfunding would be essential to assist financing of SMEs and therefore, enhancing competitiveness on the Hungarian market. Prior to the ECSPR, there was no uniform crowdfunding regulation within the European Union and Hungary did not have a regulatory framework for crowdfunding; thus, the Hungarian National Bank had to assess such activity pursuant to the already existing rules. The ECSPR established a directly applicable and uniform regulatory framework aiming to facilitate cross-border provision of services. We summarize below the latest legal developments in connection with the ECSPR.

The MNB has launched its Green Program early 2019 to mitigate the risks associated with climate change and other environmental problems, to expand green financial services in Hungary, to widen the related knowledge base in Hungary and abroad, and to reduce financial market participants’ and its own ecological footprint. The Green Program relating to green financial services consists of several initiatives from analyzing the current situation of green financing to incentivizing the financial market participants to operate greener and engaging in green financial services (mainly loans and bonds).

Schoenherr has advised RGreen Invest on a EUR 15 million bond agreement with a Renalfa group subsidiary, for the financing of the construction of a photovoltaic plant near the town of Razlog in southwestern Bulgaria, as well as on a standard security package for it.

Schoenherr, working with Latham & Watkins, has advised Chaos on its merger with Enscape. PwC Legal reportedly advised Enscape in Germany.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has seriously disrupted supply chains and turned the global economy on its head. For many products the supply cannot meet increasing demand, while in other cases legal obstacles cause distribution problems. The average consumer is faced with one simple fact: the prices of certain products are increasing at an alarming rate.

The Hungarian National Bank ("MNB") issued a guideline this January to assist market participants in the issuances of green bonds. This guideline is one of the measures that the MNB introduced under its Green Programme, which it launched in early 2019 to mitigate the risks associated with climate change and other environmental problems, to expand green financial services in Hungary, to widen the related knowledge base in Hungary and abroad, and to reduce financial market participants' and its own ecological footprint. The Green Programme relating to green financial services consists of several initiatives, whose range continues to expand both in the banking sector and in capital markets with the sole aim of promoting green finance.

Schoenherr has advised Solus Advanced Materials' subsidiary Volta Energy Solutions Hungary on a USD 28 million loan from the EBRD for the construction of a copper foil factory. Dentons advised the EBRD.

The initiative of the European Commission aims to support innovation and fair competition by creating a framework for the issuance and provision of services related to crypto-assets. The Commission believes that where crypto-assets are not covered by the financial regulation of the European Union, the absence of applicable rules to services related to such assets leaves consumers and investors exposed to substantial risks. It aims to ensure a high level of consumer and investor protection as well as market integrity in the crypto-asset markets, and to address financial stability and monetary policy risks that could arise from the wide use of crypto-assets in financial markets.

Schoenherr has advised Fressnapf Hungary on its agreement to lease 1,700 square meters of office space in the Millennium Gardens building from TriGranit. Orban & Perlaki reportedly advised TriGranit.

Romanian taxpayers had an exciting start to the year with the Government introducing changes to the country's main tax laws – the Fiscal Code and the Tax Procedural Code. These amendments, which follow others announced at the end of last year, were introduced in accelerated fashion, having been debated for only a few days prior to adoption.

Through its 11 November 2021 law ("Law 175/2021"), the Moldovan Parliament passed certain amendments to existing legislation with the goal of digitalising the national economy. As a result, the norms implemented have made it simpler to establish, operate and sell companies in Moldova.

Schoenherr has advised Easelink on its EUR 8.3 million Series A financing round. Taylor Wessing advised SET Ventures on leading the round. KPMG Law advised co-investor EnBW New Ventures. Grama Schwaighofer Vondrak reportedly advised co-investor Smartworks.

A long-awaited bill on preventive restructuring (Bill), implementing the directive on preventive restructuring frameworks, will introduce a brand-new legal tool preventing the insolvency of viable enterprises in temporary financial difficulties.

At the end of each year, business development and marketing specialists across the globe are busy identifying strategies and components to plan an annual marketing budget. Accordingly, this time around, given the season, we asked Law Firm Marketing experts across the CEE region a question: Which metrics do you look at when planning your marketing budget?

CMS has advised Privredna Banka Zagreb on refinancing and acquisition financing for the Danilo and Rudine wind farms. Kovacevic Prpic Simeunovic has advised buyer Professio Energia on the acquisition, financing, and refinancing the existing loans from the IFC and Unicredit Bank Austria. Schoenherr advised the sellers, Mirova and RP Global. Ostermann & Partners and White & Case advised the IFC and Unicredit.