The Prague office of CMS has advised Icelandic asset manager Kaupthing on its sale of a land plot near the D5 highway near Pilsen to German retail chain Lidl. Schoenherr advised Lidl on the deal.

Schoenherr and Kambourov & Partners have advised the United Group on the acquisition of Sofia's Net1 telecom operator. Schoenherr also advised the United Group on the acquisition of Digital Cable Television, a telecommunications operator in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, operating under the brand name N3. Dimitrov & Partners advised the sellers of N3 on that deal.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on employment in a number of sectors. At some point, an employer may decide to dismiss some or all its employees.

Schoenherr has advised joint lead managers DekaBank, DZ Bank, Erste Group, Raiffeisen Bank International, and UniCredit on the successful issue of covered notes by Raiffeisenlandesbank Vorarlberg Waren-und Revisionsverband registrierte Genossenschaft mit beschrankter Haftung. Wolf Theiss advised Raiffeisenlandesbank Vorarlberg on the issue.

Rymarz Zdort has advised Allegro Group, an e-commerce platform in Central and Eastern Europe, on its lease of a 36,500 square meter space in the A2 Warsaw Park from Panattoni. Schoenherr reportedly advised Panattoni on the deal.

On 1 March 2021 a new Act on Labour Inspection, Employment Services and Grants will enter into force in Hungary, which replaces the "old" Act on Labour Inspection from 1996. While the new Act contains similar rules, there are some novelties too. Below we summarise the most important ones.

Schoenherr has advised Germany's Osram GmbH on the sale of its Bulgarian business to the Sanmina Corporation. Hogan Lovells and Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov advised Sanmina Corporation on the deal.

Schoenherr has advised Elevator Ventures, the corporate venture capital entity of Raiffeisen Bank International, on leading a seed round investment in Romanian fintech start-up Finqware.

Looking back at 2020, one can draw some conclusions and identify some trends in the Polish transactional market likely to stay with us in 2021.

Schoenherr has advised Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisenbank a.s. on the acquisition of Akcenta CZ a.s., a CEE/SEE provider of FX and payment services to European SMEs and high net worth individuals, from Akcenta Group SE and Milan Lacina. Tarpan Legal advised the sellers on the transaction, which remains contingent on regulatory approval.

On 1 February 2021, the Slovak Ministry of Economy submitted an investment screening proposal to the government. This proposal was approved by the National Council (with amendments) on 5 February 2021 and is scheduled to enter in force on 1 March 2021.

Schoenherr has advised Linz-based start-up Storyblok on its EUR 7 million Series A financing round. Mubadala Capital, the state investment company of the United Arab Emirates, participated in the current financing round, as did existing investors 3VC and Firstminute Capital, Binder Groesswang advised Mubadala Capital on the deal.

Schoenherr has advised Agricover on the issuance of EUR 40 million in corporate bonds and on their admission to trading on the regulated market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The Commercial Bank of Romania and BRD Groupe Societe Generale acted as sole coordinators of the issuance.

BCGL has helped Warsaw-based private equity investment fund Omikron Capital obtain a loan from PKO Bank Polski and subsequently acquire 100% of the shares in Dagat-ECO. Schoenherr advised the seller and Gessel advised the bank on the deal.

DGKV provided local advice to California's Sanmina Corporation on its acquisition of Osram EOOD, a Bulgarian lights and lighting devices manufacturer owned by Germany's Osram GmbH. Hogan Lovells was lead counsel to Sanmina on the deal. Schoenherr advised Osram GmbH on the deal.

Clifford Chance, working with Latham & Watkins, has advised the steering committee of the credit financiers, including Commerzbank AG, DZ Bank AG, Erste Group Bank AG, Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, and Norddeutsche Landesbank, on the restructuring of the Benteler Group. Ashurst and Schoenherr advised Benteler on the deal.

When it comes to clearing a path in a forest to construct and operate an overhead electrical power line, electricity grid operators face various legal issues.

2020 was a busy year for the legislator in relation to the Turkish Capital Markets. An amendment made in the Turkish Capital Markets Law (CML) at the beginning of 2020 introduced several elements, including a Security Agent, into Turkish law. And then the pandemic hit, making the trust factor in regard to assets even more crucial than it was before. In times of uncertainty, the Security Agent may be invited to play a greater role.