Bojovic Draskovic Popovic & Partners and the other members of the South East Legal Alliance have become official partners of Italy's Grimaldi Alliance.

“It has been busy in the business arena,” says Marko Ketler, Senior Partner and Attorney at Law in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners, citing ongoing consolidation in banking sector with the potential sale of Abanka, the third largest bank in Slovenia, and recent major M&A transactions, including the sale of Intereuropa, the largest Slovenian logistics company, to Posta Slovenije. "We can expect a busy summer with several large M&A deals pending."

Resentment by domestic law firms in CEE markets against the international and regional firms that have moved in on their once exclusive domain is a common, though perhaps diminishing, refrain. How do domestic law firms in Slovenia feel about the foreign firms that have opened up shop next door?

After a few troublesome years during the global financial crisis, it seems like Slovenia is on a positive economic route again. On December 14, 2018, S&P Global Ratings affirmed an “A+/A-1” credit rating for Slovenia with a positive outlook. Slovenian GDP has grown in the last two years between three and four percent annually, with a growth forecast for 2019 of 3.4 percent.

Jones Day and Schoenherr have advised Societe Generale on its sale of subsidiaries SKB Banka d.d. Ljubljana, SKB Leasing d.o.o., and SKB Leasing Select d.o.o. to OTP Bank Group. CMS advised OTP Bank Group on the deal.

The new Trade Secrets Act will enter into force on 20 April, introducing further clarity to Slovenian legislation with a renewed definition of business secrets. The new Act comprehensively regulates business secrets, as it uniformly defines the concept of a business secret – which was, until now, regulated in several sector-specific acts. In the event of potential violations of business secrets, the Act also provides for different protective measures and judicial proceedings.

If you are a company conducting business in the automotive industry with intentions of expanding on the European market, where do you look? The answer may be the Central European country of Slovenia.

Needless to say, business in the European Union is going through some turbulent times. How this is affecting the CEE region and how business in the region will adapt to this never-ending uncertainty is the million-dollar question that everyone is asking at the beginning of 2019.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Conscia Holding on its acquisition of NIL Skupina from 24 private individuals. Jerman & Bajuk advised the sellers.

Baker McKenzie, ODI Law, Simkins, Covington & Burling, and Van Bael & Bellis have advised MHP SE on the acquisition of 90.68% of the issued capital of Perutnina Ptuj, d.d. Schoenherr Vienna advised the sellers on the deal and CMS London advised ING, MHP’s financial partner.

As in almost all other jurisdictions, in Slovenia there are no cryptocurrency-specific tax laws. In order to shed light on the tax treatment of the cryptocurrency in Slovenia, in June 2018 the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS) issued the extended and updated Guidelines on Tax Treatment of Cryptocurrencies in Slovenia (the “Guidelines”).

Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati and Law Office Leskovec have advised CA Immo on the sale of the Austria Trend Hotel in Ljubljana to a joint-venture of Slovenian asset manager KD Skladi and German real estate investment manager Peakside Capital. Selih & Partners advised the joint venture on the acquisition.

ODI Law has advised Austrian multinational Knapp AG on its acquisition of a majority stake in Slovenian logistical software solution company Epilog.

9 April 2019, Joint UNCITRAL-LAC Conference on Dispute Settlement, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Dimiceva 13, Ljubljana, Slovenia

The recent buzz in Slovenia was all about the eagerly-awaited decision of the country’s Supreme Court regarding Swiss franc loans, says Miro Senica and attorneys Partner Katarina Kresal. That decision – which has since been followed by a few more – was finally issued at the end of 2018.

Law firm Miro Senica and Attorneys has advised household appliance manufacturer Gorenje d.d., on its December 20, 2018 sale of Gorenje Surovina d.o.o., a waste management services provider in Slovenia, to Eko Surovina d.o.o., a member of the Rastoder Group. Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners advised the buyers on the deal.

Selih & Partners has advised the KJK Fund on its acquisition of Slovenian sporting goods manufacturer Elan from MLI (part of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch group) and Wiltan (part of VR Capital group) as sellers of Elan. Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners advised the sellers.

Tine Misic has joined ODI Law's equity partnership. Misic will lead the firm's Corporate Advisory practice group and co-manage the firm’s business development processes.