In 2023, Croatia’s M&A market faced unexpected challenges on several fronts. Lovric, Novokmet & Partners Partner Mate Lovric and Divjak, Topic, Bahtijarevic & Krka Senior Partner Damir Topic discuss the market’s slowdown in the year behind us.

Infobip General Counsel Tomislav Pifar first joined the company in 2011 and has been a witness to the company’s remarkable growth over the past 12 years. In reflecting on his journey, he explores the evolution of in-house legal work and international exposure, placing a particular emphasis on the transformative impact of AI on daily operations.

An in-depth look at Iva Miskovic of Miskovic & Miskovic covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

In Croatia, the legal landscape governing insolvency and restructuring is meticulously outlined in the Insolvency Act (Official Gazette no. 71/15, 104/17,36/22) providing a comprehensive framework for the initiation and execution of pre-insolvency and insolvency proceedings, outlining the ensuing legal consequences, and delineating the respective rights and obligations of debtors and creditors. With the recent amendment to the Insolvency Act introduced in 2022, solutions from the European Union have been adopted to encourage early restructuring of sustainable businesses, maintaining the continuity of company operations, and preventing insolvency. With these new changes, emphasis is being placed on insolvency prevention while also providing a strong framework for the protection of the creditors.

Deloitte Legal has advised Slovenia's Iskra on its acquisition of Croatian engineering company Elmap and Elmap Projekt from the Bozikovic family.

Did you know that the early 2024 deal leaderboards are already available via the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website?

Against the backdrop of a turbulent legal landscape, Krehic Law Office Managing Partner Tarja Krehic underscores the recently ended strikes by commercial court judges and the subsequent impact on court proceedings and business registrations as the hot topics on the docket for Croatia, with women's participation in executive roles as the next big issue.

Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka has advised borrower Zadar Resort and sponsor Dogus Croatia on a EUR 31.2 million loan with Privredna Banka Zagreb and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development as the mandated lead arrangers. Mamic Peric Reberski Rimac advised Privredna Banka Zagreb and the CBRD.

Harrisons, Maric & Co, Lambadarios, and Wolf Theiss, working with Linklaters, have advised a banking consortium led by UniCredit Bank London on the United Group's EUR 1.7 billion issuance of four tranches of senior secured and PIK notes as well as on the increase and extension of its EUR 410 million revolving credit facility. Selih & Partnerji, working with Paul Weiss, advised the United Group. Schoenherr, Koutalidis, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, and Elvinger Hoss Prussen reportedly advised the United Group as well.

One of the most important questions within every M&A deal is whether the transaction at hand is subject to merger clearance. The answer to said question might impact the timeline and (potentially) the successful completion of the deal itself. Up until Towercast cases (C-449/21), the analysis was straightforward by applying the clear turnover-based rules defining the applicability of the Regulation No 139/2004 (“Merger Regulation”).

Croatian law firm Ostermann & Partners has changed its name to Ostermann Ivancic with "the addition of partner Vjekoslav Ivancic to the company name [as] a dedication to his outstanding career and contribution he has made to the firm's growth."

Nlaw Partner Martin Hren has become the new Managing Partner of the firm's Croatian office. At the same time, Nlaw announced the opening of its US office with Of Counsel Katya Mezek at the helm.

Vukmir & Associates has advised ZB Invest on taking over the management and the merger of the UCITS funds from Allianz Invest.

Batarelo Dvojkovic Vuchetich has advised the majority shareholder of Merit Media Int. on its shareholding consolidation.

Drakopoulos has become a part of the South East Legal Alliance, thus expanding the network’s reach to Athens, Bucharest, and Nicosia.

Changes to the Croatian Labor Act, governing work for digital platforms, took effect on January 1, 2024. Croatia opted to regulate platform work before the formal adoption of the EU Platform Work Directive. What are the main novelties?

Savoric & Partners has advised TP Varazdin on the sale of 97 retail and wholesale stores, operating as Kitro, to Narodni Trgovacki Lanac. Praljak & Svic advised NTL.

According to the government, the act is designed to tackle certain perceived downsides of excessive tourism, such as the lack of affordable long-term accommodation for the housing needs of the local population, a negative impact on the environment (especially the sea, sea coast, and islands), as well as a negative impact on cultural heritage sites.