On May 22, 2023, CEE Legal Matters reported that Wolf Theiss, working with Milbank, had advised the initial purchasers and lenders on Salzburg-based Benteler Group’s capital market debut issuance and loans amounting to over EUR 2 billion. CEELM reached out to Wolf Theiss Partner Matthias Schimka to learn more about the matter.

E+H has advised EcoWind on the sale of the Steinberger Alpe wind farm and the Soboth wind turbine to Kelag in an international bidding process.

Taylor Wessing has advised wind energy technology company SkySpecs on the acquisition of i4SEE.

Cerha Hempel has advised OMV on the sale of its Avanti-branded service stations in Germany to PKN Orlen Group's Orlen Deutschland.

Former PwC Legal Attorney at Law Simon Baier has launched the eponymous SHB Law Office Simon Harald Baier.

Rautner Rechtsanwaelte has advised Gugelsolar GesmbH and Erste Bank on their construction and financing of the Sonnenfeld Pellendorf agri-photovoltaic system as an addition to the existing Gugelberg wind farm.

Binder Groesswang, working with Willkie Farr & Gallagher, has advised PAI Partners on its acquisition of NovaTaste – formerly the Savory Solutions Group – from International Flavors & Fragrances. Cerha Hempel, working with Cleary Gottlieb, advised the seller.

Contributed by Act Legal WMWP Rechtsanwalte.

Fieldfisher opened an office in Vienna on June 1 with former SCWP Schindhelm Partners and by integrating Meissner & Passin.

Contributed by Schoenherr.

On January 4, CEE Legal Matters reported that Dorda, working with Loyens & Loeff, had advised Croma-Pharma on entering into a business combination agreement with the European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company. CEE In-House Matters spoke with Andreas Prinz, Managing Director at Croma Pharma, to learn more about the deal.

On July 7, four leading lawyers from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine sat down for a virtual round table moderated by CEE Legal Matters Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea to discuss the increasing prominence of ESG issues and their impact on M&A transactions, due diligence procedures, and the role of the lawyers themselves.

Contributed by Schoenherr.

Contributed by Weber & Co.

Contributed by Graf Patsch Taucher, member of PONTES

The commercial legal markets of Central & Eastern Europe didn’t appear automatically. They didn’t develop in a vacuum. They were formed, shaped, and led, by lawyers – visionary, hard-working, commercially-minded, and client-focused individuals pulling the development of CEE’s legal markets along behind them as they labored relentlessly for their clients, their careers, their futures. 

On the evening of December 8, 2016, at the Hotel Bristol in Warsaw, CEE Legal Matters hosted the 2016 Expert Summit – our annual gathering of experts from across the region to discuss the state of affairs in CEE Legal Markets.