CMS' Malgorzata Surdek-Janicka has been appointed as Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Aside from Surdek-Janicka, 33 lawyers from CEE were appointed as members and alternate members of the court.

Havel & Partners and Sorainen have advised PriceHubble on its acquisition of Realtify. Sparring advised Realtify on the transaction.

Dentons has advised Draslovka on the acquisition of the sodium cyanide business from South African petrochemicals company Sasol. Bowmans advised Sasol on the deal.

JSK has advised Cresco&Finance a.s. on the sale of Krnovska Skrobarna spol. s r.o. and Krnovsky Lihovar spol. s r.o. to Reticulum Holding. Solo practitioner Marek Prchlik reportedly advised the buyer.

BPV Braun Partners has advised Mint Rezidencni Fond Sicav on the acquisition of the first stage of the Vysocansky Mlyn project in Prague from Metrostav Development. BNT Attorneys-at-Law advised Metrostav Development on the deal.

Havel & Partners has advised Masonite Czech Republic managers Pavel Satny, Lubomir Brousek, and David Krubner on their acquisition of 100% of shares in the Czech entity from Masonite International. Dentons advised the seller. 

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Devereal on the sale of the Profimedia.CZ group to the Czech Press Office. KPMG Legal reportedly advised the Czech Press Office on the deal.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Webglobe on the acquisition of domain registration and hosting service provider Savana.cz from founder Pavel Hofner.

Allen & Overy has advised CEE betting and gaming operator Fortuna Entertainment Group N.V. and its subsidiaries, on an up to EUR 551 million refinancing for the group. RTPR, Ilej & Partners, in cooperation with Karanovic & Nikolic, Athos Demetriou Associates, and Carey Olsen advised the group in Romania, Croatia, Cyprus, and Jersey, respectively.

CMS has advised Partech, Quadrille, J&T, and EBRD on investing in the Czech online grocery company Rohlik Group. The EUR 100 million Series C, at a valuation of USD 1 billion, was led by Index Ventures and included Ener. Pierstone advised Index on the deal, with Pelikan Krofta Kohoutek advising Ener and White & Case advising the Rohlik Group. 

On the 10th of June 2020, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic passed a judgment in case Ref. No. 31 ICdo 36/2020, which dealt with the validity of a contract concluded between the sole proprietor of a company and the same company represented by its sole proprietor. In this case, the Supreme Court deviated from its past decisions on the issue of interpretation of the notion of manifest disruption of public order. Whereas the Supreme Court had previously interpreted the word “manifest” as expressing the degree of intensity of public disturbance, the current decision accepted that a manifest disruption of public order could be interpreted as an undoubted or unambiguous disruption of public order, without regard to the intensity of the disruption.

CMS has advised Thor Impex – the project company for the Bogoslovec 36 Megawatt wind farm in North Macedonia – on a EUR 51 million financing from a club of banks led by the Erste Bank. White & Case advised the lenders.

Act Legal Czech Republic has advised Sokolov on the construction of a CZK 140 million facility that will help the company transition from coal to natural gas as its energy source.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised Sandberg Capital on the acquisition of a 40% stake in Daktela.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Canadian Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust on the acquisition of a corporate group holding a portfolio of 31 logistics properties in Europe, from Clarion Europe for EUR 882 million. Goodwin's London office advised the seller.

On 31 January 2022, the “new” Regulation (EU) No. 536/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use and repealing Directive 2001/20/EC (the “Regulation“) will enter into force. After several delays (the launch was originally planned for 2015), the European Medicines Agency (the “EMA”) has confirmed to the Commission that the EU portal and the EU database, which were a prerequisite for the launch, are now fully functioning. At the same time, the EMA confirmed that the EU portal and database will be put into operation on 31 January 2022. As of this date, the Regulation will become fully applicable in all EU Member States.

Glatzova & Co, working with global counsel Hengeler Mueller, has advised Chinese tool manufacturer Greatstar Group on its acquisition of the Behrens Group. According to Hengeler Mueller, Alrud, Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak, and Wolf Theiss advised the buyer on the Russian, Polish, and Austrian aspects of the deal and Barnes & Thornburg, Bonelli Erede Lombardi Pappalardo, Bruun & Hjejle, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Jeantet, Macfarlanes, Mattos Filho, Niederer Kraft Frey, Schjodt, Uria Menendez, and Van Bael & Bellis advised the buyer in various other jurisdictions.

Do your employees ask for the possibility of working regularly from home? What happens if home is abroad? Remote work from abroad brings risks for any company, and each company should evaluate these risks and consider them when setting up a remote work policy for its employees.