Glatzova & Co. has advised the municipality of Poricany on the approximately CZK 160 million agreement with a Hecht Group project company for the sale of development land near the D11 highway. Baroch Sobota reportedly advised the Hecht Group.

With a delay of over a year, Czech Act no. 284/2023 on preventive restructuring implemented the EU Restructuring Directive 2019/1023 into Czech law with effect as of 23 September 2023. This publication explains some of the key choices made by the Czech Republic upon the Directive’s implementation.

Tomas Skoumal has been elected as the new Managing Partner of Baker McKenzie’s Prague office, taking over from Martin Hrodek.

Dentons has advised the CPI Property Group on its EUR 635 million three-year bridge loan from Santander, Societe Generale, Komercni Banka, Raiffeisen, SMBC, Barclays, and Erste Bank to replace the group's existing loans related to its recent acquisitions of Immofinanz and S Immo. Linklaters reportedly advised the banks.

Havel & Partners has advised the Czechoslovak Capital Partners investment group on the acquisition of five properties in Hradec Kralove.

Cobalt has advised Binalyze on its USD 19 million series A financing round with Molten Ventures, Cisco Investments, Citibank Ventures, and Deutsche Bank Corporate Venture Capital as well as existing investors Earlybird Digital East and OpenOcean. Ellex Raidla advised Molten Ventures on leading the round.

Clifford Chance has advised Vseobecna Uverova Banka on its EUR 500 million issuance of covered bonds that were subsequently listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Allen & Overy reportedly advised the managers handling the issuance.

Clifford Chance has advised Ceska Sporitelna and UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia on their financing for the Oriens holding's Moravia Containers in relation to the acquisition of Steelmart. Havel & Partners advised the borrower.

A long-awaited amendment to the Czech Competition Act (Act) is now on the horizon as it was approved by the Chambers of Deputies and is ready for sign-off by the Senate and the president. Covering primarily the implementation of the ECN+ Directive, it also incorporates changes to the Act. At the same time, the Czech Competition Authority (CCA) has been updating its policies on compliance programs and vertical leniency. From this perspective, how the CCA treats vertical (distribution) agreements will probably change considerably.

Attorney At Law Jan Exner has joined the Briza & Trubac team in Prague as Head of the firm's Sports Law practice. The move became effective on September 1, 2023. 

BBH has advised the Kaprain Group on its acquisition of Mafra Publishing and Synthesia from Agrofert Holding in a package deal.

Former CMS Partner Pavla Kreckova has joined the KPMG Legal team as the firm's new Head of Banking/Finance and Real Estate.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised web hosting company Webglobe on the acquisition of its eBola Czech competitor operating under the eBola.cz brand name.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised founders Ivana Stefkova, Barbora Dvorakova, and Marketa Trubacova on the establishment and incorporation of the Tisina Endowment Fund.

Clifford Chance has advised KKCG Group's Technology pillar on the complete refinancing of its existing bank indebtedness and the further recapitalization of its members, including those in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Poland, and Serbia.

"Wrongful birth" claims seek compensation from healthcare facilities for the harm caused to parents of a child by depriving them of the opportunity to make an informed decision about whether to continue the pregnancy despite the high likelihood that the child will be seriously ill (usually as a result of improperly performed screening tests). While this type of legal procedure is well-known in the USA and the United Kingdom, instances of similar case law can already be found in EU countries, including, for example, France, whose legal system is similar to Czechia's. However, the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic dealt with such a claim for the very first time in May 2023.

On 29 June 2023, Deforestation-free Products Regulation ((EU) 2023/1115) entered into force with the aim of minimising the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. Combating deforestation and forest degradation constitutes an important part of the package of measures needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss.

Does your business produce computers or other electronic or electrical equipment? Maybe you make machinery and equipment, pharmaceuticals, medical devices or food? Do you have 50 or more employees? Then your company is likely to be subject to the new cybersecurity regulations. The same applies if your activities are in the chemical industry or you provide a variety of digital services – for instance cloud computing, data centre services or online marketplaces.