Schoenherr has advised Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisenbank a.s. on the acquisition of Akcenta CZ a.s., a CEE/SEE provider of FX and payment services to European SMEs and high net worth individuals, from Akcenta Group SE and Milan Lacina. Tarpan Legal advised the sellers on the transaction, which remains contingent on regulatory approval.

On 1 February 2021, the Slovak Ministry of Economy submitted an investment screening proposal to the government. This proposal was approved by the National Council (with amendments) on 5 February 2021 and is scheduled to enter in force on 1 March 2021.

Schoenherr has advised Linz-based start-up Storyblok on its EUR 7 million Series A financing round. Mubadala Capital, the state investment company of the United Arab Emirates, participated in the current financing round, as did existing investors 3VC and Firstminute Capital, Binder Groesswang advised Mubadala Capital on the deal.

Schoenherr has advised Agricover on the issuance of EUR 40 million in corporate bonds and on their admission to trading on the regulated market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The Commercial Bank of Romania and BRD Groupe Societe Generale acted as sole coordinators of the issuance.

BCGL has helped Warsaw-based private equity investment fund Omikron Capital obtain a loan from PKO Bank Polski and subsequently acquire 100% of the shares in Dagat-ECO. Schoenherr advised the seller and Gessel advised the bank on the deal.

DGKV provided local advice to California's Sanmina Corporation on its acquisition of Osram EOOD, a Bulgarian lights and lighting devices manufacturer owned by Germany's Osram GmbH. Hogan Lovells was lead counsel to Sanmina on the deal. Schoenherr advised Osram GmbH on the deal.

Clifford Chance, working with Latham & Watkins, has advised the steering committee of the credit financiers, including Commerzbank AG, DZ Bank AG, Erste Group Bank AG, Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, and Norddeutsche Landesbank, on the restructuring of the Benteler Group. Ashurst and Schoenherr advised Benteler on the deal.

When it comes to clearing a path in a forest to construct and operate an overhead electrical power line, electricity grid operators face various legal issues.

2020 was a busy year for the legislator in relation to the Turkish Capital Markets. An amendment made in the Turkish Capital Markets Law (CML) at the beginning of 2020 introduced several elements, including a Security Agent, into Turkish law. And then the pandemic hit, making the trust factor in regard to assets even more crucial than it was before. In times of uncertainty, the Security Agent may be invited to play a greater role.

Since the cessation of the widely-used LIBOR benchmark has become a realistic prospect, due to the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s announcements that it will stop supporting this benchmark at the end of 2021, the question of what will take its place has become a hot topic for lenders and lawyers drafting credit agreements.

Schoenherr has advised joint lead managers DZ Bank, Erste Group, Helaba, and Raiffeisen Bank International on the successful issue of notes by Upper Austrian-based Oberbank Aktiengesellschaft, which was advised by Wolf Theiss.

DLA Piper has advised Zip Co Limited on its investment in Twisto Payments. Schoenherr reportedly advised Twisto Payments on the deal.

"The majority of us will be more than happy to see 2020 behind us,” laughs Stefana Tsekova, Local Partner at Schoenherr Sofia. “But luckily for us at Schoenherr, it was a good year, especially for big ticket deals. We advised on the Vivacom deal, valued at 1.3 billion euros, making it the biggest deal ever on the Bulgarian market. It started before the Covid crisis hit, but luckily it continued. We actually advised on another big transaction on the energy sector as well — the acquisition by Enery Development of the biggest photovoltaic plant operational in Bulgaria, with 50 MW installed capacity [as reported by CEE Legal Matters on September 15, 2020]. So in terms of deals we were lucky.”

Schoenherr’s Budapest office, working with lead counsel Hengeler Mueller, has advised Andros Deutschland on its acquisition of fruit and vegetable processors Spreewaldkonserve Golssen in Germany and Schenk es Tarsa in Hungary.

Arabella Eichinger, Andreas Natterer, and Michael Woller have been promoted to Equity Partner, Marcin Aslanowicz, Bojan Brezan, Vid Kobe, and Maximilian Lang have been promoted to Contract Partner, and Marko Frantar has been promoted to Local Partner as part of Schoenherr's recent promotion round.

In March 2020, the coronavirus crisis urged the Hungarian government to introduce extraordinary measures to mitigate the economic consequences. This led to a general moratorium for all retail and corporate financings until the end of 2020. As one of the last measures of 2020, the Hungarian government decided to prolong the moratorium due to the second wave of the pandemic.

Schoenherr is advising Starwood Capital Group on its offer for a public takeover of VSE-listed CA Immobilien Anlagen AG.

At the end of December 2020, the Romanian Competition Council (the "RCC") published an updated iteration of the draft Emergency Government Ordinance implementing the FDI Regulation (the "FDI Draft Law"). While the FDI Draft Law is still undergoing the legislative process, it is expected to enter into force soon. As covered here, the new rules will tighten the existing FDI screening, once in force.