Bucureşti - 03 decembrie 2008
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European law firm Schoenherr is increasing its coverage of Central Europe by opening offices in Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
The openings in these more established markets push Schoenherr as a leading legal service company into a unique position in the region: its network of offices in Central Europe is unmatched by any other law firm.
The expansion is in line with the firm’s strategy to offer regional investors a genuine one-stop-shop with leading lawyers throughout Central Europe. The move substantially enlarges the number of fee earners, and sees the firm grow by 50 lawyers to a total of 320 fee earners throughout its offices. Schoenherr will now be present in 12 countries.
“Positive client feedback encouraged us to continue our strategy of operating our own offices in Central Europe. Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia are jurisdictions where we feel we can still add value to our clients’ business,” says Christoph Lindinger, managing partner of Schoenherr.
In Prague and Warsaw, Schoenherr will takeover the well-established offices of German law firm Gleiss Lutz. At the same time, Gleiss Lutz will continue to cooperate with these offices on an exclusive basis. The deal sees the seasoned teams of Martin Kubanek and Martin Nedelka (Prague) and of Paweł Siekierzyński, Przemysław Pietrzak and Torsten Bogen (Warsaw), join Schoenherr from 1 January, 2009. In Bratislava Schoenherr will establish a 6-lawyer greenfield office with experienced local experts.
Martin Kubanek comments: “We consider the Prague office becoming part of a law firm with a clear vision and a long term strategy in Central Europe as a great chance. For us Schoenherr, and its geographic coverage, is a perfect strategic fit. The arising synergy and cross-selling opportunities will certainly strengthen our business. I am personally convinced that the possibility of seamless advice in the entire Central Europe will make us much more attractive to the local as well as to the globally active clients.”
The offices will offer the full scope of legal services to domestic and foreign businesses. In Prague, the three core areas of activities consist of corporate/m&a, real estate and competition law. Recent highlights of the Prague corporate/m&a team, led by Martin Kubanek, include advising clients like Continental, Daimler, and Blackstone in various acquisitions as well as on matters of daily business. Moreover, the team has advised Deutsche Postbank on the acquisition of Modrá Pyramida, the largest Czech mortgage bank, and its subsequent sale; a large Austrian bank on the acquisition of two Czech banks and on their subsequent merger; and Siemens on the purchase of the industrial turbine business of Alstom.
The Prague office also houses a very renowned real estate practice. Clients in this field include Hornbach, one of the largest operators of DIY shopping centres in Europe, international real estate investment funds like IVG and RREEF, and leasing companies like Immorent of Erste Bank Group. Additionally, the office has a strong focus on competition law. Martin Nedelka has built an internationally highly reputed competition practice and is considered an authority in the Czech market. He and his team recently represented Siemens and Wüstenrot / stavební spořitelna in high-profile cartel allegations, as well as Linde Gas in an alleged abuse of dominance case. Futher, practice areas which are constantly growing in the Prague office are restructuring and public procurement law.
In Poland the team has built a solid reputation in advising domestic and international companies on general corporate and re-structuring matters, clients in this field include Warsaw-listed Pfleiderer Grajewo, Schenker, Südzucker as well as the Canadian transportation giant Bombardier. Within its M&A practice the Warsaw team has advised i.a. the Trumpf Group on the acquisition of Polish AC Sp. z o.o., Tietoenator Corp. on several acquisitions in Poland, Nordic Telephone Company on Polish law aspects of the takeover of Danish TDC as well as Tele Atlas on the acquisition of PPWK GeoInvent. Recently the Warsaw team has assisted on the acquisition of a portfolio of Wind Park Project companies by Energias de Portugal. The office has a well-known real estate practice, and advises clients like ECE, one of Europe’s largest operators of shopping malls, and various international real estate investments funds on the purchase of real estate and on project-management related matters. In addition, the team advises, inter alia, NordLB on project financings. Its constantly growing public procurement law practice, advises international construction firms and infrastructure equipment providers.
Schoenherr is a leading corporate law firm in Central Europe. With offices in Belgrade, Budapest, Bucharest, Brussels, Kyiv, Ljubljana, Sofia, Vienna and Zagreb, Schoenherr can genuinely be called a regional firm. Across its network the firm is characterised by seven integrated practice groups -Corporate/M&A, Banking & Finance, Real Estate, Intellectual Property, Competition/EU Law, Regulatory Law and Dispute Resolution – the new lawyers in Bratislava, Prague and Warsaw will become part of these regional practice groups;
Schoenherr’s recent headline transactions in Central Europe include advising private equity group Advent International on a EUR 100+ million acquisition in Bulgaria, restructuring of OMV's retail business activities throughout Southeastern Europe, and advising Generali on its joint-venture with PPF, Generali PPF Holding, the leading insurance group in the region. Also Schoenherr was very active in energy and windpark projects advising EDP Renováveis, the listed Portuguese renewable energy company, on the acquisition of an 85% stake in Renovatio Power SRL and Cernavoda Power SRL, which own several wind projects in Romania totalling 736 MW, and the purchase of a 5% stake in the Romanian developer of wind projects Wind Expert SRL.
Contact:
Raluca Lupu, PR
T: +4021 3196790, E: r.lupu@schoenherr.ro