Category: News

The Prague team of bpv BRAUN PARTNERS welcomes a new addition!

With effect from 1 March 2023, it will be strengthened by Mgr. Ing. Lenka Charvátová, a lawyer specialising in civil law, litigation, corporate and commercial law and insolvency law.

Lenka Charvátová received her education at the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague. She also holds a degree in business administration from the University of South Bohemia. She speaks Czech, English, German and Spanish and is a member of the Czech Bar Association.

Prior to joining bpv BRAUN PARTNERS, Lenka spent nine years gaining valuable experience as an associate at international law firms.

bpv BRAUN PARTNERS advised the CREDITAS Group on the acquisition of a 100% stake in the British energy group InterGen. The sale was completed in these last few days of January and was subject to the usual regulatory approvals.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction volume, yet given the parameters, this is one of the largest Czech energy transactions in recent years.

“I am thrilled that my team and I were given a chance to participate in such a unique and truly grandiose project – a fact that confirms our leading position in the field of energy law” said David Vosol, partner of bpv BRAUN PARTNERS.

CREDITAS Group, active in the energy sector since 2013 and owned by Pavel Hubáček, one of the most successful business owners in the banking sector, primarily targets ownership interests in companies engaged in the production, distribution and trading of electricity, gas and heat. Its energy division UCED is the fourth largest energy distributor in the Czech Republic. In addition to energy distribution, it focuses on electricity and heat generation and is also a major provider of power balance services and strives to be the leader of the decentralised energy sector in the country. It plans to operate a virtual power plant in the Czech Republic with a capacity of 1,000 MW by 2030. The virtual power plant will aggregate not only renewable sources but also gas-fired power plants enabling the combustion of hydrogen as the energy source of the future.

InterGen is a world-class developer, owner and operator of power generation facilities with over 25 years’ experience in global energy markets. InterGen is one of the largest independent power producers in the United Kingdom with around 2,800 megawatts in operation between three combined cycle gas turbine plants and one open cycle gas turbine plant. InterGen’s UK portfolio also includes the 450- megawatt ‘Gateway Energy Centre’ battery energy storage system development project , which was awarded a 15-year capacity market agreement in February 2022, due to commence operations in 2025, together with similar battery energy storage system projects. With this transaction, CREDITAS Group takes over the local business in the United Kingdom, making the company one of the most important independent local power producers.

Legal advice was provided by our energy law team consisting of partners David Vosol and Marc Müller, supported by David Plevka, Michal Fógel and Pavel Březina.

The CREDITAS Group advisory team led by Ernst & Young (transaction advisory and support in financial and tax due diligence) and bpv BRAUN PARTNERS included Watson Farley & Williams (all legal matters under UK law), while the seller was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills (legal advisors) and Greenhill & Co (financial advisors).

Moot Court Civil Law 2022/2023: The preliminary round in Vienna is over. The winning teams are entitled to represent Vienna in the Austrian finals. The traditional closing party and award ceremony took place in the Sky Lobby of bpv Huegel.  

17 January 2023. On 13 January 2023, the final of the Vienna Moot Court Civil Law 2022/2023 took place. Once again a reason to invite to the traditional closing party in the Sky Lobby of bpv Huegel. With the spectacular view over Vienna’s skyline at night, the winners were honored. Florian Plattner, partner at bpv Huegel and long-time Moot Court supervisor, led through the evening.

“The Moot Court offers students the unique experience of taking on the role of a lawyer and working together with top law firms,” Florian Plattner remarked. Together with Associate Anna Zirkler, he supported Team 8, consisting of Kathrin Fischer, Simon Lehner and Dominik Hemmelmeyer. The team was awarded a special prize for the best pleading.

After intense and tough negotiations, the following teams have been awarded:
1^st place: Team 9 – Maria Simiuc, Mona Nebauer, Nikolaus Hofmann
2^nd place: Team 10 – Daniel Lutzky, Jonas Schneider-Beron, Gustav Kirchauer
3^rd place: Team 6 – Alexander Schmitt, Elena Oberrauner, Martin Blöschl

For the winning teams the Moot Court is not over yet – they are entitled to represent Vienna in the Austrian national finals.

bpv Huegel has been supporting top-qualified law students in the Moot Court Civil Law since 2014 and has been inviting to the annual traditional Moot Court closing party and award ceremony in the Sky Lobby of bpv Huegel since then.

Copyright:: Philipp Lipiarski

bpv Huegel supported the Dutch The Specialist Group International B.V., a leading personnel service provider specialized in highly qualified personnel, in the incorporation of STAR Stadlmann GmbH and the acquisition of the personnel leasing division of the Austrian Stadlmann Tec GmbH.

16 January 2023. The bpv Huegel team led by Elke Napokoj advised the Dutch The Specialist Group International B.V. on the incorporation of STAR Stadlmann GmbH and the acquisition of the personnel leasing division of Stadlmann Tec GmbH. The advice of the bpv Huegel team included deal structuring, contract drafting, contract negotiations and all steps up to the closing and post-closing advice.

The Specialist Group International B.V., with its headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is a leading personnel services provider that focuses on the provision of highly qualified personnel and supports clients in the chemical, infrastructure and renewable energy sectors. The Specialist Group International B.V. plays a key role in supporting their clients’ energy transition and improving the security of Europe’s energy infrastructure. With around 2,500 engineers, the group of companies around The Specialist Group International B.V. supports its clients in reducing the carbon footprint of operational facilities by promoting the expansion of renewable energy and the modernization of existing supply infrastructure.

Stadlmann Tec GmbH is an innovative engineering office and engineering service provider in the specialist fields of mechanical and plant engineering, technical informatics, electrical engineering and building services.

The Specialist Group International B.V. has recognized the enormous potential of Stadlmann Tec GmbH’s personnel leasing business. Therefore, they joined forces with Ing. Ferdinand Stadlmann (Managing Director) and Mr Christoph Lang (Shareholder, Key Employee) to incorporate STAR Stadlmann GmbH and to acquire the personnel leasing division of Stadlmann Tec GmbH. Through this cooperation, it is expected to grow within Austria and to expand into new sectors in order to further ensure the future success of STAR Stadlmann GmbH.

The transaction was closed at the beginning of January 2023.

Advisors to The Specialist Group International B.V.: bpv Huegel Rechtsanwälte GmbH – Elke Napokoj (Lead, Corporate/M&A), Walter Niedermüller (Labour Law), Michaela Pelinka (M&A/Real Estate), Christian Klein (Corporate/M&A).

Advisors to Stadlmann Tec GmbH: CERHA HEMPEL Rechtsanwälte GmbH – Dr. Thomas Trettnak, LL.M./CM, Mag. Wolfgang Schreiner and Mag. Bogdan Ilie Capra.

Press release

 

JUDr. Ondrej Poništiak, Ph.D. has become a new partner of bpv BRAUN PARTNERS with effect from 1 January 2023. Ondrej has been with bpv BRAUN PARTNERS since 2013 and is a lawyer of many skills – in addition to studying law in Prague and Zurich, he studied mathematics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics; he enjoys sports, dancing and playing the violin and works not only in his native Slovak, but also in Czech, English and German.

Ondrej specializes in mergers and acquisitions, competition, corporate and commercial law, with special focus on the start-up and fintech scene. During his almost ten years at bpv BRAUN PARTNERS, he has advised dozens of clients, often in complex corporate or cross-border restructurings. He is recommended as a dispute resolution expert by the prestigious international rating company Legal500. Ondrej is a member of the Czech Bar Association.

“Ondrej is not only a fantastic lawyer with a very systematic working style, but also an expert in the world of IT and FinTech. We appreciate him not only for his tremendous work commitment, but also for his proactive approach in the further development of the firm. We are confident that he will have many future successes in his new role and will help to further grow the firm,” commented Arthur Braun, Managing Partner of bpv BRAUN PARTNERS, on the appointment.

22 December 2022. bpv Huegel advised IMMOFINANZ on the acquisition of shares in S IMMO and its financing. 

IMMOFINANZ AG is acquiring 17,305,012 shares in S IMMO from its core shareholder, CPI Property Group, thus obtaining a controlling stake in S IMMO of 50% plus one share. The purchase price amounts to EUR 337.5 million in total. The transaction will be financed through a long-term credit facility provided to IMMOFINANZ by CPIPG. The closing of the transaction will take place before the end of 2022 and IMMOFINANZ will fully consolidate S IMMO in the 2022 annual financial statements. 

IMMOFINANZ is a commercial real estate group whose activities are focused on the office and retail segments of eight core markets in Europe: Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Adriatic region. The real estate portfolio has a value of approximately EUR 5.5 billion and covers 260 properties. IMMOFINANZ is listed on the stock exchanges in Vienna (leading ATX index) and Warsaw. Further information under: https://www.immofinanz.com 

The bpv Huegel team, led by Christoph Nauer (Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets), included Roland Juill (Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets), Ingo Braun (Finance & Regulatory), Nicolas Wolski (Tax), Daniel Reiter (Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets) and Jasmin Slavik (Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets).

The seller (CPI Property Group) was advised by Wolf Theiss (Florian Kusznier, Claus Schneider).

Press Release

14 December 2022. Many thanks to our clients and colleagues. bpv Huegel is again top-listed in Tier 1 in JUVE.

Since JUVE started its ranking 10 years ago, our competition law practice has been best rated (*****). Furthermore, bpv Huegel is also ranked as “leading” in the newly introduced “Brussels” category.

JUVE’s assessment: “major EU antitrust cases” – “strength in litigation” – “outstanding in Brussels” – “merger control and significant investment control filings”.

Last Tuesday bpv BRAUN PARTNERS held the final round of another year of the labour law Moot Court, organized by our office and ELSA Prague.

The best four teams from the first round proceeded to a simulated court hearing where they had to make a statement on the legal action, examine a witness and make a closing statement as counsel for the plaintiff or defendant before a panel of three judges: the partner Pavel Vintr, senior associate Adam Stawaritsch, and associate Anna Rubriciusová.
The winning team was Lucie Heráčková (Prague) a Marek Jankovský (Prague), with Tomáš Holický (Brno) a Tomáš Belada (Pilsen)coming in second. Both teams received a financial reward. The competition also included an award for best orator, who received an offer to complete an internship at our offices. This award went to Tomáš Holický (Brno).
Big congratulation to all! We appreciate the high level of the competence all students had.