Category: News

Last week we took the X-mas party to a whole new level with an exciting sushi making experience. The talented sushi master at the Buddha Bar guided us through the art of creating delicious sushi rolls, while having a blast unleashing our inner culinary skills.
We all enjoyed the atmosphere, filled with Japanese cuisine, laughter, friendly competition, and the joy of learning something new together. Another perfect opportunity to strengthen our bonds, foster teamwork, and create lasting memories, as always.
The evening was incredible, all our colleagues presence made the event truly special, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate together the holiday season which is ahead of us.

We are thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of the Czech Moot Court Competition, co-organized by ELSA Prague, held in our Prague office on the last day of November.
In an improvised courtroom, four teams, consisting of two members each, stood before the jury, showcasing their exceptional advocacy skills. All participants delivered a stellar performance, impressing our judges.
Congratulations to all the participants for their outstanding preparation and professional execution. However, there could only be one winner. We are proud to announce that the team composed of Lucie Heráčková and Tereza Roubíková emerged victorious! We would also like to recognize Michael Procházka for his exceptional oratory skills, earning him the title of the Best Speaker.
Hoping to cross paths with these talented individuals again within the walls of our office.
#CzechMootCourtCompetition #LegalExcellence #ElsaPrague

We are proud to share that Lucie Kalašová has been listed again by Týdeník Euro and Cover Story among the top 100 Czech women in Law 2024, with her specialization in employment law. This recognition is part of the remarkable #First100Years project, which is dedicated to the contribution of Czech women in the legal field.
Lucie‘s knowledge and commitment to provide the best legal advice to our clients continues to inspire us all.
Her listing is testament to her exceptional skills and the impact she has made in the legal community.
Congratulations for this achievement!

Photo (from left): Janin Ullmann (moderator), Christoph Nauer (Co-Managing Partner, bpv Huegel) and Marcel Fejer (LegalKings), Copyright: JUVE Verlag

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JUVE Awards 2023: bpv Huegel “Law Firm of the Year Austria” for the second time

bpv Huegel has – after winning in 2020 – once again been awarded “Law Firm of the Year Austria” by the leading German publication for the legal industry, JUVE. This is the first time that a law firm has won this award twice.

03 November 2023. The team is delighted to receive another prestigious award. The team is pleased about another prestigious award. At a gala ceremony at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, bpv Huegel was named “Law Firm of the Year Austria” at this year’s JUVE Awards. The law firm was one of five nominees and was ultimately able to take home the coveted trophy.

bpv’s strong positioning of bpv in Central and Eastern Europe as a result of bpv’s long-standing strategic focus on CEE was also highlighted in the laudation.

“It is a special pleasure for us: we are the only law firm that has managed to become ‘Law Firm of the Year Austria’ twice so far. This award and our sincere thanks go to each and every member of our team, who always put the interests of the clients, entrusted to us, first,” said Christoph Nauer and Florian Neumayr, the two co-managing partners of bpv Huegel.

The “Austrian Law Firm of the Year” is an award that goes beyond individual practice areas and recognises the development of law firms as a whole and, in particular, their management performance. In this category, the editors also pay particular attention to aspects of sustainability, continuity and stringent action compared to previous years.

The full laudation for bpv Huegel is available at https://juveawards.juve-veranstaltungen.de/preistraeger-2023/kanzlei-des-jahres-oesterreich/ (in German).

Press release

Proud to have assisted our client Heidel Verwaltungs GmbH with the sale of its container factory in Rozvadov, with over 35,000 sqm, and machinery, stores and raw materials.

The purchase by Gföllner CZ involved an unconventional securing of the purchase price with a lien for the seller and the establishment of a right of repurchase for the seller.

The relationship between the Czech Republic and Slovakia is forged on a shared history and close economic ties. As the two countries maintain strong trade relations and extensive cross-border business activities, legal firms have recognized the need to establish a presence in both jurisdictions. Havel & Partners Managing Partner Jaroslav Havel, BPV Braun Partners Managing Partner Arthur Braun, and Eversheds Sutherland Managing Partner Bernhard Hager talk about the ties that bind the two legal landscapes.

Bratislava – A Strategic Location

“When we decided to go to Bratislava in 2009, we had already operated a Slovak desk for five years,” said Braun. The decision to open their first office outside of the Czech Republic was driven by a desire to showcase a presence in the Slovak market. The Bratislava office, it turns out, was profitable from day one, largely due to a renewables boom at the time. Braun says they “never regretted the decision.”

Havel shares a similar sentiment and highlights the significance of Bratislava as Havel & Partners’ first office beyond Czech borders. “Slovakia’s accession to the European Union in 2004 presented significant opportunities for cross-border business and legal services,” he explains. Bratislava’s strategic location and growing economy further fueled their decision to set up shop in 2008, allowing them to “better serve existing Slovak clients while attracting new ones, thus strengthening the firm’s regional presence.”

Hager’s path, on the other hand, was somewhat different. “I started from Vienna and assisted with opening branches in Bratislava and Prague more or less at the same time in 2005, so just after both countries’ EU accession.” Hager stresses that “there was simply a big demand from international – in our case mainly Austrian and German – investors for legal services in an international style in these jurisdictions.”

Close Economic Ties

There are close ties between the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and these are, as Havel describes them, “extensive, given their shared history and geographic proximity.” These close ties are characterized by “close trade relations, with significant bilateral trade and investment flows. The Czech Republic is one of Slovakia’s largest trading partners, and vice versa,” he explains. Moreover, he emphasizes the importance of the shared historical and cultural background that “fosters collaboration across various sectors. Also, the fact that both countries are part of the EU and the eurozone is an important factor in itself.” Havel stresses that, “while the Czech Republic maintains strong ties with other markets in the European Union, the relationship with Slovakia stands out due to its unique historical and cultural backdrop.”

Hager agrees, adding that “the economic links between the Czech Republic and Slovakia are similar to those with neighboring EU countries. Both nations enjoy strong connections with Austria and Germany, as well as the broader EU market.”

On the other hand, Braun says that, from “a Prague point of view, Germany has a higher economic importance. Still, the ties between the Czech Republic and Slovakia are close, particularly when it comes to distribution – but the Slovak market is usually not the first country that a Czech company looks at when considering expanding abroad.”

Investor Perspectives – Two for the Price of One?

A substantial amount of cross-border work exists between Slovakia and the Czech Republic according to Havel. “Many of our clients operate in both markets and seek legal services in both jurisdictions. We frequently assist foreign investors who wish to pursue opportunities in both countries simultaneously, leveraging our deep understanding of the local legal systems and business environments,” he says. “The cross-border work we engage in reflects the strong economic connections and shared interests between the Czech Republic and Slovakia.”

Hager states that there is about a 20% of overlap in work, but adds that it is not a rule. “In sectors such as automotive, investors tend to focus on the Slovak and Hungarian markets. Similarly, clients often consider the Czech Republic alongside Poland. Some multinational firms designate a country director for both Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while others structure their reporting lines to Germany or Austria,” he explains.

Legal Practice Across Jurisdictions

Given the strong ties between the countries and their shared history, the question of legal practice across jurisdictions arises naturally. Braun, who is admitted to the bar in both countries, explains that both bars are quite open to EU lawyers, making admission relatively straightforward. However, he does note that “Slovakia is more over-lawyered than the Czech Republic” due to its larger number of law faculties. “Interestingly,” Braun adds that “many Slovaks study law in Brno, due to the absence of tuition fees” with most of them remaining in the Czech Republic to practice, with this “contributing to a certain brain drain.”

Havel further clarifies that “historically, during the Czechoslovakia period, the legal system was unified for both countries, which is still the basis for some attorneys working in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia.” While no significant obstacles hinder cross-border legal practice today, Havel does stress that it is crucial for lawyers to “familiarize themselves with the specificities of the legal framework in each jurisdiction,” seeing as how these are completely separate, in order to be “able to provide effective legal services.”

(Re-Harmonized) Legal Sectors

Echoing Havel, Braun notes that even during unified Czechoslovakia, there were slight differences between the two legal landscapes due to Slovak law’s Hungarian background. “For many years, nevertheless, if you understood one law, you could also understand the other,” he explains. That said, Braun finds it intriguing that “the younger generation no longer possesses a natural understanding of the other country’s language.” Furthermore, in terms of market comparisons, Braun says that “the Slovak market is much smaller and more diverse.” And, he adds that the “general turnover and transaction size in Slovakia is considerably smaller.”

“After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the two countries embarked on separate paths of legal development,” Havel adds. “Consequently, there were differences in laws and regulations between the two countries.” Underlining specific differences, Hager says that “in 2014, the Czech Republic replaced the Czech-Slovak civil law and commercial law with a completely new set of laws. In the area of commercial and corporate law, Slovakia is now closer to Germany than to the Czech Republic, and in civil law matters the Czech Republic is closer to Austria than to Slovakia,” Hager points out.

However, “since they acceded to the EU, both the Czech Republic and Slovakia have made efforts to harmonize their legislation with EU law, bringing them closer in terms of legal frameworks and regulations,” Havel explains.

This article was originally published in Issue 10.7 of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the magazine, you can subscribe here. 

Our bpv summer outing, hosted after 4 years in Prague, has just ended.
Some learning, some strategy discussions, some good food, drink and lots of fun! We feel that the bond of our alliance built over the last 17 years has grown even stronger!

It was such a pleasure to see familiar faces as well as meet new members of our member offices. Your presence and active participation made this reunion truly special.

Let’s continue to collaborate, support each other, and strive for excellence in our professional endeavors. We look forward to our future bpv events and the many more cherished moments we will create together.

Advising WITTE on the acquisition of a majority share and shareholders agreement in FOREZ BG, an automotive supplier in Ruse, Bulgaria.

bpv BRAUN PARTNERS (led by Arthur Braun) advised on the Czech aspects of the transaction, KDP (led by Venelin Dimitrov and Iva Georgieva) were responsible for the Due Diligence and the Bulgarian law aspects, including Signing and Closing of the transaction.

Congrats to our Prague team, Arthur Braun, Pavel Březina and Klára Procházková, who have assisted in a multijurisdictional transaction, legal lead Jones Day Frankfurt, with the Czech legal aspects of automotive supplier Mahle selling its thermostat business division to Admetos.

Stuttgart-based Mahle mainly sells components for vehicle combustion engines and generated sales of more than twelve billion euros last year. The thermostat business comprises around 600 employees in six countries, all of whom are to be taken over by the new owner.

https://newsroom.mahle.com/press/en/press-releases/mahle-sells-its-thermostat-business–100096

https://www.juve.de/deals/admetos-uebernimmt-mit-tricon-und-baker-tilly-geschaeftssparte-von-mahle/

 

We advised the Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG, a leading Hamburg-based distributor and retailer in the international travel market, on the acquisition of a 100 % stake in the Czech company TRAVEL FREE s.r.o. from UNIMEX GROUP a.s. and small related real estate transfers. bpv BRAUN PARTNERS`s services included due diligence, merger control clearance and negotiation of transaction documentation.

Renowned for offering an extensive range of branded products, including tobacco, coffee, spirits, perfume, cosmetics, sweets, and regional specialties, the 20 Czech TRAVEL FREE bordershops have operated as a joint venture between Gebr. Heinemann and UNIMEX since 2004 and have grown to a turnover above 3 billion CZK over the years. The parties decided not to disclose the total price of the transaction.

Legal advice to purchaser was provided by team consisting of managing partner Arthur Braun (team lead), with further support of Of counsel Lucie Kalašová and senior associates Alexandr Pech and Evelina Weagová (competition, real estate).