Category: News

bpv Huegel advises IMMOFINANZ on the increase of the shareholding in S IMMO

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

bpv Huegel Competition – Top Ranking in JUVE

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”.

bpv Huegel advises Triton on the sale of dogado group to Cinven and Ontario Teachers

December 2022. bpv Huegel advised European Directories Group, a portfolio company of Triton Partners on the sale of dogado group to international private equity firm Cinven and leading global investor Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

The dogado group is a leading specialist in cloud-based hosting and digital marketing in the DACH region with some 500 employees work in offices in Dortmund, Vienna, Zurich, Hanover, Halle (Saale), Lübeck, Oberhausen, and Dresden. With the dogado, METANET, Herold, checkdomain, profihost, easyname, and alfahosting brands under its umbrella, the group serves around 380,000 customers. For more information: www.dogado.group

Triton invests in high-growth medium-sized businesses in German-speaking and Nordic countries, the Benelux region, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The companies currently in Triton’s portfolio have combined sales of around EUR 18.1 bn and employ around 106,000 employees. For more information: www.triton-partners.de

bpv Huegel already advised dogado group on its market entry in Austria through the acquisition of the second-largest Austrian hosting company easyname GmbH and on its merger with the traditional Austrian company HEROLD. The merger with HEROLD created the provider with the most comprehensive range of web hosting and website services, domains, cloud solutions and online marketing services for SMEs in Austria. In addition, bpv Huegel has advised the dogado group on numerous add-on acquisitions in Austria.

On the sale the European Directories Group was advised by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek (Lead Germany) and bpv Huegel (Austrian law aspects of the transaction).

In the bpv Huegel team: Thomas Lettau (Lead) (Partner/ Corporate/M&A), Johannes Mitterecker (Attorney at law, Corporate /M&A), Ingo Braun (Partner, IT/ Data protection); Nicolas Wolski (Partner/ M&A/ Tax); Sonja Dürager (Partner/ IT/ Data protection) Paul Pfeifenberger (Attorney at Law, Employment), Tamara Tomic (Associate, Corporate/M&A), Anna Zirkler (Associate, Corporate/M&A).

 Deal Report

Moot Court organized by bpv BRAUN PARTNERS knows the winner!

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.

Two bpv Huegel Partners honoured with Lexology Client Choice Awards 2022

21 November 2022. The prestigious Lexology Client Choice Awards were given in 2022 to only seven Austrian lawyers – two of them are partners at bpv Huegel.

Christian F. Schneider, Partner and Head of Public Economic Law at bpv Huegel, obtained the Client Choice Award in the category “Energy & Natural Resources”. Georg Rupprecht was awarded the prize in the category “Restructuring & Insolvency“.

The Client Choice Awards, which have been presented by the International Law Office together with Lexology since 2005, honour lawyers around the world that stand apart for the excellent client care they provide and the quality of their service. The criteria for this recognition focus on the ability to add real value to the clients’ business above and beyond the other players in the market. Nominations can only be made by in-house counsels.

“The prize I was awarded is a very special recognition for my work since it confirms the particular confidence my clients have in me” Christian F. Schneider is delighted.

And Georg Rupprecht points out: “I am very pleased to obtain that distinction. It demonstrates to me that my clients are continuously satisfied with my work.”

For both lawyers, it is not the first Client Choice Award in the said categories: Christian F. Schneider was honoured the second time after 2020, and Georg Rupprecht was already awarded the prize the third time after 2019 and 2021.

Press release

 

The Lawyer European Awards 2022: bpv Huegel again shortlisted as “Law Firm of the Year – Austria”

Happy that bpv Huegel is again shortlisted as “Law Firm of the Year – Austria” at The Lawyer European Awards 2022.

The renowned British magazine “The Lawyer” just announced the shortlist for this year’s awards. The prestigious awards highlight the outstanding work of the European legal market.

Congratulations to all firms on the shortlist.

We look forward to the awards ceremony on 29 November. Fingers crossed!

To see the full shortlist, please see the link

bpv BRAUN PARTNERS assisted Austrian real estate company Immofinanz in one of the largest real estate transactions in the CEE region.

bpv BRAUN PARTNERS advised its client, IMMOFINANZ, on the acquisition of 53 retail properties from CPI Property Group (CPIPG).

The properties, with a total leasable area of 217,000 sqm, are located in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, with bpv BRAUN PARTNERS acting as lead counsel for all of these jurisdictions, given that the largest number of properties in the portfolio is in the Czech Republic – specifically 30 properties with a leasable area of almost 90,000 sqm.

The advisory included legal due diligence on the Czech portfolio, preparation of complete transaction documentation for all jurisdictions and settlement of the transaction, all by a team consisting of partners Miroslav Dudek and Gabriela Špak Porupková, associates Pavlína Tejralová and Filip Baloušek and associate Pavel Březina.

The value of the transaction amounts to EUR 324.2 million (almost CZK 8 billion), making it one of the most significant transactions this year not only in the Czech Republic but also in the whole CEE region. In September 2022, the acquisition of 36 properties in the Czech Republic and Poland with a leasable area of 108,000 sqm was completed. The purchase price for the Czech and Polish part of the property portfolio amounted to EUR 191 million. The purchase of the remaining 17 properties in Hungary and Slovakia is to be completed by the end of 2022.

In addition to bpv BRAUN PARTNERS, the buyer received advice from Penteris (legal advisors for the Polish part of the transaction), HKV (legal advisors for the Slovak part of the transaction), Oppenheim (legal advisors for the Hungarian part of the transaction), TPA (financial and tax advisors), Oterea (technical advisors) and CBRE (commercial real estate services).