Category: Publications

The international sales process for the renowned Vienna Marriott Hotel at Parkring Vienna has been successfully completed with its acquisition by an international consortium of investors.

Vienna, 01 July 2025. bpv Huegel provided comprehensive advice to CPI Europe group (S IMMO) on the sale of the Vienna Marriott Hotel to an international consortium of investors. As part of its strategic realignment, CPI Europe is selling the property at Parkring 12a and the hotel business.

The transaction was implemented through share deals and involves the iconic Viennese hotel property, a large-scale, mixed-use inner-city property, as well as the hotel operating company. The transaction value amounts to over EUR 100 million. The closing for the sale of the real estate companies took place on 27 June 2025. The closing for the hotel operating company is scheduled for January 2026.

The buyer is a joint venture between Evientro Ltd and London-based Landfair European Dislocated Opportunities SCSp, which specializes in liquidity solutions in the European real estate market.

Almost exactly 40 years after its opening on 1 July 1985, one of Vienna’s most famous hotels is changing owners. The hotel, with over 300 rooms and suites, was the first Marriott hotel in the German-speaking region. The hotel will continue to be operated by Marriott International under a long-term management agreement.

“The transaction is one of the most significant hotel sales in Vienna in recent years. We are proud to be supporting CPI Europe on this complex real estate and corporate transaction,” said Christoph Nauer, partner at bpv Huegel and co-lead on the transaction.

bpv Huegel’s advisory services covered the international bidding process, complex corporate structuring, drafting and negotiation of transaction agreements, and tax issues. The bpv Huegel team was jointly led by Christoph Nauer (Corporate/M&A), Dominik Geyer (Real Estate) and Roland Juill (Corporate/M&A), and included Nicolas Wolski (Tax Law), Paul Pfeifenberger (Real Estate, Labor Law), Patrick Nutz-Fallheier (Corporate/M&A), Tim Pasternak (Corporate/M&A) and Gerhard Fussenegger (Antitrust Law).

The buyer’s advisors included SAXINGER (lead counsel to the buyer joint venture), AKELA (co-counsel for acquisition financing on the buyer side), Binder Grösswang (merger control on the buyer side), DLA Piper (legal advisor to the buyer in Germany and Luxembourg), Wolf Theiss (legal advisor to the financing bank, UniCredit Bank Austria AG) and BDO Austria (tax law buyer), which also advised on valuation issues relating to the transaction.

The transaction was facilitated by hotel real estate specialist Christie & Co, who acted as advisor and exclusive broker.

Press release

Vienna, 03 June 2025. bpv Huegel successfully advised RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria Aktiengesellschaft (RWA) on the sale of its share in AUSTRIA JUICE GmbH to AGRANA Beteiligungs-Aktiengesellschaft.

AGRANA already holds a share in AUSTRIA JUICE and will hold 100% in the company following the acquisition of RWA’s share in AUSTRIA JUICE. AUSTRIA JUICE is a major manufacturer of fruit juice concentrates with headquarters in Kroellendorf (Lower Austria) and 13 production sites in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, and China. The company employs around 1,000 people in total. Its turnover amounts to around EUR 330 million.

bpv Huegel already advised RWA on the establishment of the joint venture with AGRANA in 2012.

“We are proud to have been at RWA’s side from the founding of the AUSTRIA JUICE joint venture until its exit more than 13 years later,” said Thomas Lettau, partner and co-head of the Corporate/M&A practice group at bpv Huegel.

The bpv Huegel team was led by Thomas Lettau and also included Christoph Nauer, Nicolas Wolski, Anna Zirkler, Astrid Ablasser-Neuhuber and Gerhard Fussenegger.

AGRANA was advised by Schoenherr.

The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant competition and investment control authorities.

Press release

RWA eGen completes the purchase of shares in RWA AG from BayWa AG. The acquisition financing was structured and provided by Raiffeisen Bank International AG.

16 May 2025. bpv Huegel advised RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria Handel und Vermögensverwaltung eGen (RWA eGen) and its acquisition holding on the completion of the approximately 47.53% share purchase in RWA Raiffeisen Ware Austria Aktiengesellschaft (RWA AG) and the acquisition financing from Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI). The share purchase with BayWa Aktiengesellschaft (BayWa AG) was completed on 2 May 2025. The purchase price amounts to EUR 176 million. The share purchase agreement was concluded at the end of last year.

The acquisition financing was structured and provided by Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI). With the completion of the purchase, the control over RWA AG is now fully held by RWA eGen in Austria.

“We are proud that we were able to successfully support RWA in this strategically important acquisition and financing and would like to thank all the teams involved in the transaction for their excellent cooperation,” says Christoph Nauer, the partner who led the transaction.

RWA AG is a producer, service provider and trader in the business areas of agriculture, technology, energy, building materials and home & garden. As the umbrella organisation of the Lagerhaus cooperatives in Austria, RWA AG provides them with a comprehensive range of services in the aforementioned areas. In addition, RWA AG holds a large number of participations and subsidiaries in Austria and in selected Eastern European countries. RWA eGen also holds the majority of shares in Raiffeisen Agrar Invest AG, which is the second-largest shareholder in BayWa AG with a stake of around 28.3%.

The bpv Huegel team led by partners Christoph Nauer (Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets) and Ingo Braun (Financing & Regulatory), included Barbara Valente (Financing & Regulatory, Corporate/M&A), Daniel Maurer (Financing & Regulatory, Corporate/M&A), Patrick Nutz-Fallheier (Corporate/M&A), Roland Juill (Corporate/M&A) and Johannes Mitterecker (Corporate/M&A). The merger control and investment control proceedings in seven countries were handled by a team led by partner Astrid Ablasser-Neuhuber (Merger Control/FDI) with Stefan Holzweber and Philipp Stengg (both Merger Control).

RWA eGen was advised on German law by FPS Rechtsanwälte, Frankfurt (Daniel Herper). BayWa AG was represented by a team from Jones Day, Munich (Maximilian P. Krause, Alexander Ballmann, Jürgen Beninca and Sebastian Schwab).

RBI, as the structuring and financing bank, was advised by a team from Schoenherr comprising Martin Ebner, Christian Cacic, Gabriel Ebner, Viktoria Carranza-Berg and Kristina Petz.

Press release

bpv Huegel is delighted to appoint Johannes Mitterecker as a partner. He works in the Corporate Law/M&A practice group and specialises in M&A transactions, restructuring and sports law.

15 May 2025. bpv Huegel appoints DDr. Johannes Mitterecker, LL.M., as a new partner with effect from May 2025. Johannes Mitterecker is an experienced transaction lawyer who joined bpv Huegel in 2021, specialising in corporate law, private equity and venture capital funds. He also provides corporate and regulatory advice to alternative investment funds, investment and venture capital funds, family offices and investment firms.

Furthermore, he is establishing an interdisciplinary sports law practice group at bpv Huegel.

Johannes Mitterecker is the editor and author of numerous publications on corporate, capital market and sports law, including groundbreaking publications such as the comprehensive commentary on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIFMG) and practical handbooks on sports law and shareholder disputes.

Johannes Mitterecker holds doctoral degrees from the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Economics and Business, as well as an LL.M. from Columbia University in New York. He is also admitted to the New York State Bar.

Christoph Nauer, Co-Managing Partner of bpv Huegel, congratulates the new partner: “We are delighted to welcome Johannes to our partnership and look forward to continuing the growth of the firm with him, delivering top-quality services in high-end transaction advisory.”

Press release

This makes bpv Huegel’s tax practice top-ranked in Chambers Europe. This confirms the leading position of bpv Huegel in tax law advice.

20 March 2025. bpv Huegel is ranked in Band 1 for tax law in the Chambers Europe Ranking 2025.

In addition, partner and head of tax Nicolas Wolski and tax partner Kornelia Wittmann have also been individually recognised as leading practitioners.

The tax practice now is holding top positions in Band 1 in three major international tax rankings (Chambers, Legal 500, ITR World Tax). As recently as September 2024, the tax team was named “Tax Litigation Law Firm of the Year – Austria” and “Transfer Pricing Law Firm of the Year – Austria” by ITR.

“We are proud that, in addition to the ITR and Legal 500 rankings, we are now also ranked in the top category by Chambers. A big thank you to all team members who have worked together to achieve this success over the last few years,” says Nicolas Wolski, head of the tax practice.

The team led by Nicolas Wolski, who is dual-qualified as both a lawyer and tax advisor in both Austria and Germany, advises leading Austrian and international companies, particularly in the areas of M&A tax, tax disputes and general corporate tax.

Press release

EAVISTA is acquiring 75.1% of the shares in card complete Service Bank AG from UniCredit Bank Austria and Raiffeisen Bank International.

Vienna, 19 February 2025. bpv Huegel advises EAVISTA Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH on the acquisition of 75.1% of the shares in card complete Service Bank AG. card complete Service Bank AG is a leading provider of credit card and payment solutions for private and corporate customers.

The share purchase agreement was concluded on Monday this week, with UniCredit Bank Austria AG (50.1%) and Raiffeisen-Invest-Gesellschaft m.b.H. (25.1%) (group company of Raiffeisen Bank International AG) selling their shares to EAVISTA. AVZ GmbH (AVZ Privatstiftung) remains as shareholder. Closing of the share purchase agreement is expected to take place after approval by the regulatory authorities.

For the credit card portfolios of customers of UniCredit Bank Austria and banks of the Austrian Raiffeisen sector the two selling shareholders (UniCredit Bank Austria and Raiffeisen Bank International) entered into an agreement with card complete to offer credit cards directly to those customers.

EAVISTA Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH is owned by Arif Babayev, a British entrepreneur, and is managed together with Nurlan Zhagiparov, co-founder of the UK-based payment services provider DNA Payments Limited. The two experts in financial technology and innovation have more than 20 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry.

“The team of bpv Huegel guided us to the signing of this transaction with their outstanding market and in-depth transactional expertise in the banking and payment services sector,” comments Arif Babayev.

“We are very pleased to have supported EAVISTA with the experienced team around Arif Babayev and Nurlan Zhagiparov in this landmark transaction in the Austrian payment services industry”, emphasises Christoph Nauer, partner at bpv Huegel leading on the transaction.

card complete

For more than 40 years, card complete has played a leading role in shaping cashless payment transactions in Austria. As the only fully integrated services provider in Austria and one of the top providers in the market, card complete combines with the strategy “complete” all elements of the cashless payment value chain – from the processing of card-based payment transactions and a versatile product range of credit cards to acquiring solutions for stationary point-of-sale and e-commerce. The highest level of security and service in all matters is top priority. card complete offers credit cards from Visa, Mastercard and, exclusively, Diners Club. With its nationwide network of acceptance partners, it accepts Visa, Visa Debit, V PAY, Mastercard, Mastercard Debit, Maestro, JCB, Diners Club, Discover, American Express, UnionPay, Bluecode and Alipay. Diners Club has been a fully integrated member of card complete Service Bank AG since October 2022. DC elektronische Zahlungssysteme GmbH also belongs to the card complete group. www.cardcomplete.com

Transaction team of bpv Huegel

The transaction team of bpv Huegel, led by Christoph Nauer (Corporate/M&A, Finance&Regulatory) and Thomas Lettau (Corporate/M&A), included Barbara Valente (Corporate/M&A, Finance&Regulatory), Roland Juill (Corporate/M&A), Nicolas Wolski (Tax), Kornelia Wittmann (Tax, Finance&Regulatory), Gerhard Fussenegger, Philipp Stengg (both Merger Control/FDI), Ingo Braun (Finance & Regulatory), Johannes Mitterecker (Corporate/M&A), Paul Pfeifenberger (Labour Law), Walter Niedermueller (Labour Law), Sonja Duerager (Data Protection, IP/IT), Tim Pasternak (Corporate/M&A), Lucas Hora (Corporate/M&A, Tax Law), Daniel Maurer (Corporate/M&A).

A team from DORDA, led by Christoph Brogyányi and Christian Ritschka, advised UniCredit Bank Austria AG. Binder Grösswang (Thomas Schirmer and Mona Holzgruber) represented Raiffeisen Bank International AG on the transaction.

Press release

17 January 2025. The bpv Huegel team led by Elke Napokoj advised the founder and the shareholders of EVK DI Kerschhaggl GmbH (“EVK”). The bpv Huegel team provided comprehensive advice including deal structuring, contract drafting, contract negotiations and all steps up to the closing.

EVK is an Austria-based technology company specializing in industrial sensor-based sorting and inspection systems. Among other applications, EVK’s innovative technology is used in food processing, plastics recycling and material sorting.

Headwall Photonics, Inc. (“Headwall”), part of the Headwall Group and a portfolio company of Arsenal Capital Partners, an American private equity fund, is a global leader in high-performance spectral imaging solutions and optical components.

EVK’s innovative hyperspectral and inductive sensor technologies as well as data analysis expertise complement Headwall Group’s existing products and commitment to advancing hyperspectral imaging applications and AI-driven interpretation software in machine vision and remote sensing markets.

The transaction was closed on 31 December 2024.

Advisors to EVK: bpv Huegel – Elke Napokoj (Lead, Corporate/M&A), Victoria Huf (Corporate/M&A), Sonja Dürager (IP/IT), Astrid Ablasser-Neuhuber (Competition Law), Gerhard Fussenegger (Competition Law), Sebastian Reiter (Competition Law), Walter Niedermüller (Labour Law), Raphael Lehner (Corporate/M&A).

EVK M&A Team: Rabel & Partner GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft – Markus Pellet.

Advisors to the Buyer: Schönherr Rechtsanwälte.

Press release