Congratulations to act legal Germany

JUVE Handbuch 2018/2019 recommends AC Tischendorf in numerous categories, namely in:

  • Restructuring
  • Labor Law
  • Corporate
  • Compliance
  • Region Frankfurt/Main

Congratulations to all the recommended lawyers from act legal Germany: Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA, Dr. Tara Kamiyar-Müller, Dr. Stephan Schwilden, MBA, Dr. Christian Rosinus and Friederike Jawad, LL.M.!

act legal Germany tops it off!

Following on the ranking in “Germany’s Best Lawyers 2019” in the category finance law, act legal Germany is now additionally listed as top law firm and its managing partner Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA as top lawyer for Mergers & Acquisitions and for Restructuring in the German business journal WirtschaftsWoche. Congratulations! Every year, the journal publishes an exclusive ranking of leading law firms and lawyers in Germany for Mergers & Acquisitions and Restructuring (inter alia).

For the category M&A, Handelsblatt Research Institute asked 4400 lawyers in 223 law firms to name their most renowned colleagues in antitrust and M&A law. Afterwards, a specialist jury evaluated the list resulting in the M&A ranking of 78 lawyers from 47 law firms.

This year’s jury consisted of Martin Schlag from Thyssenkrupp, Bettina Holzwarth from Bosch, Claas Westermann from RWE, Jan Eckert from ZF Friedrichshafen and Achim Schunder as branch manager of C.H.Beck.

Find the complete M&A ranking here (in German only).

For the category restructuring, Handelsblatt Research Institute asked 1000 lawyers in more than 90 law firms to name their most renowned colleagues in insolvency law and restructuring. The results were evaluated by the jury consisting of Thomas Harbrecht from Euler Hermes, Barbara Jürgens from Oldenburgische Landesbank, Karl Beck from Commerzbank, Wencke Mull from Atradius and Achim Schunder from C.H. Beck. The list recommends 53 lawyers in 35 law firms.

Find the complete restructuring ranking here (in German only).

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Rank Progress aquires nearly 8 hectares for new investment project

act legal Poland (BSWW) has consulted on Rank Progress’ purchase of nearly 8 hectares of investment land worth over PLN 27m net. On June 26, 2019, Progress XVIII sp. z o.o. – S.K.A., a subsidiary of Rank Progress S.A., entered into a preliminary agreement for acquisition of ownership title to a land lot of 7.9 ha with a view to developing a shopping mall.

The property is located in Otwock. The transaction value is PLN 27.6m.

The law firm’s team was led by Michał Wielhorski, Managing Partner. It was also made up of Katarzyna Marzec – Partner and Mateusz Prokopiuk – Senior Associate.

Rank Progress runs a range of investment projects involving acquisition of land in promising locations in various towns and smaller cities for the purpose of retail developments intended for lease or sale,” says Michał Wielhorski. “This is yet another project of this kind, on which we advise our Client,” he adds.

Rank Progress is an investment and development company which has become a market leader when it comes to construction of retail spaces. It is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

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Lux Med Group acquired 100% shares in Silver Dental Clinic

act legal Poland (legal advisor) and Upper Finance Med Consulting(transactional advisor) supported Silver Dental Clinic’s owners during the sale process.

Silver Dental Clinic offers highly specialized services, including a unique range of orthodontist ones. The clinic makes use of advanced digital technology. It is made up of 6 units, a radiology lab with digital diagnostic equipment, an orthodontic lab and a training room.

Transaction-related legal services for the dental clinic’s former owners were provided by act legal Poland. The scope of the law firm’s works included negotiations covering the sale of shares, lease of premises in which the clinic runs its operations, and support in deal closing.

The project was handled by Piotr Smołuch (attorney-at-law, Managing Partner) and Sebastian Sury (attorney-at-law, Partner).

For some time now, we have seen the growing popularity of private dental services and their increasing market share,” says Piotr Smołuch.

This is yet another instance of our cooperation with Upper Finance,” adds Sebastian Sury.

The Polish dental market is currently worth PLN 11bn and despite accounting for just 3% of the European market, it has the potential to keep growing at the pace of approx. 10% year-to-year. This growth is propelled primarily by the rapidly increasing popularity of private services that make up as much as 80% of the dental market. Only a third of Poles use National Health Fund (NFZ)-reimbursed services, while public spending on this medical segment constitutes just 2.5% of NFZ’s budget.

The increasing share of private spending on dental care is related to easier access to technology that improves patients’ comfort and meets a broad array of their needs. This trend is further promoted by the fact that the society is becoming richer and more aware of a simple truth that a beautiful smile often comes with a successful life,” says Joanna Szyman, Deputy President at Upper Finance Med Consulting.

Upper Finance Med Consulting experts have taken note of the ongoing process of market consolidation by investors:

This trend is perfectly understandable, given the highly dispersed nature of the Polish market, quick technological growth, cut-throat competition from large medical groups, and challenging expectations of patients. Investors appreciate clinics in which highly advanced services, incl. orthodontics, form a large share,” says Marcin Śmigielski, Project Manager at Upper Finance Med Consulting.

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Management Buyout of Arvato business unit

A consortium of investors together with the management acquired the business operations of rewards arvato services GmbH, a group company of Arvato Bertelsmann, by way of an asset deal. 

The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction has already been consummated.

Arvato, being a division of Bertelsmann, is an internationally active services company. Its approximately 30,000 employees in nearly 30 countries develop and implement innovative solutions for business customers from around the world. These include SCM solutions, financial services and IT services.

The acquired business unit, now operating under the firm name Coloyal GmbH, develops and operates individual programs to identify, gain and bind loyal end consumers, business clients or employees.

The company’s international clients include commercial enterprises, airlines, financial service providers, insurances, and consumer goods as well as car manufacturers.

Counsel investors: 

act legal Germany: 

Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA; Fabian Brocke, LL.M. (both Corporate/M&A), Marcus Columbu (Commercial); Dr. Stephan Schwilden, MBA (Employment); Dr. Florian Wäßle, LL.M. (IP, Data Protection); Sarah Landsberg (Real Estate); Dr. Nina Honstetter (Corporate/ M&A)

Background: 

act legal Germany has a long-standing client relationship with the investor consortium, advising the client(s) comprehensively for many years. The firm has advised the consortium on several transactions in the past. 

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act legal Poland ranked in The Legal 500 EMEA 2019

act legal Poland (BSWW) received great recognition in this year’s The Legal 500 EMEA 2019 ranking with recommendations in 7 practice areas and numerous individual recommendations for their lawyers.

To read the full articles of the The Legal 500 EMEA 2019 ranking please click here.

The recommended business areas:
– banking and finance
– capital markets
– commercial, corporate and M&A
– construction
– dispute resolution
– employment
– white-collar crime

The individual recommendations:
– Jacek Bieniak
– Piotr Smołuch
– Michał Wielhorski
– Piotr Wojnar
– Marek Wojnar
– Magdalena Banaszczyk-Głowacka
– Marta Kosiedowska
– Katarzyna Marzec
– Piotr Pośnik
– Sebastian Sury

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act legal Poland advises Strabag in the take over of Caverion

On February 28, 2019, act Poland helped a Strabag Group company acquire Caverion`s business in Poland.

Strabag PFS Austria GmbH (member of Strabag Group) (www.strabag-pfs.at/) signed an agreement to purchase 100% shares in Caverion Polska Sp. z o.o. (https://www.caverion.com/). The previous owner, Caverion Oyj (Finland), decided to withdraw from the Polish market. The company’s operations were focused on technical facility management.

Caverion Polska, established in 1993, had a workforce of 170. Its 2017 turnover was approx. EUR 12m, with most generated by technical facility management (and the rest by industrial installations).

The transaction value has not been disclosed.

act Poland (BSWW) was advising Strabag Group throughout the process of acquisition of Caverion Polska’s shares. The scope of consulting services included a due diligence review of the company, preparation of transaction documents, support in negotiations and representation in anti-trust clearance procedures before the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

The project team was led by Marek Wojnar (attorney-at-law, Managing Partner). He was supported by Marta Kosiedowska (legal counsel, Partner) and Katarzyna Góra (trainee attorney-at-law, Associate).

“We are happy to win yet again the trust of Strabag Group, market leader that stands for top quality. The Client clearly appreciates our knowledge, skills and experience in M&A transactions, especially with respect to extension of business operations in Poland, which is a highly sensitive and challenging area,” says Marek Wojnar.

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JUVE ranking 2019 – congratulations!

act legal Austria’s Klagenfurt office, WMWP, was ranked ex aequo in first place for the Carinthian market by JUVE.

According to JUVE (https://www.juve.de/), the firm is one of the most important market players in Carinthia. Competitors respect the founding partners Wiedenbauer and Mutz in particular for their know-how in M&A, venture capital financing and real estate law. 

JUVE described act legal Austria’s Klagenfurt office’s advisory mandate of the Carinthian investment administration on the politically controversial partial privatisation of Klagenfurt Airport as one of the most prominent recent mandates. Also, they highlighted the law firm’s increasing benefits from reference mandates from the act legal alliance, which they joined in 2017, as well as their ongoing collection mandates (e.g. for the housing group Buwog).

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Easyfairs acquired Clarion Events Deutschland

Clarion Events Ltd. (www.clarion.com) sold all shares in its subsidiary Clarion Events Deutschland GmbH to Easyfairs.

The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction has already been consummated.

Clarion Events Ltd. (www.easyfairs.com) is owned by the private equity investor Blackstone and is present around the globe as one of the world’s leading event organisers. It is headquartered in London, has offices in Continental Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, APAC and North America, and is active across a diverse range of industries including energy, gaming, retail, sports competitions and scientific conferences.

Clarion Events Deutschland GmbH organizes and manages the annual “FMB – The Supplier Show for Mechanical Engineering” event, which, as stated by the managing director of Easyfairs Germany in a press release, is a perfect addition to Easyfair’s existing portfolio of industrial trade fairs. Easyfairs currently organizes more than 200 events in 19 countries.

Counsel Clarion: 

act legal Germany: 

Fabian Brocke, LL.M. (Corporate/M&A, lead partner), Dr. Nina Bogenschütz (Employment); Dr. Florian Wäßle, LL.M. (IP, Data Protection); Nina Honstetter (Corporate/M&A)

Counsel Easyfairs:  
White & Case LLP
 (Frankfurt)

Background: 

act legal Germany has a long-standing client relationship with Clarion, advising the client comprehensively for many years. The firm has advised Clarion on several transactions in the past, including the acquisition of Premium Group in 2017.

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Carlyle acquires majority stake in SERgroup

Carlyle, global alternative asset manager and the leading international PE investor, acquired a majority stake in SERgroup, Europe’s largest European Enterprise Content Management solutions (ECM) software provider.

Underlining their commitment to continuity, the four founders i.e. the selling shareholders will retain a significant minority stake in SER. Further details were not disclosed. The transaction has been approved by the relevant antitrust authorities.

The act legal Germany transaction team consisted of Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA (managing partner), Dr. Matthias Müller, MBA (partner), Dr. Fabian Brocke, LL.M. (partner), Dr. Florian Wäßle, LL.M. (partner) and Dr. Fabian Laugwitz, MBA, LL.M. (partner). Excluding antitrust law, the act legal Germany partners advised Carlyle in all issues of the acquisition. act legal Germany has a long-standing client relationship with Carlyle.

The SERgroup GmbH (www.ser.de): Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SER is committed to innovation, highly customizable and scalable solutions, and excellent client service. SER began as a provider of electronic archiving and has grown into a supplier of state-of-the-art ECM solutions to companies throughout Europe. Today, more than 550 employees work for SERgroup. The company is present in 22 international locations.

The Carlyle Group (www.carlyle.com): Founded in 1987 in Washington, DC, Carlyle has grown into one of the world’s largest and most successful investment firms, with more than 1,650 professionals operating in 31 offices in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia. Since 2002, Carlyle‘s European technology funds have invested €1.4 billion in small and medium-sized businesses and supported their growth plans. Today, the Carlyle Group is a global investment firm with $216 billion of assets under management across 343 investment vehicles.