Kinstellar successfully completes the acquisition of Noerr’s Bucharest operations, following the acquisition of Noerr’s Offices in Bratislava and Prague
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Kristóf Ferenczi is appointed Firm Managing Partner of Kinstellar

News, deals & insights

Deals October 2024

Kinstellar advises A1 on the acquisition of a significant greenfield site in Serbia

Kinstellar is pleased to announce that it has successfully advised A1 Srbija, a leading telecommunications company in Serbia, on the acquisition of a significant greenfield site in Serbia. A1 Group is a leading telecommunications provider in Central and Eastern Europe, offering advanced communication solutions and digital services to millions of users. Operating in multiple countries including Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bulgaria, A1 Group provides mobile, broadband, TV, and cloud services. Kinstellar provided full legal support throughout the process, including the legal due diligence of the location, negotiations with the seller, signing and notarization of the purchase agreement. This transaction marks another

Deals October 2024

Kinstellar advises Baiterek National Managing Holding JSC on the sale of Bereke Bank, in Kazakhstan

Kinstellar has advised Baiterek National Managing Holding JSC on the KZT 65 billion (approx. US$135 million) sale of Bereke Bank JSC to Lesha Bank LLC, the first independent Shari'a-compliant Bank authorized by the Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority (QFCRA), and a listed entity on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE: QFBQ). This significant transaction aligns with the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's drive for foreign investment in Kazakhstan's financial sector. Our involvement highlights our ability to navigate complex legal frameworks, particularly when dealing with government entities. This deal continues to demonstrate Kinstellar's strong M&A capabilities on transactions involving Kazakhstan and English

Deals October 2024

Kinstellar advises Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel S.A. on the acquisition of Magyar Cetelem Bank, Hungary

Kinstellar has successfully advised Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel S.A. (owner of Cofidis Bank) on the acquisition of BNP Paribas's Hungarian subsidiary, Magyar Cetelem Bank. This transaction exemplifies the seamless and efficient teamwork across service lines at Kinstellar's Budapest office. Kinstellar provided comprehensive assistance to Cofidis Bank throughout the entire transaction process, which included extensive corporate support, banking regulatory approvals, merger clearance, competition law considerations, and the closing of the transaction. It was an exceptionally complex deal, characterized by prolonged and detailed negotiations. The Kinstellar team in Budapest was led by Gábor Gelencsér

Deals October 2024

Kinstellar advises the European defence giant KNDS on opening a subsidiary in Ukraine

Kinstellar is pleased to assist KNDS, the Franco-German military land systems manufacturer, and a key industrial supporter of Ukraine's battle against Russian aggression, on establishing a subsidiary in Ukraine to support the cooperation between the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian armaments industry and KNDS in equipment maintenance, production of spare parts and ammunition, leading to the manufacture of complete weapons systems. Partner and Head of the Defence & Security sector, Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, led the firm's project team.  We are proud to support KNDS Group, whose efforts are crucial to Ukraine's ability to sustain the fight against the Russian aggressor.Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, Partner

Deals October 2024

Kinstellar advises the mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners in relation to a US$300 million syndicated term loan provided to Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan

Kinstellar has successfully advised the mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners on joint stock company Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan's US$300 million syndicated term loan, which comprises 1-year and 3-year tranches. This marks Halyk Bank's return to the international syndicated loan market, allowing it to secure vital funding and diversify its capital base under competitive terms. This significant transaction reopens the international syndicated loan market for Kazakhstan banks, highlighting growing international confidence in the sector. The deal was led by Citibank, London Branch, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and Commerzbank. Our legal team was led by partners Joel Benjamin and Adlet Yerkinbayev, with support

News October 2024

Hugh Owen, a top M&A lawyer in Central and South Eastern Europe, joins Kinstellar as Partner

Kinstellar is very pleased to announce that Hugh Owen joins the Firm as a Partner, effective 1 October 2024. Hugh is a very well-known leading M&A lawyer in the Central and South Eastern European region with an impressive track record. He spent over 23 years at Allen & Overy, including 13 years as a partner. He then ran his own law firm and M&A training business for four years as a sole practitioner, closing over 20 deals with a combined value of over EUR 2.5 billion. For two years from July 2022 to June 2024 he served as Head of Legal Business Solutions for PwC CEE, responsible for the strategy for Legal in over 25 jurisdictions, including Eurasia, core CEE countries, the Baltics, Ukraine and South-Eastern

News September 2024

Kinstellar strengthens its energy team in Budapest with senior expert, Emőke Kovács

Kinstellar is delighted to announce that Emőke Kovács, an accomplished legal practitioner in energy law, has joined the firm's Budapest office as Of Counsel. With an extensive and well-established career in the energy sector, Emőke's expertise further enhances the strength and reputation of our energy law team. With over 20 years of experience working at energy companies and law firms, Emőke is a highly respected and trusted legal expert in the field. She focuses on advising clients from the electricity and gas industries on regulatory matters, as well as a wide range of issues within the energy sector. Emőke has significant experience in electricity and gas trading, energy and heat distribution, and compliance

Insights September 2024

Consumer Law Update – CJEU rules that a price reduction announced in an advertisement must be calculated on the basis of the lowest price in the last 30 days

On 26 September, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") issued its much anticipated decision in the case Aldi Süd (C-330/23) concerning the announcement of price reductions in an advertisement. At issue was whether a price reduction announced in an advertisement must be calculated on the basis of the lowest price in the last 30 days, or whether the price reduction can be calculated from another price, with the information on the lowest price in the last 30 days being provided together with the reference price for calculating the reduction (as an additional figure). The CJEU concluded that that a price reduction announced in an advertisement must be determined on the basis of the lowest price applied

Insights September 2024

Update: Major changes in Bulgarian gambling regulation

As we have previously reported, just a few months ago Bulgaria introduced major changes to the regulations governing organisers of gambling games and activities (including service providers connected with the gambling industry) and gambling advertisements (see the original article here). These changes have recently been further clarified with a decision of the regulator and additional proposed amendments in relevant rules. Below are some key updates: Online advertising A recent decision of the National Revenue Agency ("NRA") clarifies that the legislative changes were intended to restrict gambling advertisements to Bulgarian media outlets and their websites, rather than across the entire Internet. This means

About us

Kinstellar acts as trusted legal counsel to leading investors across Emerging Europe and Central Asia. Our reputation for quality, excellence and integrity speaks for itself.

With offices in eleven jurisdictions and over 300 local and international lawyers, we deliver consistent, joined-up legal advice and assistance across diverse regional markets – together with the know-how and experience to champion your interests while minimising exposure to risk.

Our clients include leading international and regional corporations, banks and other financial institutions, state bodies, multi-lateral institutions, and international law firms with clients that require top-quality legal counsel in our jurisdictions. We handle the most important and complex assignments for clients across diverse industries and business sectors.

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*2022 rankings in core practice areas in international legal directories (Chambers & Partners, Legal 500, IFLR1000)

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With expert local knowledge and a track record at the international level, our lawyers provide top-tier advice and client service in Emerging Europe and Central Asia.

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Last week, our data privacy experts Lukas A. Mrazik, Petr Bratský, and Pavel Hrdý had the privilege of speaking at ''Privacy Days'', the largest #conference on data governance in the #Czech Republic and #Slovakia, where Kinstellar was proud to participate as a partner.

🇭🇺 📢 #Kinstellar has successfully advised Banque Fédérative du Crédit Mutuel S.A. (owner of #Cofidis Bank) on the #acquisition of BNP Paribas’s #Hungarian subsidiary, Magyar #Cetelem Bank. 💡 Kinstellar provided comprehensive assistance to Cofidis Bank throughout the entire #transaction process, which included extensive #corporate support, #banking #regulatory approvals, #merger clearance, #competition law considerations, and the closing of the transaction. 🙌 This transaction exemplifies the seamless and efficient teamwork across service lines in our #Budapest office. 🌟 Our was led by Gábor Gelencsér (Partner, M&A, Corporate) and Levente Hegedűs (Partner, Banking and Finance), with support from Bianka Kovacs (Senior Associate), Aron Barta (Senior Associate), and Judit Sós (Associate) from our M&A and Corporate team. Additionally, Péter Vörös (Partner) and Orsolya Staniszewski (Associate) from our #Competition team, along with Veronika Heiszer, Associate, Banking & Finance, and Daniel Nagy, Senior Associate, #TMT and Data Protection, contributed to the success of this transaction. The process was further assisted and facilitated by Prague-based Partner Karla Rundtova, the firm-wide head of the Foreign Direct Investment Screening service line. 👉 https://lnkd.in/gnQAKa-p #donedeals #CorporateLaw #FinancialSector #FinancialServices #BankingRegulation #MergersAndAcquisitions #CompetitionLaw #TransactionClosing #SeamlessService #Teamwork #LegalAdvisory #HungarianMarket #BudapestLegal #ClientSuccess

📢 🇰🇿 Kinstellar has advised Baiterek National Managing Holding JSC on the KZT 65 billion (approx. US$135 million) #sale of Bereke Bank JSC to Lesha Bank LLC, the first independent Shari'a-compliant Bank authorized by the Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority (QFCRA), and a listed entity on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE: QFBQ). 👉 This significant transaction aligns with the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s drive for foreign investment in Kazakhstan's financial sector. 🏦 Our involvement highlights our ability to navigate complex legal frameworks, particularly when dealing with government entities. This deal continues to demonstrate Kinstellar’s strong M&A capabilities on transactions involving Kazakhstan and English law and confirmed our leading role in the banking sector in Kazakhstan. 🌟 Our legal team was led by Pavel Kornilov, and included Managing Partner, Joel B. Benjamin, with support from Senior Associate Bianka Kovacs and Legal Assistants Kamila Serik and Usen Tastanbekov. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d3_EVxfC #donedeals #FinancialSector #MATransactions #LeadingLawyers #CentralAsia #KazakhstanEconomy

📢 🇺🇦 We are proud to have advised the #European #defence giant #KNDS on opening a #subsidiary in #Ukraine. 🛡️ Anastasiya Bolkhovitinova, our Ukraine office partner and head of the Defence & #Security sector, commented "KNDS Group’s efforts are crucial to Ukraine’s ability to sustain the fight against the russian aggressor." 💬 "Kinstellar is committed to contribute to strengthening Ukraine's defence industrial base by facilitating the market entry of global defence firms, thereby expediting the delivery of their products and services to the frontlines," added Daniel Bilak, Kinstellar Partner who also currently serves in the Territorial Defence Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 🔗 More in the press release 👇 https://lnkd.in/e4_kMvcP #Defence #Defense #Security #Kyiv #InvestmentOpportunities #UkraineBusiness #DefenceSector #Innovation #EuropeanSecurity #Ukraine #Kinstellar

We are excited to share that our ESG team at Kinstellar recently hosted an influential workshop in Prague, which I had the privilege of leading. It was an honor to gather leading experts from across Europe for a rich discussion on the evolving ESG landscape.

📢 We are thrilled to announce that Hugh Owen, a top M&A #lawyer in Central and South Eastern Europe, has joined #Kinstellar as a Partner! 🌟 With over 23 years at Allen & Overy, including 13 years as a partner, and recent leadership at PwC CEE, Hugh brings an exceptional depth of experience and a stellar reputation across the region. 💼 Hugh is a Solicitor of England & Wales, lawyer, consultant, and trainer. He has advised on numerous high-profile corporate and commercial transactions across 20+ countries in the CEE and SEE regions, spanning sectors such as telecommunications, media & technology, banking, insurance, energy, real estate, healthcare, infrastructure, recycling & waste, and industrial & chemicals. Over the course of his career, Hugh has been recognised as a top Corporate and M&A lawyer in the CEE region by Chambers, Legal 500, and other leading publications. In recent editions, clients note that 💬 ‘‘he is the dream team member on any English-law governed deal in #CEE.” (Chambers Europe). 👉 https://lnkd.in/diQ5TTDh Welcome to the team, Hugh! 🙌 #exceptionaltogether #Kinstellar #MergersAndAcquisitions #NewPartner #LawFirmNews #CEE #EnglishLaw #LeadingLawyers #Thoughtleaders

🎉 Join Us at Compliance Day 2024 in Prague! 🎉 Kinstellar is excited to invite you to Compliance Day 2024 on October 17, 2024 in Prague! 🌍 This year’s conference will feature top experts from leading international and Czech companies, including compliance officers, legal professionals, and ESG specialists. Our speakers will share valuable insights on key compliance trends and challenges. 📊 Key topics include: ✅ Building global compliance departments – challenges and opportunities ✅ Handling inspections and competition law ✅ Data privacy and employment law ✅ Cyberattack responses and best practices ✅ International sanctions in the Czech market ✅ The impact of ESG on banking finance ✅ ESG and sustainability – Is Czech business ready for change? Interested in joining us in Prague? Contact us for more details and to reserve your spot at Luděk Wojnar at ! 📝 Spaces are limited. We look forward to seeing you there! 🤝 #ComplianceDay2024 #Kinstellar #ESG #Compliance #Networking #CorporateLaw #Prague

📢 🇭🇺 We are delighted to welcome Emőke Kovács, an accomplished legal practitioner in #energy law, to our #Budapest office as Of Counsel. 🌟 With over 20 years of experience working at energy companies and law firms, Emőke is a highly respected and trusted legal expert in the field. She focuses on advising clients from the #electricity and #gas industries on #regulatory matters, as well as a wide range of issues within the energy sector. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dm2-xYYz 💬 Balazs Sepsey, Managing Partner of Kinstellar Budapes, comments: “We are delighted to welcome such a reputable and talented practitioner as Emőke to our team. Her background and extensive experience in the energy sector will be a great asset to our practice, and I am confident that, together, we will achieve great success.'' 🙌 Welcome, Emőke, and best of luck! #exceptionaltogether #leadinglawyers #energyexperts #energysector 

📢 🇺🇦 Meet Natalia Kirichenko, Partner and Head of IP&T, Data & Cybersecurity in our Kyiv office and the co-head of the firm-wide IP&T service line, at #DefenceTechValley, International Defence Tech #Investment Summit, in 📍 #Kyiv on 🗓️ 3-4 October. 🛡️ The rapidly developing Defence and Security sector heavily relies on advanced technologies and #innovations where #IP plays a crucial role. Natalia has unique expertise to handle a vast array of IP matters in your collaborative defence projects. 🚁 Kinstellar is Ukraine’s and the region’s leading defence sector law firm. Our recent mandates include advising #Rheinmetall Land Systeme GmbH, #BAE Systems, and other global clients in connection with their projects in Ukraine, as well as assisting smaller #MilTech companies, including #drone manufacturers, with market entry and co-venturing opportunities. 🤝 See you at the heart of defence tech innovations! #intheknow #IPexpert #DefenceInnovation #TechSummit2024 #KyivEvent #InvestmentOpportunities #UkraineBusiness #DefenceTechValley #Networking #thoughtleaders #conferences