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
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
Kinstellar is proud to have acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to NJJ Capital, the investment company of France’s leading technology entrepreneur Xavier Niel, on the acquisition and merger of Datagroup-Volia, one of Ukraine’s largest fixed telecom and pay-TV providers, and Lifecell, Ukraine’s third-largest mobile operator. This landmark transaction is a significant consolidation of and investment in the Ukrainian telecoms market, that will bring many benefits to telecoms consumers, especially during wartime circumstances. Kinstellar’s legal team provided comprehensive Ukrainian law advice to NJJ Capital throughout the transaction. Lead lawyer and office managing partner Olena Kuchynska, noted:
Kinstellar is proud to have acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to French tech entrepreneur Xavier Niel’s investment company, NJJ Capital, in the acquisition and merger of Datagroup-Volia, one of Ukraine’s largest fixed telecom and pay-TV providers, and Lifecell, Ukraine’s third-largest mobile operator. This landmark transaction is a significant consolidation of and investment in the Ukrainian telecoms market, that will bring many benefits to telecoms consumers, especially during wartime circumstances. Kinstellar’s legal team provided comprehensive Ukrainian law advice to NJJ Capital throughout the transaction. We hope that this investment serves as a signal to other foreign investors to not wait to the
Kinstellar and KST Law are delighted to have advised Eleven Fund III Cooperatief, a multi-strategy growth fund, on its US$1.1 million in seed investment in Magfi, a SaaS platform based in Istanbul. Magfi enables seamless advertising across Telegram and Discord communities using machine learning and AI. The investment will support Magfi's planned expansion into the Brazilian market. Our team was led by Partner Edmund Emre Özer, with support from Associates Helin Akbulut and Hatice Nur Arslan.
Kinstellar is delighted to announce a new round of promotions in our Zagreb office. Tena Pajalić, Andrej Skljarov and Franciska Fadljević have been promoted to Managing Associates, and Hrvoje Klišanić and Kristina Marinov have become Senior Associates. These skilled professionals have demonstrated their expertise and have become integral members of our team. This promotion acknowledges their professionalism, outstanding service to clients, and significant contributions to the Firm.Miroslav Plašćar, Office Co-Managing Partner Tena Pajalić advises on financing projects, particularly on acquisition finance and project finance. She is also regularly involved in corporate housekeeping matters and due
Kinstellar acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to Accountor, a leading provider of mission-critical business software, on the sale of its subsidiary company in Ukraine to Aspia. Aspia is a leading business partner offering technology-enabled accounting, payroll, tax and advisory services in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark. Accountor specialises in financial, payroll and HR management services. The group employs about 1,700 experts and operates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and Ukraine. In July 2024, Accountor became part of Aspia Group. For the transaction details, see Accountor’s press release here. The advice provided by Kinstellar related to legal support for the sale, by Accountor
The Czech Republic will soon join a group of European countries that offer incentives to the video games industry. The video games industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors in the Czech Republic in recent years, and enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide – despite the lack of any kind of state support. However, this will likely soon change with the adoption of an amendment to the Czech Act on Audiovision (the “Amendment”). Some of the most significant new changes introduced by the Amendment are the transformation of the current Czech Film Fund into the Czech Audiovisual Fund (the “Fund”) and the extension of the state incentive system to include the video games industry. According to the Amendment
Kinstellar is delighted to announce the appointment of new managing partners for our Bratislava and Prague offices, and of a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) effective 1 July 2024. Viliam Myšička is the new Managing Partner of the Bratislava Office, succeeding Adam Hodoň. Adam has been appointed as the Firm’s COO. Viliam has been with Kinstellar since its inception and was previously with Linklaters. He leads the M&A service line in Slovakia and serves as the head of the firm-wide Restructuring & Insolvency service line, as well as the co-head of the firm-wide Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) sector. Viliam brings nearly 20 years of professional experience, advising clients across a wide range
Kinstellar, together with Linklaters LLP, has successfully advised ING Bank N.V. on a EUR 150 million senior facility agreement granted to DIGI Romania, the leading Romania-based paid television and telecommunications provider (and part of Dutch-registered Digi Communications N.V.). The term loan has a maturity of three years and will be used for the refinancing of the EUR 450 million senior guaranteed bonds issued by DIGI Romania, which are due in 2025. ING Bank N.V. acted as arranger and original lender, with ING Bank N.V. London Branch acting as facility agent. Kinstellar’s office in Romania has advised on various iterations of this transaction since 2016 and has thus been thoroughly involved in preparing
In a recent legislative update in the Bulgarian Gambling Act, major changes to regulations governing organisers of gambling games and activities and gambling advertisements have been introduced. Most of the amendments enter into force on 18 May 2024. These amendments entail substantial alterations to the activities of gambling organisers, bans on advertisements (including an updated definition of gambling advertisement), and measures affecting service providers connected with the gambling industry and can be divided into the following sample groups: Advertisements ban For example: gambling advertisements on, among others, television, radio, newspapers and online media (including websites) have been totally
Kinstellar's Prague office successfully advised Dig Ventures on a strategic investment into Talsec, a Czech startup specializing in mobile application security, as part of Dig Ventures’ efforts to expand its global presence and support further innovation in its security solutions portfolio. Talsec, which originated as a spin-off from technology company Monet+, has demonstrated substantial organic revenue growth over the past two years. The company develops specialized tools that protect mobile applications from hacking threats, conceal sensitive information, and identify malicious software. Talsec’s solutions are already helping to secure over a thousand apps from various companies, including insurers like Generali