Press release - 19. April 2024Andreas Lichtenberger (30), who specialises in data protection law, was promoted to lawyer at CMS Vienna in February 2024. In addition, he has been appointed as the firm’s new data protection officer, filling a further important position at CMS Vienna. Andreas Lichtenberger completed his business law degree in Vienna and has worked at CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz for several years. After joining the firm in 2016 as a legal trainee and staying on as an associate in 2019, he now works as a lawyer and continues to strengthen the data protection law team, a market-leading expert team. His legal practice also focuses on the areas of IT/IP law and commercial law. “His portfolio is a great fit for us, since we advise numerous clients on issues such as international data exchange, cloud solutions, artificial intelligence, and further challenges of our interconnected world,” says CMS managing partner Johannes Juranek. “As businesses increasingly rely on our expertise in data protection law in the context of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we are continuously growing our team.” With the new Cybersecurity Act due to enter into force in autumn, Andreas Lichten­ber­ger’s expertise will continue to be very much sought after. The Act imposes a duty of care on numerous business, authorities, and associations. They must enhance IT security measures and expand risk management in order to meet the upcoming stricter, EU-wide requirements. CMS data protection officer Andreas Lichtenberger will also apply his expertise and experience as the firm’s data protection officer (DPO). In an international law firm, GDPR compliance requires a substantial time commitment, especially considering the need for in-depth collaboration and coordination with management, the IT department, and the entire global CMS network.

Press release - 15 March 2024 CMS Austria has advised the Greek Sfakianakis Group on the acquisition of Ajar Car Rental GmbH from the Saudi Arabian Al Jomaih Group, providing comprehensive legal advice on the project. Ajar Car Rental GmbH is the master franchisee of Enterprise, National, and Alamo in Austria, serving rent-a-car customers across the country. During the acquisition, the CMS Austria team provided significant support and advice on all areas of the transaction, including due diligence, employment, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, banking and finance, data protection and competition. Alexander Rakosi (Partner, Corporate/M&A) led the CMS core transaction team, which further consisted of Christoph Birner (Associate, Corporate/M&A) and Thomas Liegl (Associate, Corporate/M&A). Alexander Rakosi comments: “We are very pleased to have successfully supported the Sfakianakis Group on its market entry into Austria and to have contributed to our client's continued growth in the automotive industry."The CMS due diligence team included Rebecca Herlitz (Associate, Corporate/M&A), Mariella Kapoun (Partner, Real Estate), Hans Lederer (Partner, Intellectual Property), Andreas Lichtenberger (At­tor­ney-at-Law, Data Protection), Caroline Pavitsits (Associate, Employment), Kai Ruckelshausen (Partner, Banking & Finance), Sheldon Sookdeo (Associate, Banking & Finance), Maximilian Uidl (Associate, Real Estate), Marlene Wim­mer-Nistel­ber­ger (Partner, Regulatory), Jens Winter (Partner, Employment) and Dieter Zandler (Partner, Competition), as well as legal trainees Roman Namestek, Ferdinand Sima and Mattias Torggler. PHH Rechtsanwälte, led by Rainer Kaspar and Philip Rosenauer, provided legal support to Al Jomaih. About Sfakianakis Group Founded in 1958, Sfakianakis Group is one of the leading diversified business groups in Greece, with a core focus on the Automotive, Industrial and Consumer Retail sectors. Headquartered in Athens, Greece, the Group is 100% family owned and employs over 1,500 individuals across 14 countries in Europe. Within the Automotive sector, the Group operates one of the largest automotive retail businesses in the region, the distribution businesses of BYD and Suzuki, a leading long-term leasing business (Executive Lease), and a rapidly growing Rent-A-Car business as the Master Franchisee of En­ter­prise-Na­tion­al-Alamo in 14 countries.

NewsMonitor | Data Protection – Episode 7

NewsMonitor Data Protection - Episode 5

The internationally active specialist in recycling and packaging solutions ALPLA is adding to its already broad product portfolio. ALPLA was advised by CMS again on its recent acquisition of Wolf Plastics Group.

Over the past one and a half years, together with Payment Services Austria (PSA), the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) (the Austrian Central Bank) has laid the foundation for modernising the processing...

In the long-awaited ruling "Facebook vs. Schrems" (ECJ C-311/18), the European High Court has now ruled that transferring personal data from the EU to the USA on the basis of the data processing agreement...