Your guide to real estate development in Austria

International law firm CMS is pleased to announce the promotion of 54 new partners. The new partners are based in 24 cities in 17 countries around the world, reflecting the firm's international strength and depth. Women account for 41% of all global promotions. Pierre-Sé­bas­tien Thill, CMS Chairman, comments: “Con­grat­u­la­tions to our new partners. In addition to their legal expertise and cutting-edge sector knowledge, they demonstrate deep curiosity about future business challenges and opportunities as well as help foster a culture of innovation, inclusivity and sustainability within our organisation. All these are traits needed to help our clients, and CMS, prepare for the world of to­mor­row.”CM­S's annual partner promotions take into account promotions that take effect between 2 May 2023 and 1 May 2024. The full list of new Partners can be found below:

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.

Press release - 6 February 2024

De­veloper­In­vestorOwn­er De­veloper/Con­struct­or 1. What are the currently applicable emission reduction goals and relevant  provisions for green real estate developments? Buildings produced 8.1M tons...

Press release - 03 March 2023An international CMS team advised DPE Deutsche Private Equity GmbH (DPE) on all aspects of the transaction. The team included lawyers from CMS offices in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Romania and Poland.   DPE is selling its stake in VTU Group, a leading European provider of engineering solutions for the life science industry based in Graz, to Altor Funds. The Swedish private equity firm, which invests in mid-sized companies with the aim of creating value through growth initiatives and operational improvements, prevailed in a bidding process. The sellers, DPE-owned funds, were advised on all aspects of the transaction by an international CMS team led by Hendrik Hirsch (CMS Germany). The transaction is subject to the requisite approvals from the competent authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the trans­ac­tion.   The CMS Austria team led by Alexander Rakosi consisted of corporate/M&A experts Florian Mayer, Marco Selenic and Christoph Birner. The employment department was represented by Jens Winter and Shima Babanzadeh. Competition issues were handled by Dieter Zandler. Real estate law expertise was provided by Mariella Kapoun and Maximilian Uidl. Marlene Wim­mer-Nistel­ber­ger was in charge of public law issues and Thomas Aspalter saw to tax is­sues.   Al­ex­an­der Rakosi, partner at CMS in Vienna and leader of the Austrian team, is enthusiastic about the cross-border cooperation: “Once again, we were able to demonstrate our international expertise, especially in the private equity area, in a multi-jur­is­dic­tion­al project – congratulations to all involved!”

The new capital will be used both to finance the online grocer’s continued expansion in Germany, Italy, Spain and Romania and to drive forward technical innovation. Founded in 2014, online grocer Rohlik, which revolutionised grocery in Austria with gurkerl. at, is one of the fastest growing retailers in the Czech Republic and the entire CEE region. Promising delivery just 90 minutes after an order is placed, the company already supplies more than one million customers with more than 17,000 products. Rohlik now not only offers its delivery service in Vienna (gurkerl. at), but also in Prague (rohlik. cz), Budapest (kifli. hu), Munich and Frankfurt (knuspr. de). Soon the service plans to launch in Hamburg, Milan (sezamo. it), Bucharest (sezamo. ro) and Madrid (sezamo. es). The fresh capital will be used to finance continuing expansion and drive technical innovations. Alexander Rakosi, Partner in the CMS Vienna Corporate Transactions Team, is delighted with the deal: “Such a large cross-border transaction always raises a number of complex legal and organisational issues that require sound legal expertise and a well-coordinated transaction team. Our international network enables us to provide our clients with comprehensive advice and access to seasoned experts in all coun­tries.”Man­aging Partner of CMS in Prague and Bratislava, Helen Rodwell, is also pleased about the successful closing: “We are proud to have been able to accompany this new financing round. Rohlik’s unique offering and first-class service make it an attractive growth candidate for investors cautious due to the current economic and geopolitical climate. As a leading international law firm – with a significant presence in CEE and many other European countries – CMS is ideally placed to provide legal support for this kind of cross-border trans­ac­tion.”The Austrian CMS legal team in Vienna included Alexander Rakosi and Florian Mayer (Corporate Law/M&A), Anna Hiegelsperger (Corporate Law/M&A), Jens Winter (Employment & Pensions), Sonja Otenhajmer (Dispute Resolution), Mariella Kapoun (Real Estate & Construction) and Maximilian Uidl (Real Estate & Construction). The international CMS legal team was led by experienced CMS partner Helen Rodwell (CMS Czech Republic) and consisted of David Cranfield (CMS Romania), Štěpán Havránek and Tristan O'Connor (CMS Czech Republic); and Moritz Kopka (CMS UK). Also advising were Florian Kamienke and Oliver Thurn (CMS Germany); Miklos Boros (CMS Hungary); José Luis Rodriguez and Carlos Peña (CMS Spain); Cristina Ciomos and Rodica Manea (CMS Romania); and Alessandra Cuni, Sara Tammarazio and Daniela Murer (CMS Italy). 

Published on CEE Legal Matters | February 23, 2022 CMS has advised Greiner on the sale of its extrusion division, including operational assets in Austria and the Czech Republic, to Nimbus. KPMG Legal advised Nimbus. Greiner is an Austrian plastics and foam specialist company.

Shortly before the beginning of the year, CMS Austria supported the Austrian plastics and foam specialist Greiner AG on the successful sale of its extrusion division, including the associated operational real estate in Nußbach, Upper Austria, and Trhové Sviny, Czech Republic. On 21 December 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office approved the sale of the Austrian- based Greiner Extrusion Group (GEG) to the Dutch-German investment company Nimbus – the majority owner, amongst other things, of bat­ten­feld-cin­cin­nati, one of CEG’s competitors with subsidiaries in Germany, Austria, the USA and China. The now affiliated companies intend to exploit synergies in purchasing, at least. Otherwise, both entities will remain independent companies with their organisational structures and market presence. As part of the transaction, the experts of the CMS advisory team, led by Alexander Rakosi, Florian Mayer and Anna Hiegelsperger, had to navigate numerous complex legal topics on trans­ac­tion-re­lated aspects as well as in the areas of real estate law and an­ti­trust/com­pet­i­tion law. The internationally experienced team of experts at CMS Austria also included Dieter Zandler (antitrust law), Vanessa Horaceck (competition law), Hans Lederer (trademark law), Johannes Hysek (real estate law), Mariella Kapoun (real estate), Sibylle Novak (international tax law), Thomas Aspalter (tax law), Cornelia Kreuth (M&A), Christoph Birner (financing) and Alexandros Hantasch (corporate trans­ac­tions). In addition, the Austrian advisory team was also supported by colleagues from other CMS offices. The international CMS team consisted of Stepan Havranek (CZ), Eva Bryndova (CZ), Michael Munzinger (PRC), Lei Shi (PRC), Dipesh Santilale (UK), Sabby Kenzie (UK), Margaux Deuchler (F), Thomas Hains (F), Blazej Zagorski (PL) and Marta Osowska-Buba (PL). Lead partner Alexander Rakosi happily notes: “International transactions bring multi-faceted challenges. We are glad to have been able to provide comprehensive legal advice to the Greiner Group from project kick-off to its successful closing across all countries.”

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.

US-based Modine Manufacturing Company, a diversified global leader in thermal management technology and solutions, is selling part of its European air-cooled automotive business, including its manufacturing...