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Portrait ofAnikó Kircsi

Anikó Kircsi

Partner
Head of Corporate/M&A, Head of Consumer Products

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Hungarian Branch Office
YBL Palace
Károlyi utca 12
1053 Budapest
Hungary
Languages Hungarian, English
Capital Markets & Derivatives

Anikó Kircsi is a partner and Head of the Corporate/M&A Practice and the Consumer Products Sector Group at CMS Budapest.

She leads both on domestic and inbound deals and coordinates regional as well as cross-border transactions.   Besides transactional work she oversees all the corporate law related services the CMS Budapest office provides to both major domestic and international clients across several jurisdictions, including corporations, private equity funds and financial institutions. Anikó has vast experience in take over transactions for companies listed on the stock exchange, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, joint ventures and venture capital/private equity deals. She also performs overall project management in due diligence exercises and regularly advises on regulatory and licensing matters.

Formerly, she worked at the Budapest Stock Exchange as chief legal advisor. Anikó is an arbitrator at the Arbitrator of the Permanent Court of Arbitration of Money and Capital Markets. She is actively involved with AmCham’s Regulatory Board.

Anikó is recommended by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in the Corporate/M&A category.

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"She was able to understand the drivers and what our needs are. Our goal was to close quickly and she had the experience and understanding to do that."

Chambers, 2023

"She provides strong corporate support."

Chambers, 2023

"Anikó Kircsi is a strong lawyer who has good work and good team management skills."

Chambers, 2023

"She brings a good understanding of business drivers, along with a deft hand at negotiations. I was particularly impressed that she was able to adopt her negotiation style depending on the tactics used by the other side."

Legal 500, 2022

"Very efficient."

Chambers Europe 2022

"She always ensures I receive prompt attention regardless of pressures elsewhere."

Chambers Europe 2022

"Having very good legal skills and really being in control of situations.”

Chambers, 2021

"She is a knowledgeable expert with excellent communication and problem-solving skills."

Chambers, 2017

"is able to negotiate with a clear business approach - what can be given up and what can't, even if we haven't explicitly spoken about it. Her knowledge is bottomless, and she is precise and punctual."

Chambers, 2015

"Top-notch M&A lawyer” Anikó Kircsi is described by clients as “creative, practical and business-oriented."

Legal 500, 2017

Department head and general corporate law and securities law expert Anikó Kircsi “is able to negotiate with a clear business approach - what can be given up and what can't, even if we haven't explicitly spoken about it. Her knowledge is bottomless, and she is precise and punctual.”

Chambers & Partners, 2015

Relevant experience

  • Wizz Air in relation to the Hungarian aspects of Wizz Air’s initial public offering and listing Wizz Air to the London Stock Exchange.
  • Sun Capital on the acquisition of Pannunion Plc. (renamed to Paccor, then Coveris), a listed company on the Budapest Stock Exchange, including a mandatory take over, squeeze-out and de-listing, as well as on the entire post acquisition merger process of Paccor Hungary into the acquiring company.
  • Itochu, a major Japanese energy company on the acquisition of a stake in a regional energy efficiency company EETEK Holding, including due diligence, structuring, negotiating the transaction documents and the shareholders’ agreement, and on the contemplated swap transaction of its Hungarian investment in EETEK Holding into a Cypriote holding company and the subsequent passporting and IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
  • Erste Bank Hungary on the voluntary public offer and squeeze-out regarding Erste Bank Hungary and its subsequent conversion into private form.
  • Lassellsberger in relation to its successful takeover bid and subsequent de-listing of Zalakerámia Zrt. – a listed company.
  • Shareholders of Globus Nyrt. in the course of selling of the exiting shareholders’ shares to a French investor through a public takeover bid.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Arbitrator, Permanent Court of Arbitration of Money and Capital Markets
  • Member, Amcham Regulatory Committee
  • Member, Hungarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association
  • Member, Budapest Bar Association
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Publications

  • Recent Trends of M&A Transactions as Seen by International Legal Advisers in CEE and Hungary – Budapest Business Journal (December 2017)
  • Legal tasks in relation to IPOs (article in Hungarian) – Cégérték (2016)
  • Interview in Hungarian on the Hungarian M&A market – Cégérték (2016)
  • CMS: Can the M&A market recover in 2015? (article in Hungarian) - Origo
  • Report: M&A market fails to live up to expectations – Budapest Business Journal
  • The trend outlined by the European Transaction Market Study– CMS M&A study 2014 (article in Hungarian) – Napi Gazdaság
  • Rules of corporate law in view of the new Civil Code (article in Hungarian) - Napi Gazdaság
  • CMS M&A Study 2013 – CMS analysed 1700 European corporate transactions (article in Hungarian) - Origo
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Education

  • 2003 - General LL.M., George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C., USA
  • 1999 - Postgraduate Studies on European Union Law, LL.M., Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest
  • 1995 - Doctor of Administration and Law, József Attila University, Szeged, Hungary
  • 1993 – European Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK 
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Corporate/M&A

Anikó Kircsi is a partner and Head of the Corporate/M&A Practice and the Consumer Products Sector Group at CMS Budapest.

She leads both on domestic and inbound deals and coordinates regional as well as cross-border transactions. Besides transactional work, Anikó oversees all the corporate law related services the CMS Budapest office provides to both major domestic and international clients across several jurisdictions, including corporations, private equity funds and financial institutions.

Anikó has vast experience in take over transactions for companies listed on the stock exchange, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, joint ventures and venture capital/private equity deals. She also performs overall project management in due diligence exercises and regularly advises on regulatory and licensing matters.

Anikó is also involved with consumer products sector group clients and has an extensive overview of the sector having advised some of the largest players on the market on various corporate law and transactional matters.

Before joining CMS, she worked at the Budapest Stock Exchange as chief legal advisor. Anikó is an arbitrator at the Arbitrator of the Permanent Court of Arbitration of Money and Capital Markets and is actively involved in AmCham’s Regulatory Board.

Anikó is recommended by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in the Corporate/M&A category. 

more less

"She was able to understand the drivers and what our needs are. Our goal was to close quickly and she had the experience and understanding to do that."

Chambers, 2023

"She provides strong corporate support."

Chambers, 2023

"Anikó Kircsi is a strong lawyer who has good work and good team management skills."

Chambers, 2023

"She brings a good understanding of business drivers, along with a deft hand at negotiations. I was particularly impressed that she was able to adopt her negotiation style depending on the tactics used by the other side."

Legal 500, 2022

"Very efficient."

Chambers Europe 2022

"She always ensures I receive prompt attention regardless of pressures elsewhere."

Chambers Europe 2022

"Having very good legal skills and really being in control of situations.”

Chambers, 2021

"She is a knowledgeable expert with excellent communication and problem-solving skills."

Chambers, 2017

"is able to negotiate with a clear business approach - what can be given up and what can't, even if we haven't explicitly spoken about it. Her knowledge is bottomless, and she is precise and punctual."

Chambers, 2015

"Top-notch M&A lawyer” Anikó Kircsi is described by clients as “creative, practical and business-oriented."

Legal 500, 2017

Department head and general corporate law and securities law expert Anikó Kircsi “is able to negotiate with a clear business approach - what can be given up and what can't, even if we haven't explicitly spoken about it. Her knowledge is bottomless, and she is precise and punctual.”

Chambers & Partners, 2015

Relevant experience

  • A&N Media (a fully owned subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust) on its strategic exit from leading online job and car portals as well as printing business across six CEE countries in 7 jurisdictions.
  • Erste Bank on the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer business in Hungary.
  • RTL Group on the acquisition of M-RTL seven (7) broadcasting channels, which is a unique, standalone acquisition in the TMT sector in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia led by CMS BudapestWork Service on the takeover of Hungary's second-largest workforce solutions firm ProHuman.
  • AXA Insurance on the sale of 100% of its shares, in its life insurance business in Hungary, to Vienna Insurance Group and Axa Bank on all aspects of the cross-border merger of its Hungarian subsidiary into AXA Europe S.A. Belgium, and transforming its Hungarian operation into a branch.MetLife on the acquisition of American-Hungarian Insurance Company (Ahico) in Hungary from AIG, then on the subsequent acquisition of Aviva Life in Hungary and on an intra-group restructuring and the merger of the two Hungarian MetLife entities (former Aviva Life and Ahico). Subsequently, advised on the cross-border merger of MetLife Hungary into an Irish company and a related restructuring process in order to continue its operation as a branch in Hungary.
  • Assa Abloy, the world’s largest lock manufacturer in connection with the due diligence and the acquisition of Seawing Kft. in Hungary.
  • Synlab Hungary on the acquisition of Centrum-Lab medical diagnostics provider.DEKRA SE on the direct acquisition of VEIKI-VNL, a testing laboratory and product certification company in the electric power industry.
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Memberships & Roles

  • Arbitrator, Permanent Court of Arbitration of Money and Capital Markets
  • Member, Amcham Regulatory Committee
  • Member, Hungarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association
  • Member, Budapest Bar Association
more less

Publications

  • Recent Trends of M&A Transactions as Seen by International Legal Advisers in CEE and Hungary – Budapest Business Journal (December 2017)
  • Legal tasks in relation to IPOs (article in Hungarian) – Cégérték (2016)
  • Interview in Hungarian on the Hungarian M&A market – Cégérték (2016)
  • CMS: Can the M&A market recover in 2015? (article in Hungarian) - Origo
  • Report: M&A market fails to live up to expectations – Budapest Business Journal
  • The trend outlined by the European Transaction Market Study– CMS M&A study 2014 (article in Hungarian) – Napi Gazdaság
  • Rules of corporate law in view of the new Civil Code (article in Hungarian) - Napi Gazdaság
  • CMS M&A Study 2013 – CMS analysed 1700 European corporate transactions (article in Hungarian) - Origo
more less

Education

  • 2003 - General LL.M., George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C., USA
  • 1999 - Postgraduate Studies on European Union Law, LLM, Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest
  • 1995 - Doctor of Administration and Law, József Attila University, Szeged
  • 1993 – European Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK
more less
Private Equity

Anikó Kircsi is a partner and Head of the Corporate/M&A Practice and the Consumer Products Sector Group at CMS Budapest.

She leads both on domestic and inbound deals and coordinates regional as well as cross-border transactions. Besides transactional work, Anikó oversees all the corporate law related services the CMS Budapest office provides to both major domestic and international clients across several jurisdictions, including corporations, private equity funds and financial institutions.

Anikó has vast experience in take over transactions for companies listed on the stock exchange, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, joint ventures and venture capital/private equity deals. She also performs overall project management in due diligence exercises and regularly advises on regulatory and licensing matters.

Formerly, she worked at the Budapest Stock Exchange as chief legal advisor. Anikó is an arbitrator at the Arbitrator of the Permanent Court of Arbitration of Money and Capital Markets. She is actively involved in AmCham’s Regulatory Board.

Anikó is recommended by Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in the Corporate/M&A category.

more less

"She was able to understand the drivers and what our needs are. Our goal was to close quickly and she had the experience and understanding to do that."

Chambers, 2023

"She provides strong corporate support."

Chambers, 2023

"Anikó Kircsi is a strong lawyer who has good work and good team management skills."

Chambers, 2023

"She brings a good understanding of business drivers, along with a deft hand at negotiations. I was particularly impressed that she was able to adopt her negotiation style depending on the tactics used by the other side."

Legal 500, 2022

"Very efficient."

Chambers Europe 2022

"She always ensures I receive prompt attention regardless of pressures elsewhere."

Chambers Europe 2022

"Having very good legal skills and really being in control of situations.”

Chambers, 2021

Department head and general corporate law and securities law expert Anikó Kircsi “is able to negotiate with a clear business approach - what can be given up and what can't, even if we haven't explicitly spoken about it. Her knowledge is bottomless, and she is precise and punctual.”

Chambers & Partners, 2015

Relevant experience

  • China CEE Investment Co-operation Fund and CEE Equity Partners on their EUR 202m acquisition of 99.9% of Magyar Telecom B.V.’s holdings in the Invitel Group, and subsequently on the EUR 140m sale of a major part of the Invitel Group to DIGI Group.
  • Advent International-led private equity group on the Hungarian aspects of the acquisition of Provimi Pet Food (renamed to Partner in Pet Food) in several jurisdictions. Subsequently, advised on the acquisition of Agro-Trust’s pet food business by Partner in Pet Food in Hungary.
  • Sun Capital on the acquisition of Pannunion Plc. (renamed to Paccor, then Coveris), a listed company on the Budapest Stock Exchange, including a mandatory take over, squeeze-out and delisting, as well as on the entire post acquisition merger process of Paccor Hungary into the acquiring company.
  • PortfoLion / Finext in various, independent investments into the TMT sector within the framework of the so called Jeremie program of the EU.
  • Day One Capital on setting up its venture capital management company.
  • Amand Wine Investments on establishing a joint venture with Euroventures.
  • Argus Capital in multiple phases of a tender process for the acquisition of 100 % of shares of flexible packaging business of Aluflexpack Group, including shareholdings in its various subsidiaries, from Hypo Group Alpe Adria.
more less

Memberships & Roles

  • Arbitrator, Permanent Court of Arbitration of Money and Capital Markets
  • Member, Amcham Regulatory Committee
  • Member, Hungarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association
  • Member, Budapest Bar Association
more less

Publications

  • Recent Trends of M&A Transactions as Seen by International Legal Advisers in CEE and Hungary – Budapest Business Journal (December 2017)
  • Legal tasks in relation to IPOs (article in Hungarian) – Cégérték (2016)
  • Interview in Hungarian on the Hungarian M&A market – Cégérték (2016)
  • CMS: Can the M&A market recover in 2015? (article in Hungarian) - Origo
  • Report: M&A market fails to live up to expectations – Budapest Business Journal
  • The trend outlined by the European Transaction Market Study– CMS M&A study 2014 (article in Hungarian) – Napi Gazdaság
  • Rules of corporate law in view of the new Civil Code (article in Hungarian) - Napi Gazdaság
  • CMS M&A Study 2013 – CMS analysed 1700 European corporate transactions (article in Hungarian) - Origo
more less

Education

  • 2003 - General LL.M., George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C., USA
  • 1999 - Postgraduate Studies on European Union Law, LLM, Eötvös Lóránd University, Budapest
  • 1995 - Doctor of Administration and Law, József Attila University, Szeged
  • 1993 – European Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK 
more less

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