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Published on 30 July 2024 | CEE Legal Matters CMS, working with Herbert Smith Freehills, has advised IFC on its EUR 200 million blue and green sustainability loan loan for Maistra Hospitality. Dentons reportedly advised Maistra Hospitality. Maistra Hospitality is a tourism company in Croatia. It operates as part of the Adris Group. According to CMS, "this IFC financing is the first blue loan in the Croatian tourism sector. It will provide funds for the development and reconstruction of Hotel Marjan, a well-known hotel near the historic center of Split, which is under the protection of UNESCO, as well as the renovation and upgrading of the largest camp in the country, Vrsar Holiday Village in Istria. Both locations are near protected marine areas, making sustainable business practices particularly important."The CMS team included Partners Jelena Nushol Fijacko, Ana-Marija Skoko, and Tamara Jelic Kazic, Lawyer Darijo Gospic, and Associate Alen Ivanovic. Published by CEE Legal Matters

Published on 18 July 2024 | CEE Legal Matters CMS, working with White & Case's London office, has advised Marlink on its acquisition of Diverto. Mamic Peric Reberski Rimac advised Diverto. Marlink is a managed services provider of busi­ness-crit­ic­al ICT solutions. Diverto is a cyber security company."We welcome very much Diverto and its expert staff in Marlink Group," said Marlink Director Nicolas Furge. "Demand for expertise and resources to meet the increasing needs of our customers in both IT and OT security is growing fast and this acquisition is an important step in strengthening our capabilities and expanding our reach in cyber se­cur­ity.""Di­verto is delighted to join the Marlink Group and we look forward to the ways our customers and employees will benefit from a leading provider of busi­ness-crit­ic­al ICT solutions, with global reach, financial strength, and access to new market segments," added  Diverto CEO Boze Saric. "Diverto will contribute considerable cybersecurity expertise and engineering capability that will enable the creation of a complete and unique portfolio of best-in-class  cyber security solutions to meet to increasing needs of Marlink customers."The CMS team included Partners Marija Zrno Prosic, Mia Kalajdzic, and Marija Musec and Lawyer Manuel Kralj. The Mamic Peric Reberski Rimac team included Partner Vladimir Mamic, Junior Partner Nikola Kokot, and Attorney at Law Erblina Morina. Published by CEE Legal Matters

Published on 17 July 2024 | CEE Legal Matters CMS has advised the Warner Music Group on its acquisition of a minority stake in Croatian label Dancing Bear Records. Kramaric & Partners reportedly advised Dancing Bear. The Warner Music Group is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City."This investment by Warner Music is a vote of confidence in the future of music from the West Balkans," said Co-Founder and Managing Director of Dancing Bear Silvije Varga. "We look forward to working together to take music from our existing roster to the wider world, and to uncover the next generation of local talent."The CMS team included Partner Marija Zrno Prosic and Attorneys at Law Mario Vrdoljak, Manuel Kralj, and Dina Celikovic. Published by CEE Legal Matters

Published on 10 July 2024CMS Belgrade has provided support to Rail Cargo Group (RCG), a freight subsidiary of ÖBB and one of Europe’s leading rail logistics providers, in negotiating a joint venture with minority shareholder Transfera, Serbia’s second-largest transport and logistics provider. RCG will own 51% and Transfera 49% of the new company, which will be headquartered in Belgrade. The joint venture will initially focus on developing intermodal logistics solutions, aiming to integrate Serbian railways into the European transport network and promote environmentally friendly transport solutions. This partnership follows the successful launch of the first freight train from the new intermodal terminal in Kruševac, Serbia, improving rail transport connections to Western Europe. The scope of CMS Belgrade's advice covered corporate law aspects, including review and amendment of transaction documents, as well as competition law aspects of the transaction in Serbia, Austria and Poland. The CMS Belgrade team was led by Marija Tešić, Partner (Corporate/M&A), and included Srđan Janković, Counsel (Competition), and Mila Drljević, Attorney-at-Law (Corporate/M&A). The transaction was also supported by Dieter Zandler, Partner (Competition) for the EU and Austrian competition law aspects, and the Polish team led by Malgorzata Urbanska, Partner (Competition), who provided merger control assistance in Poland.

Published on 4 March 2024

Published on 31 January 2024CMS legal teams in Belgrade, Podgorica and Sarajevo have advised Actis on all Serbian, Montenegrin and Bosnian aspects of the acquisition of a carved-out tower portfolio from Telekom Srbija, one of the leading tele­com­mu­nic­a­tions operators in the CEE region.   The carved-out portfolio comprises approximately 1,800 macro towers, of which approximately 1,000 are located in Serbia, approximately 700 in Bosnia and Herzegovina and approximately 100 in Montenegro. CMS has provided legal advice on the buy-side due diligence, structuring of the carve-outs, negotiation of the transaction documents, transfer of the towers, regulatory matters (merger clearance, telecoms and energy supply regulations), tax matters and financing of the transaction. This landmark transaction marks Actis’ entry into the Western Balkans and reinforces Actis' commitment to the CEE region following previous investments in the energy sector in Romania and Bulgaria in 2022. The CMS team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Marija Tešić (Serbia, Montenegro) and included partners Radivoje Petrikić, Ivan Gazdić and Milica Popović, counsels Marija Marošan and Srđan Janković, senior associates Sandra Miljanić, Ksenija Boreta, Jovana Bingulac, Ksenija Ivetić Marlović, Tamara Zejak and Tamara Samardžija, associates Mila Drljević, Milica Tomić,  Jelena Đorđević, Teodora Vujošević and Jovan Bećirić (all Serbia, Montenegro), partners Indir Osmić and Andrea Zubović-De­vedžić, counsel Sanja Voloder, senior associate Ana Terzić and Zlatan Balta, associates Zlatko Mašović, Stefan Ćosović and Zerina Spahić (all Bosnia and Herzegovina).  

Published on 2 October 2023

Published on 14 September 2023CMS Belgrade has been assisting Palfinger AG, a global leader in innovative crane and lifting solutions, in opening a new component plant in Niš, Serbia. Palfinger operates with over 12,500 employees and 30 manufacturing sites, and has a sales and service network of around 5,000 locations in more than 130 countries on all continents. Palfinger is investing EUR 35.5 million in the new plant in Serbia, which is expected to start production in 2024. This state-of-the-art facility will adhere to industry-leading standards, incorporating advanced energy-saving and en­ergy-gen­er­at­ing technologies, such as photovoltaic systems on the roof of the future plant, as well as the latest cooling and heating technology inside the factory. Our team of expert lawyers, led by Radivoje Petrikić, Partner CMS Vienna and Managing Partner CMS Belgrade, and Maja Stepanović, Corporate/M&A Law Partner, with valuable contributions from Tamara Zejak, Ksenija Ivetić Marlović and Teodora Vujošević, has provided comprehensive legal support in the initial phases of the project, advising on a wide range of corporate, state aid, real estate, financial and employment related matters. Congratulations to Palfinger on breaking ground for their new factory in Serbia!

Published on 26 June 2023CMS Belgrade real estate lawyers Ivan Gazdić and Marija Marošan, as well as competition law expert Srđan Janković, have assisted A1 Serbia, the local subsidiary of A1 Telekom Austria Group, in agreeing to acquire a part of the infrastructure of Serbian provider Conexio.A1 Group CEO Thomas Arnoldner: “With this asset deal, we are able to successfully pursue our growth strategy. A1 Serbia positions itself as a serious player in the region, providing strong support for local traffic needed for mobile backhauling and for the provision of other local services. The continuous connectivity is also a great asset for enterprise customers that need overall solutions and long-distance con­nectiv­ity.”A total of approx. 850 kilometers of piping to be acquired will close the gap between the A1 markets in Croatia and Bulgaria, while also providing routes to Hungary and North Macedonia. After the completion of the transaction, A1 Group will be able to lay fiber in the pipes and close the existing network infrastructure gap.“With this deal we take our international connectivity to a new level. A1 Group will be able to offer state-of-the-art technology and with a total of 850 km of connecting pipes across Serbia will be able to offer fiber along this track to our national and international customers”, says Alejandro Plater, COO A1 Group. “We will be able to offer services running on our own managed infrastructure from the Bosporus to Austria”. The completion of the transaction is, inter alia, subject to the applicable merger control clearance. As agreed between the parties, details regarding the transaction will not be released. CMS has been providing legal support to A1 Telekom Austria Group for a number of years, addressing their legal requirements across the countries of their operation. We congratulate our long-standing client on this transaction and look forward to future accomplishments.

Published on 23 May 2023CMS Belgrade real estate lawyers Ivan Gazdić and Sandra Miljanić have provided expert legal support and assistance to our long-standing client Delhaize Serbia, the biggest food retail chain in Serbia, a member of Ahold Delhaize, one of the world's largest food retail groups, in negotiation of a lease agreement with VGP, a developer of logistics and semi-industrial real estate, for the lease of Delhaize Serbia’s second distribution centre in Serbia covering more than 41,000 square meters. The future VGP Park Belgrade will be the largest industrial park in Serbia and the region, covering an area of more than one million square meters. It is located next to the M-70 and M-75 highways and the Belgrade Ring Road, in close proximity to the Nikola Tesla International Airport. Jan-Willem Dockheer, CEO of Delhaize Serbia, commented: “Our Company remains consistent with the strategy of expanding the retail network and we are very pleased that our second distribution centre will be built in such an important and sustainable location. In the next ten years, we will further expand our spatial capacities, employ a large number of new colleagues, and we will continue to invest in the development of the local market. I believe in success and wish the VGP Serbia team many great years of work.”We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Delhaize team for entrusting us with their legal needs over the years. We look forward to continuing our partnership and providing them with the highest level of legal support.

Published on 15 May 2023CMS has advised NLB Komercijalna banka a.d. Beograd and NLB d.d. Ljubljana, both members of the largest banking and financial group in Slovenia, NLB Group, on the financing of the reconstruction of Sava Center, the largest congress venue in Southeast Europe. This iconic Belgrade landmark, officially opened in 1977 and host to numerous large-scale events and performances, has recently been acquired by Delta Holding and is embarking on a new era with the start of its reconstruction in 2021. The CMS Belgrade team, led by partners Ivan Gazdić and Milica Popović and including senior attorneys Ksenija Boreta, Jovana Bingulac and Sandra Miljanić, as well as members of the CMS International Finance team based in Bucharest, led by partner Ana Radnev, have provided full legal support in the preparation of finance documents for the EUR 55 million loan. The reconstruction of the 100,000 square meter building is taking place in two parallel phases, with the first expected to be completed by November 2023 and the second in the first half of 2024. The investment will amount to over EUR 100 million, a part of which is financed through the loan granted by NLB Group. This loan continues to strengthen NLB Group’s position as a leading financial institution in the SEE region. We extend our congratulations to all parties involved in this significant project for Serbia!

Published on 05/04/2023Hans­grohe, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of faucets and showers, is investing EUR 85 million in its state-of-the-art production facility in Valjevo, Serbia, with a planned start of operations in mid-2023. This new production facility, covering an area of 35,000 square meters, will be the largest investment in the 120-year-long history of Hansgrohe. The new production facility in Serbia is planned as one of the most modern manufacturing sites in Europe. Hansgrohe owns five other production facilities: two in Germany, one each in France, the United States and China. Our team of expert lawyers, led by Maja Stepanović, Corporate/M&A Law Partner, and Ivan Gazdić, Partner and Head of Infrastructure & Projects and Real Estate & Construction, has provided Hansgrohe with full legal support throughout the entire process related to this foreign direct investment, including state aid application and agreement, incorporation process, land acquisition, construction contract preparation, management contracts, health and safety matters, and other related matters. We congratulate Hansgrohe on this significant investment in Serbia and our team of dedicated lawyers who will continue to provide the highest level of legal support for the project in Serbia.