Kinstellar is delighted to announce it has successfully advised CCC—a leading Polish-based footwear manufacturer and retailer with a network of over 1,000 stores across 29 countries—on the Romanian, Czech, Croatian, Hungarian and Slovak legal aspects of a PLN 1.8 billion (approximately EUR 420 million) term and revolving facilities agreement. The financing, which is provided by a consortium of lenders including mBank, EBRD, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, PKO Bank Polski, Santander Bank Polska, and Bank Handlowy w Warszawie, as well as the factoring entities Santander Factoring, mFaktoring, PKO Faktoring, and BNP Paribas Faktoring, will support CCC’s ongoing operations and the further development of its brands
Kinstellar has successfully advised on the Czech law aspects of the combination of the businesses of Germany-based KTP Kunststoff Palettentechnik, a portfolio company of VR Equitypartner, and Belgium-based conTeyor International, majority-owned by Gilde Equity Management. The transaction creates a leading group in the sustainable packaging sector, combining KTP's foldable container expertise with conTeyor's textile inner packaging solutions. The newly formed group is expected to generate sales of approximately EUR 200 million annually and employ around 1,000 people. The Kinstellar team in Prague was led by Karla Rundtová (Partner) and included Adam Němec (Managing Associate) and Tereza Holubová (Senior Associate)
Kinstellar advised Peter Mitev, co-founder and former CEO of Chaos Group, a global leader in computer graphics technologies, and Big Orange Foundation, on the legal aspects of their joint venture with Raycho Raychev, founder and CEO of Endurosat, one of the fastest growing satellite companies in the world, in relation to the acquisition of a landmark 17,000 sqm building in Sofia, Bulgaria. The building is strategic for Endurosat's vision for the development of the space sector and will be used for space research and other key operations. The acquisition of the building, formerly the headquarters of Alpha Bank, is the largest office transaction on the Bulgarian real estate market for the year 2024 to date. The Kinstellar
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
Kinstellar has advised the Mitiska European Real Estate Partners 3, a real estate fund managed by Mitiska REIM, on its entry into the real estate market in Bulgaria through a joint venture (JV) with Park Lane Developments. Mitiska REIM, the leading specialist investor in European convenience real estate, and Park Lane Developments, a leading commercial property company developing and managing prime office, logistics/light-industrial, and retail park assets in CEE, plan to develop and open at least five prime retail parks in Bulgaria over the next five years. Kinstellar advised on the structuring and implementation of the JV. The team was led by Partner Antonia Mavrova (Head of Real Estate, Construction &
Minimum salary A new methodology for determining minimum salaries has been implemented. In line with EU legislation, from 2025 the minimum wage will be determined by an indexation mechanism and be announced by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs no later than on 30 September for the following year. The guaranteed salary grading (an additional “minimum” salary scaled according to the complexity of the given work) has been abolished as obsolete. Accordingly, from 1 August the only minimum salary amount which employers must adhere to is the minimum salary, determined and announced as above. The proposed (not yet approved) level of the minimum salary is 42,2 % of the average salary, i.e. CZK 20 600 for 2025
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that we have successfully advised China Southern Power Grid International on its acquisition of a 35% stake in ACWA Power Bash Wind Project Holding Company Limited and ACWA Power Uzbekistan Wind Project Holding Company holding 100% in Bash and Dzhankeldy Uzbek project companies, respectively. The projects represent a combined 1 GW capacity and over USD 1.3 billion of investments. This transaction marks the first acquisition of large-scale renewable energy projects in Uzbekistan. Each of Bash and Dzhankeldy wind farm plants is developed based on a ‘Build, Own, Operate, Transfer’ model and consists of 79 wind turbines (158 turbines in total) that will generate 3,235 gigawatt-hours
Kinstellar is delighted to announce that it has again successfully advised Globalworth, an AIM-listed, leading office investor in Poland and Romania, on the sale of a logistics portfolio in Romania, to the buyer WDP. The transaction closed in July 2024, being one of the largest logistics transactions in Romania to date in 2024. The portfolio sold to WDP was a joint venture with Global Vision, and includes sizeable lettable logistics and industrial facilities as well as land bank in Chitila, Constanta and Targu Mures. This transaction follows on the heels of Globalworth’s sale of another logistics portfolio to CTP earlier this year in May. Kinstellar provided comprehensive support on all aspects of the transaction.
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
SOG in cooperation with Kinstellar is proud to announce its role as legal counsel to Strickland Metals Limited, an ASX-listed mineral exploration company from Australia, on its acquisition of Zlatna Reka Resources d.o.o. Beograd-Vracar. This acquisition marks a significant development in Serbia’s burgeoning mining industry, as the project holds an impressive 5.4 million ounce gold resource. Kinstellar’s team, led by Senior Associates Sara Ostojić and Mario Kijanović, as well as Associate Vuk Vučković, provided comprehensive legal services for this acquisition. Our involvement included a thorough legal due diligence of the mining titles, permits, and accompanying documentation of the target company. Zlatna
Kinstellar is pleased to announce the successful completion of a new recruitment round, welcoming six lawyers to its growing team in Bucharest. The new additions bolster the local team’s offering in the real estate, banking & finance, and competition practices, addressing the increasing demand for specialized legal expertise in Romania. Denisa Constantin joined the real estate team as Associate. She has a proven track record of working on landmark transactions involving office, industrial, and agricultural assets, as well as renewable energy projects. Denisa has advised developers on due diligence, transaction documents, permitting, lease agreements, and superficies agreements, among others. Sandra Gheorghe
Kinstellar’s Prague office has successfully advised Genesis Growth Equity Fund I, part of the established private equity group Genesis Capital, on the acquisition of a majority stake in Předvýběr.CZ. Genesis Growth Equity Fund I (GGEF I), a private equity fund focused on growth investments in small and medium-sized enterprises operating mainly in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, partnered with the founding owners, František Boudný and Vladimír Kočí, who will retain a significant minority share and remain actively involved in the company's management. Předvýběr.CZ, founded in 2008 and based in Prague, specialises in the time-consuming aspects of candidate recruitment for mid-level and lower-level positions.