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Cryptocurrency exchanges: how to choose a reliable one?
Investing in crypto assets is a high-risk activity. The existing structure of the crypto market, its supervision and its participants, is currently such that it cannot guarantee the security of funds, even for the customers of the best-known and, seemingly, best-protected exchanges. Given these inherent risks, there are several aspects that should be considered when choosing an exchange. In a recent interview with Minfin.com.ua, a Ukrainian portal on finances and investments, Illya Muchnyk, Counsel in our Kyiv office, shared his views on possible ways to secure funds when investing in cryptocurrencies. Read the full article here (in Ukrainian only).
Žurić i Partneri (ŽiP) Kinstellar advises on the acquisition of Insite by Halcom
Our team in Croatia has advised former shareholders of Insite on the sale of shares to Halcom, a leading provider of innovative solutions for payment systems. Insite is an experienced and innovative supplier of CRM systems to the banking, insurance, and retail sectors. Their CRM solution has been successfully recognised for ten years by some of the largest European banks and retailers. Halcom, as a division of Juniper Group, is part of the multinational group Constellation Software Inc. Halcom plays a leading role in developing payment systems in Central and South-Eastern Europe and ranks among the top providers of innovative and secure payment and financial services. The Kinstellar team in Zagreb
Acquisition of a technology business in Bulgaria: Identifying the right earn-out structure
October 2022 – Over the past few years, the CEE region has been the focus of vibrant M&A activity in the technology sector. Bulgaria is no exception, with a number of acquisitions completed in IT services, software development, gaming, e-commerce, and digital services. A notable trend in the structuring of these transactions is the growing use of earn-out payment structures. In our recent practice, earnouts have been agreed upon in the majority of the acquisitions of tech companies by their founders. While previously earn-outs were not very popular in Bulgaria, such structures have become key to successful acquisitions. They are a useful tool to bridge the different purchase price expectations of the buyer and the seller by providing
Kinstellar strengthens its Corporate M&A team in Hungary with the appointment of Annamária Csenterics as Partner
10 October 2022 – Kinstellar is delighted to announce that Annamária Csenterics has joined the firm’s Budapest office as a Partner and Co-Head of the local Corporate M&A service line. Annamária Csenterics is an experienced Corporate M&A practitioner with a career spanning 20 years at international law firms and as an in-house lawyer. She has served as lead counsel on scores of domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic transactions, including spin-offs, split-offs and exits. Her clients have included corporations as well as private clients domiciled in the US, Europe and Hungary. Annamária will co-head the local Corporate M&A service line, including Real Estate
Kinstellar advises e-gaming company 52 Entertainment on the acquisition of Casualino (Zariba Group)
Kinstellar has successfully advised 52 Entertainment, a worldwide leader in bridge online (BBO, Funbridge) and e-sailing (Virtual Regatta), on its expansion into strategy and mind games by the acquisition of Casualino (also known as Zariba Group), the largest independent gaming studio in Bulgaria. The purchase of Causalino, a prolific creator of live games and highly popular brands, will help 52 Entertainment to continue its contribution to shaping the future of mobile and web gaming. The HLD-backed 52 Entertainment is scaling its operations to create new genre-defining top-grossing games for millions of new players. Kinstellar’s team was led by Antonia Mavrova (Partner) and Atanas Mihaylov (Counsel) and
Kinstellar advises Kyivstar on the acquisition of a controlling stake in Helsi, in Ukraine
Kinstellar has successfully advised Kyivstar on the acquisition of a controlling stake in Helsi. Kyivstar is the largest digital operator in Ukraine with about 25 million mobile subscribers and over 1.2 million home internet subscribers as of June 2022. The company provides services based on a wide range of mobile and fixed-line technologies, including 4G. Helsi is the largest medical information system and a leading digital provider in the field of healthcare in Ukraine. More than four million people are already users of the Helsi mobile application, with 10 million consultation bookings and three million online consultations per month. More than 1,300 healthcare institutions and over 49,000 doctors throughout
The Digital Services Act – an overview of the new online intermediary liability rules
An intense effort to agree on unified directly applicable European rules for digital services is finally yielding results. On 5 July 2022, almost two years after their introduction by the European Commission, the European Parliament adopted in the first reading the Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA), following an earlier deal reached between the Parliament and the Council of the European Union on 23 April and 24 March 2022, respectively. Both the DSA and DMA are landmark rules with the potential to fundamentally change the way digital services are provided within the European Union (EU). In this installment, we look at the DSA, which updates the rules for online intermediary liability 20 years on from
5G auctions
As the process of 5G coverage expansion continues, we bring you a short status update on 5G auctions and 5G rollout in the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions. Kazakhstan Frequency already allocated: 3.5 GHz. Announced / expected 5G auctions: Three lots each for 100 MHz around 3.5 GHz will be sold at auctions that are planned for the end of May 2022. One lot per city—Almaty, Nur-Sultan and Shymkent—will be offered. Stage of 5G auctions and auction method: The relevant law and regulations for holding auctions have been adopted. Auctions will be held in two stages. At the first stage the bidders' compliance with qualification requirements
Kinstellar expands its Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) service line in the Czech Republic
Kinstellar is pleased to announce that Petr Bratský has joined the firm’s Prague office as Head of the local TMT sector and service line. His addition to the firm strengthens our expertise in the TMT area. Petr is an expert in IP/IT/Media and Telecommunications. Before joining Kinstellar, Petr worked more than five years at the leading Czech law firm Havel & Partners. In his practice, he focuses primarily on technology, intellectual property, media and film law and legislative advice. Petr also provides strategic and ad hoc compliance advice on the handling of personal data in various commercial sectors. His expertise includes advising major local and international clients from across different industries
Kuanysh Shekerbekov participates in a panel discussion in connection with the official presentation of the “VC Guide for Founders”
Kuanysh Shekerbekov, Managing Associate of Kinstellar’s Almaty office, participated as a speaker in a panel discussion in connection with the official presentation of the “VC Guide for Founders”. The event took place on 8 April 2022 and was organised by The AIFC Tech Hub, a subdivision of the "Astana" International Financial Center (AIFC), which has the task of promoting the development of the start-up ecosystem, the venture industry, e-commerce, corporate innovation and new technological directions in Kazakhstan (FinTech, GovTech, SatelliteTech, Industry 4.0. etc.). The purpose of the guide is to provide a clear understanding of the opportunities and advantages of the AIFC for structuring venture transactions and
Kinstellar advises Kin + Carta plc, the global digital transformation consultancy, on its acquisition of the Bulgarian software development company Melon Group
Kinstellar has advised Kin and Carta plc, the global digital transformation consultancy, on the Bulgarian law aspects of its acquisition of Melon Group – a digital transformation consulting firm with a presence in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Kosovo. The European expansion strengthens our client’s nearshore software development capacity and bolsters its pure-play digital transformation capabilities which is part of Kin and Carta’s purpose-driven global growth strategy as a publicly listed B Corp. The fast growing Melon Group is ranked #1 in Bulgaria, and #23 globally by Clutch out of the top 1,000 B2B companies worldwide. Its 300-strong team of web, mobile, and data specialists working across Bulgaria, North
Kinstellar advises Vista Equity Partners on its acquisition of Citrix Systems
Kinstellar has successfully advised Vista Equity Partners, a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, on its acquisition of Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) for approximately USD 16.5 billion. Citrix builds secure, unified digital workspace technologies that help organizations unlock human potential and deliver a consistent workspace experience wherever work needs to get done. Kinstellar advised with respect to the Czech subsidiary of Citrix Systems, Inc., Citrix Systems Czech Republic s.r.o., on the due diligence and regulatory issues. Kinstellar also provided a detailed foreign direct investment (FDI) analysis for the envisaged acquisition.