- Number of partners worldwide: 5
- Number of other lawyers worldwide: 48
THE FIRM: Founded in 1996,Weinhold Legal today has almost 50 lawyers in its Prague and Bratislava offices.The majority of the firm’s attorneys are Czech and Slovak qualified. The firm also has UK and German qualified lawyers. Through a close relationship with colleagues in a significant number of foreign jurisdictions, including most of the European markets, the firm is capable of procuring international legal services at a consistently high level in all areas in which it is active.
MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE:
Banking, Insurance & Finance: Including securities legislation, exchange controls, development financing, security structures for borrowers and lenders, acquisition finance, leveraged finance, leasing and asset-backed financing, property finance, and risk management.
Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions: Including acquisitions and disposals, joint ventures, large-scale reorganisations and reconstructions, private equity investments and privatisation.
Human Capital Services & Labour Law: Including employment law, workforce strategies, remuneration schemes, pension planning, and secondment arrangements. Intellectual Property/Information Technology: Including patents, copyright, trademarks,protection of confidential information and know-how, e-commerce, data protection.
Litigation & Arbitration: Including litigation, arbitration, mediation and expert determination.
Real Estate & Construction: Including acquisitions/disposals, property leasing, landlord and tenant matters, property financing, and structuring property transactions.
Competition & Trade: Including antitrust, notifications and filings, agreements and licensing, and distribution.
EU Law: Including advice on EU structural funds, EC antitrust/state aid notifications and filings, distribution agreements, etc.
INTERNATIONAL WORK: The firm has advised on many of the most significant transactions in the region. Just a few examples include: complex legal services to Aelia, a member of the Lagardére group, in its successful bid to acquire from Czech Airlines the on-board sale and duty free business for nearly 30 million EUR; advisory on the US$1 billion+ privatisation of the Slovak Electricity Company, the largest transaction ever to take place in Slovakia, together with matters relating to the construction of the Mochovce nuclear power plant; advisory to Czech Coal, one of the largest groups involved in brown coal mining and electricity trading, in connection with a contemplated acquisition of the UK energy giant International Power plc’s Czech assets; representing the Slovak state/Ministry of Finance and assisting the state in winning an arbitration case initiated by Austrian Airlines against the Slovak Republic on the basis of the Czechoslovak-Austrian treaty on investment protection; advisory to the Czech Government/Ministry of Defence on a multi billion agreement; provision of complex legal services to the vendor on the sale of the Drinks Union, one of the largest Czech brewery groups including four breweries located in North and East Bohemia, to Heineken; representation of the Czech state in three bilateral investment treaty arbitrations. The firm has also assisted a large number of foreign (primarily US, UK Germany and Japan) investors in establishing their business presence in the Czech Republic (and subsequent corporate changes).
LANGUAGES: Czech, English, Slovak, German and French.
CLIENTS: ABN Amro/RBS, Aelia, Anglo Irish Bank, Allied Irish Banks, Ashok Leyland/ Hinduja Group, Bayer, BAWAG/LBBW, Citibank, Chevron Texaco,Commerzbank/ mBank, Czech Coal, Daimler/Mercedes Benz, ENEL, ENI/Agip, E.ON, Ceska sporitelna/Erste Bank, Halfords, ING, Komercni banka/Societe Generale, Lloyd Electric & Engineering, Microsoft, Mitsui, Pfizer, Philips Morris, Reuters,Robert Bosch,RWE Systems, SABMiller, Shell, Siemens, Synot, Textron, Tyco, UniCredit,Veolia and many more.