25.7.2008
News

Liberal decision of the Commission on gambling

The Court of Justice (“ECJ”) ruled that the Italian criminal penalties for the collecting of bets by intermediaries acting on behalf of foreign companies are contrary to community law (Joined Cases C-338/04, C-359/04, C-360/04 Placanica of 6 March 2007).

Under Italian legislation, the organizing of games of chance or the collecting of bets is subject to holding a license and police authorization. Any infringement of those rules carries criminal penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment. The ECJ makes it clear once again that a Member State may not apply a criminal penalty for failure to complete an administrative formality where such completion has been refused or rendered impossible by the Member State concerned, in breach of Community law.

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M&A

KŠB advised on the sale of shares in BigBoard Praha

The J&T Arch Investments fund, the main investment platform of the J&T Group, acquired a significant stake in the largest outdoor advertising operator in the Czech Republic, BigBoard Praha, from the JOJ Media House group.
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Project Financing of a Strategic Logistics Complex in Nymburk

KŠB provided legal advice to Facility Develop Group in securing two separate financings granted by Trinity Bank. The funds will be used for the development and expansion of a large logistics park in Nymburk, which is of key importance to the infrastructure of the entire Central Bohemian Region.
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Legal Advisory to Japanese Group Ushio on the Acquisition of a Division of ams-OSRAM

The KŠB team, led by partner Dagmar Dubecká and attorney Jana Guričová, provided legal advisory to Japanese company Ushio Inc., a global leader in semiconductor technologies and specialized lighting for the automotive and industrial sectors, in connection with its acquisition of the Entertainment& Industrial Lamps segment from the Austrian-based ams-OSRAM Group, a company with over a century of history.