In order to appreciate and encourage the nurses and brothers in the current difficult times, we organized a pre-Christmas fundraising at KŠB for the staff of the covid departments of the Motol University Hospital.

KSB Partners Prof. Jan Dědič and Jan Lasák and junior lawyer Filip Buchta recently co-authored the article “Applicability of Small Size Premiums in Determining the Fair Value of Shares and Appropriate Consideration”.

ELSA, the largest independent association of law students in the world, and law firm KŠB recently held the 10th annual Contract Competition.

KSB’s environmental law and litigation specialists have scored a significant victory, as another operator of a biomass heating plant does not have to pay damages to state enterprise Lesy České republiky (the Czech Forestry Agency) for immission damage to forests.

As of 1 January 2022, KSB counsel Tomáš Sequens became a new partner.

JTZE a.s. (J&T Zemědělství a Ekologie), a J&T Real Estate group company that specialises in agricultural investments, has, over the past few months, acquired shares in several companies that are engaged in primary agricultural production. The latest acquisition was Farma Neznašovy a.s., which was preceded by the purchase of Statek Sobětice s.r.o. and Žďár Chudenice s.r.o. The total volume of cultivated land is more than 5,600 hectares.

KSB made a mark in its first year of participating in the Czech Leaders Awards and took second place in the Capital City of Prague. “We are extremely grateful to have achieved such success, especially in the current complicated times,” said Jiří Horník, who attended the award ceremony on KSB’s behalf.

KSB's team led by Drahomír Tomašuk, Ján Béreš and Ondřej Siška advised Titans Freelancers, a Slovak company engaged in outsourcing IT specialists, on the acquisition of a 75% stake in Czech-based Bridgewater. Bridgewater helps companies find suitable IT specialists and IT professionals find new career opportunities and challenges. It also focuses on non-IT staff, especially middle and senior management positions, and hard-to-fill jobs.

KŠB’s team (Jiří Horník, Luděk Vrána, Jakub Porod, Zuzana Slabá) assisted the Focus Estate Fund in the sale of the Centro Ostrava Retail Park in Ostrava and Most Retail Park in Most to the Czech investment group DRFG. The tenants of the spaces in the retail parks include JYSK, Mountfield, Sportisimo and Breno Carpets. The total leasable area of ​​both parks is 14,170 m2.

KSB’s team led by Jan Lasák recently advised on a major acquisition in the catering services sector. The client, Aramark, acquired the catering division of the Czech branch of French company Sodexo, which is engaged in providing services in the areas of canteens, catering, full-service building management, and the operation of food and beverage vending machines. As a result, Aramark has consolidated its leading position on the catering market in the Czech Republic.

KŠB‘s team specializing in venture capital investments (Ota Mach and Josef Kříž) assisted AI Startup Incubator (a fund focused on AI start-ups) in investing in AssetFloow.

The ARETE investment and real estate group, which includes funds that invest in real estate, has successfully closed the investment cycle of its ARETE INVEST CEE II sub-fund. Following the EUR 113.2 million sale of the sub-fund's portfolio to Cromwell European REIT (CEREIT) in March (KSB advised ARETE on the transaction as well), the company has paid all investors in the sub-fund and settled the bank financing liabilities.

Hospodářské noviny is planning the 8th annual conference on a cashless society and business CASHLESS FUTURE. This year's event will focus on digital services, changes in AML and cryptocurrencies, and other financial services that are shaping the financial sector today.

In response to epravo.cz’s announcement of the results of its Law Firm of the Year competition, we would like to point out that KSB has refrained from taking part in the competition for the last six years and this year is no different.

In 2020, KŠB started advising ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION a.s. on the acquisition of a 100% stake in EKOVA ELECTRIC a.s., an Ostrava-based company engaged in manufacturing, upgrading and servicing trams, trolleybuses and electric buses (more information here).

KSB's team (Jiří Horník, Jakub Porod and Zuzana Slabá) advised ARETE Group on the acquisition of a 45,666 sqm site in the Plzeň - Borská pole industrial zone.

The KŠB team specializing in venture capital investments (Ota Mach and Josef Kříž) advised AI Startup Incubator (a fund focused on AI start-ups) on investing in OpenRefactory.

The KŠB team led by Drahomír Tomašuk assisted Solitea in the acquisition of a 100% stake in PRYTANIS a.s., a leading Czech supplier of information systems for road hauliers, passenger transport operators and forwarding and logistics companies.

This year’s Charity Concert of Good Will, which Kocián Šolc Balaštík has organised since 1995 to help support the Goodwill Committee - Olga Havel Foundation, will take place on Sunday, 21 November 2021 at 19:00 at the Church of St. Simon and St. Jude in Prague’s Old Town.

KSB's long-standing client, J&T Banka, has entered into a strategic partnership with Amista, the largest Czech manager and administrator of qualified investor funds. In addition, J&T Banka took over a 9.9% stake in Amista.

The KŠB team (Jiří Horník, Dana Jacková) advised the third fund of the ARETE group, which focuses  on industrial and logistics assets, on the purchase of a facility complex near Beroun. The complex is used for the production and storage for the Czech company Hronovský s.r.o. The financial volume of the transaction was close to EUR 10 million.

KSB’s team consisting of Josef Kříž, Vlastimil Pihera and Martin Krejčí provided advice on the issue of senior bonds by 3M Fund MSI, with the issue value reaching one billion crowns (with the possibility of an additional increase to two billion crowns). The bonds were successfully admitted for trading on the Prague Stock Exchange.

The KŠB team advised the ARETE investment and real estate group on securing EUR 30 million in financing from Raiffeisenbank. The funds will be used to accelerate the growth of ARETE INDUSTRIAL SICAV fund's portfolio through selected acquisitions and new construction of industrial real estate projects.

KŠB (partner Drahomír Tomašuk and lawyer Ján Béreš) assisted Solitea in the acquisition of a 100% stake in Mainstream Technologies, s.r.o. and its parent company Powerstream, a.s., being one of the most important partners of the global technology company Microsoft in their branch of business. For Solitea, this is the seventh acquisition of a major partner of Microsoft.

The KŠB team (Josef Kříž and Drahomír Tomašuk) provided legal advice to the seller in the sale of the Profimedia.CZ group, which offers images from all over the world. The acquisition includes the parent company Profimedia based in the Czech Republic and its subsidiaries in Hungary, Croatia and Romania.

The KŠB team (Drahomír Tomašuk and Jana Guričová) assisted in yet another significant acquisition in the field of IT. Our client, the company Webglobe, acquired the company savana.cz which provides domain registration services, web hosting and server hosting.

The KŠB team led by Drahomír Tomašuk and Ján Béreš assisted in another significant acquisition in the field of IT. Through the new Sandberg Investment Fund II, the client, Sandberg Capital, acquired a 40% stake in the Czech technology company DAKTELA, which provides comprehensive solutions for contact centres and communication with customers.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík has become a proud partner of the Czech Chemical Industry Association (SCHP), a professional association of businesses and institutions engaged in the chemical industry. Since 1992, the SCHP has been involved in co-creating a favourable business environment and has advocated the development of the Czech chemical industry.

KSB’s team led by Vlastimil Pihera advised J&T IB Capital Markets on the issuance of senior bonds by Alpha Quest Funds SICAV p.l.c. with the total nominal value of CZK 500,000,000 and Fraternity Funds SICAV p.l.c. with the total nominal value of CZK 400,000,000.

IFLR1000, the British rating agency that compiles annual international comparative rankings of law firms, has included KSB partner Dagmar Dubecká in its Women Leaders 2021.

KSB has once again expanded its reach in IT acquisitions by advising US software company Jamf, which developed Jamf Pro, an application used to configure and automate IT management tasks for macOS, iOS, iPadOS and tvOS devices. KSB advised Jamf on its acquisition of Wandera, a software developer that provides protection against security threats on mobile devices to businesses all around the globe.

KŠB (Ivo Průša and Martin Krejčí) assisted J&T Bank in financing the development of Twisto. In addition to J&T Bank, which provided a loan of CZK 450 million, the financing was also provided by venture debt fund Orbit Capital and its subfund Conseq Venture Debt, which is jointly operated by investment platform Enern and investment company Conseq.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík has added a new asset to its team of lawyers as Luděk Vrána joined the firm as a counsel on 1 May 2021.

After being awarded by Chambers Europe, KŠB also defended its position among the best-rated law firms in the Czech Republic in the latest publication “The Legal 500 EMEA 2021” from renowned British rating company “The Legal 500”, succeeding in ten of the eleven rated areas:

KŠB, in cooperation with the prestigious rating agency Legal 500, organized a webinar on the topic of Post Covid M&A - A new normal for navigating the transactional landscape in the Czech Republic?

KSB’s team, led by partner Petr Kasík and lawyer Jakub Porod, advised Heureka Group in the acquisition of a 100% stake in Dataweps, a Brno-based technology company engaged in product data analytics and e-shop automation.

In its latest yearbook "Chambers Europe 2021", the renowned British rating company Chambers and Partners recommends KSB in the following areas:

On 10 March 2021, Katarína and Ondřej Vlček established the Vlček Family Foundation with the primary aim of supporting palliative care for children. The founders are investing CZK 1.5 billion in the foundation, which makes it one of the largest philanthropic projects of its kind in the Czech Republic. The Vlčeks outlined details about the Foundation in an interview on Reportér magazine’s podcast, on DVTV and in Deník N.

The ARETE real estate investment group completed the sale of a complete portfolio of the ARETE INVEST CEE II sub-fund to Cromwell European REIT (CEREIT) for EUR 113.2 million (CZK 3 billion). Cromwell is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. We have already disclosed information on the transaction here. 

The renowned British rating agency Chambers and Partners once again recommends Kocián Šolc Balaštík in its current publication “Chambers Global 2021”.

The KŠB team led by partner Drahomír Tomašuk and lawyer Ján Béreš assisted the Solite holding in another acquisition this year. Solitea has acquired 100% of the Czech-Slovak group D3Soft, which has been specializing in its own development and implementation of a CRM system and energy solutions for medium and large companies for almost 20 years.

KŠB partners Dagmar Dubecká and Sylvie Sobolová are among the leading representatives of Czech and Slovak law in the ranking of the Top 100 women in the Czech and Slovak legal business. Dagmar succeeded in the category of Mergers and Acquisitions, Sylvie in the category of Intellectual Property.

The KŠB team, led by partner Drahomír Tomašuk and lawyer Ján Béreš, assisted Solitea in the acquisition of the IT Services division of the Czech company AspectWorks, in particular by conducting a due diligence and preparing and negotiating acquisition and post-acquisition agreements.

The partner of the law firm KŠB Dagmar Dubecká is once again placed in the traditional ranking of TOP women in the Czech Republic, namely in the category of Top women business - businesswoman.

The acquisition of the apt group by China-based Inner Mongolia Mengtai has been included on the prestigious Deals of the Year 2020 list, which is published annually by the China Business Law Journal.

On 1 February 2021, Petr Kasík became the new managing partner of Kocián Šolc Balaštík, taking over the role from Dagmar Dubecká.

To date, Kocián Šolc Balaštík has organized 25 charity Advent concerts for the benefit of the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havel Foundation (CGW OHF).

KŠB’s team, led by partner Drahomír Tomašuk and senior associate Ján Béreš, advised on the sale of DAQUAS, a company engaged in providing full-service IT consulting, acquisition and management of software licenses, use of Microsoft Online Services, and more.

KŠB team advised J&T Banka on the acquisition of Rustonka Development II, which owns the Rustonka office building in Karlín, Prague, with over 17,900 m2 of leasable area. In September 2020, the bank moved its headquarters to the building together with approximately 750 employees. The value of the transaction is approximately EUR 80 million.

KŠB advised ARETE INVEST’s real-estate fund on one of the largest Czech-Slovak real estate transactions this year.

Kocian Solc Balastik’s aviation team, led by partner Jiří Horník and senior associate Ivo Průša, has provided comprehensive legal advice to ING Bank Śląski (ING group) on financing for the purchase of two LET Aircraft Industries L-410 UVP E-20 aircrafts, which also included special packages containing radars, long-range observation systems, SATCOM datalink, automatic vessel ID system, rescue equipment allowing for carrying out maritime patrol tasks, along with hardware for supporting maritime SAR operations.

KŠB’s competition law team led by partner Pavel Dejl and other team members Sylvie Sobolová, Martin Vráb a Hana Dejlová was successful in representing the railway carrier LEO Express in a complaint filed against a dominant competitor on the Czech rail passenger transport market, České dráhy, a.s.

KŠB’s team, led by Josef Kříž  in cooperation with Ota Mach and under the supervision of partner Martin Krejčí, advised J&T Banka on drafting complete contractual documentation related to project financing worth EUR 27 million for Julius Meinl Living Group.

KŠB’s team of Sylvie Sobolová, Václav Rovenský, Martina Parusová Zímová and Ján Béreš advised Plzeňské městské dopravní podniky, a.s. (Pilsen Public Transport Corporation) on awarding a public contract to renovate the tram depot in Plzeň Slovany.

The KŠB team provided legal advice to Eligo, a food company specializing in the production of dried dairy products, on the acquisition of the Czech branch of the French company Euroserum, a manufacturer of dried whey, which is part of one of the world's largest dairy cooperatives Sodiaal.  

KŠB’s team led by partner Vlastimil Pihera successfully represented Walteran Company in licensing proceedings at the Czech National Bank to obtain a license to operate an investment company, which the company was granted on 1 September 2020.

KŠB’s team led by senior associate Jana Guričová and partner Drahomír Tomašuk advised WY Group on the acquisition of HOSTING90 systems s.r.o. and Hosting zdarma s.r.o. – two IT companies specializing in webhosting, managed services, VPS servers, dedicated VDS servers and domain registration.

KŠB provided comprehensive legal advice on the sale of Smetanová cukrárna, a.s.

KŠB’s team of managing partner Dagmar Dubecká and senior associates Sasha Štěpánová, Jana Guričová, Viktor Zelinka and Dana Jacková, advised China-based company Inner Mongolia Mengtai on the acquisition of the Czech part of the apt group.

KŠB’s team (partner Petr Kasík and senior associate Jakub Porod) advised Škoda Transportation Group on the acquisition of a 100% stake in Ostrava-based EKOVA ELECTRIC, which is engaged in the manufacture, upgrading and maintenance of tramways, trolleybuses and electric buses.

Solitea Holding, which is engaged in developing business, accounting and HR solutions and has more than 260,000 customers in 15 countries, will merge thirty companies from the Czech Republic and Slovakia into two national companies with effect from 1 July. The merger is primarily designed to streamline and simplify communications and administration.

KŠB Partner Vlastimil Pihera was elected to the Ethics Committee of the Association for the Capital Market of the Czech Republic (AKAT).

The KŠB team led by partner Drahomír Tomašuk and lawyer Ján Béreš represented the investment company Sandberg Capital in the acquisition of a 35% stake in Revolgy Business Solutions, a company providing digital transformation services through cloud infrastructure and online communication tools, whose clients include Avast, Česká spořitelna , Kofola or Fincentrum.

KŠB won a dispute as the National Theatre’s legal counsel in proceedings before the Supreme Court regarding rent payment. The Supreme Court accepted KŠB’s argument reasoning, dismissed the other party’s appeal, and confirmed the previous decisions by courts of lower instances issued in favour of the National Theatre.

Kocián Šolc Balaštík has advised Boels Topholding B.V. (Boels) with Czech aspects on a term loan and a revolving credit facility for Boels of over €1 billion provided by a bank syndicate consisting of Credit Suisse International, ING Bank N.V., ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. and BNP Paribas Fortis NV/SA as mandated lead arrangers, physical bookrunners and underwriters. 

KSB team led by partner Drahomír Tomašuk and attorney Jana Guričová represented the leading Czech hosting company IGNUM belonging to the Slovak group WY Group (Sandberg Capital) in the acquisition of hosting division of Axfone LLC, development and telecommunications company with branches in Europe, the USA and Asia.

KŠB represented the ARETE investment and real estate group in the preparation of contractual documentation concerning the (re)financing of the portfolio of its CEE II subfund in the amount of EUR 80 million.

KŠB once again ranked in the top spots in the up-to-date yearbook of the prestigious rating agency Legal 500 and is recommended in eight categories.