The partners of the Czech-Slovak law firm HAVEL & PARTNERS – Robert Neruda, Lenka Štiková Gachová, and Petr Kadlec – are recognized as among the leading experts in competition law and state aid in the Czech Republic. They have been included in the latest ranking in the prestigious UK Who’s Who Legal directory for the 2024-2025 period.
Robert Neruda is one of only 111 lawyers worldwide to be ranked in the top ‘Global Elite Thought Leader’ category for competition law in the Czech Republic for the third consecutive year according to the latest industry report. This elite group represents just 5% of all lawyers listed in Who’s Who Legal. Remarkably, Robert Neruda is the sole attorney from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the broader CEE region (excluding Ukraine and Austria) to earn this prestigious recognition repeatedly.
“I am honoured and committed to be recognized as one of the top competition law experts globally for the third consecutive year. I’m especially pleased that two of my colleagues have also been included in the prestigious Who’s Who Legal list, further demonstrating the exceptional quality of our entire HAVEL & PARTNERS competition law team. All the members of our team deserve tremendous thanks for their unwavering commitment and excellent work,” said Robert Neruda.
Lenka Štiková Gachová, as the sole partner for the Czech Republic, was selected as a Future Leader, showcasing the next generation’s top experts.
Petr Kadlec, a partner specializing in competition law and state aid, has also been recognized and included among the ‘recommended’ leaders in their field.
The competition law practice at HAVEL & PARTNERS, with a team of 28 experts, is one of the largest in central Europe. Both the team collectively and its individual members have repeatedly earned prestigious awards and rankings from respected legal publications and organizations, such as Law Firm of the Year, Chambers and Partners, Global Competition Review, The Legal 500, and Who’s Who Legal.
Who’s Who Legal, a prestigious UK-based legal ranking organization, is backed by the respected Lexology company. Lexology annually conducts rigorous, independent research across relevant jurisdictions to compile these rankings objectively. During the selection process, lawyers are nominated based on recommendations from peers and clients, but only a small fraction of nominees, typically less than half, are ultimately ranked, with an even smaller number achieving the elite ‘Global Elite Thought Leader’ designation.
HAVEL & PARTNERS represented the developer GARBE Industrial Real Estate in a major real estate transaction involving the sale of a manufacturing and warehouse complex in Chomutov in North Bohemia.
The Fio investment company acquired the industrial park through the Fio real estate fund. The exclusive tenant of the industrial park is Fielmann, a renowned German company specialising in the production of high-end optical glasses.
The firm’s legal advice on the transaction included, in particular, the review and negotiation of the transaction documentation, including assistance in the overall sale process.
The firm’s team was led by Lukáš Syrový, a partner, and included Albert Tatra, a senior associate, and Petr Kunčík, a legal assistant.
The transaction was completed in August 2024.
The firm’s M&A team assisted Aspironix, a Czech company active also in Slovakia, Poland and other countries, in its sale to Asker Healthcare Group of Sweden.
Founded in the Czech Republic in 2011, Aspironix specialises in medical technology, specifically on providing cutting-edge medical devices and services, particularly in the areas of cardiology, surgery, wounding care, AI diagnostics, and critical care.
Mainly Martin Peckl, partner of the firm, Pavel Ondrák, counsel, and Johana Němečková participated in the transaction.
The integration into the Asker Healthcare Group will enable Aspironix to focus on further company growth and innovation, among other things.
The transaction was completed in all jurisdictions in August 2024.
HAVEL & PARTNERS, the largest and most successful Czech-Slovak law firm, is building on a very successful year 2023. HAVEL & PARTNERS’ revenues for the first six months of 2024 amounted to CZK 570 million. In the middle of this year, the firm recorded a double-digit growth of 15% in revenues from legal and tax services. The firm achieved outstanding results especially in the Czech Republic. The revenues of the entire group, which also comprises Cash Collectors, the collection agency, and other specialised services including ONE FAMILY OFFICE, exceeded CZK 700 million.
“The mid-year results of our office, with double-digit revenue growth of around 15%, indicate that we have been able to keep the trend of previous periods,” said Jaroslav Havel, the managing partner, and added: “The economic development was positively influenced by both the Czech and Slovak offices; in the Czech Republic, we achieved a year-on-year revenue growth of almost 19%. This continued success reflects not only our ability to flexibly respond to changes in global markets but also the long-term trust demonstrated by our clients and the extraordinary dedication of all our teams in both countries. Moreover, all this allows us to further invest in the development of the entire group.”
In the first half of the year, the firm’s economic growth was mainly reinforced by client interest in services in the areas of litigation and insolvency, mergers and acquisitions and the public sector, specialised advisory services for private clientele primarily related to family wealth management, as well as legal and tax advice. In the tax advisory business, net service revenue increased by 23% year-on-year.
HAVEL & PARTNERS has seen continuous economic growth since it was founded in 2001. The firm has long offered comprehensive legal and tax services to leading Czech, Slovak and international companies, as well as Czech and Slovak entrepreneurs.
Since May, the firm has been offering its clients representation in the Western European market through its new office in Frankfurt am Main. The excellent economic results are achieved also thanks to related cooperation with foreign law firms, which engage the firm in major international projects and cross-border transactions.
ONE FAMILY OFFICE, officially established as of 1 January 2024, has recorded profit already in the first few months of its existence and has gradually been fulfilling its plan to ensure that the managed assets of the families associated in the family office grow to reach USD 1 billion by 1 January 2025.
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ M&A experts participated in a transaction in which the Czech company Windyty, a leading global provider of high-precision weather services, merged with Meteoblue, a Swiss company active in the same field.
The legal advice on the transaction included a legal due diligence exercise which was carried out by partner Václav Audes and managing associate Ivo Skolil.
Windyty is the operator of the global weather service Windy.com website and app, which is used by nearly 100 million users every month, including weather forecasters, pilots, yachtsmen and extreme sports enthusiasts.
The acquisition of Meteoblue will allow Windyty to further develop and enhance the services provided. The transaction was closed in June this year.
HAVEL & PARTNERS represented a division of the leading Czech industrial group MTX Group in its participation in a major solar and wind power development and construction project in Andalusia, which is being developed by the German company Aquila Capital.
The firm’s legal services encompassed a wide range of expertise, including transactional, corporate, and competition law, as well as advising on the financing of the transaction. The legal team comprised partner Petr Dohnal, counsel Pavel Ondrák, junior associate Pavel Váňa, partner Jiří Kunášek, senior associate Kateřina Kabátová, and senior associate Martin Rott. The financing aspects were handled by partner Filip Čabart, managing associate Štěpán Černý, associate Jakub Jireš, and legal expert Ondřej Sýkora.
Based on an agreement between MTX Renewables and Aquila Capital, the client acquired a 40% stake in the joint project. The project plans to develop nine power plants and battery storage facilities with a total installed capacity of 1,080 MW. Once completed, the project is expected to generate approximately 1.5 terawatt hours of electricity annually, making it one of the largest of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula. By comparison, this annual generation is 1.5 times the electricity produced by the entire Vltava Cascade in the Czech Republic, or half the annual output of all wind and solar power plants in the Czech Republic.
The transaction was concluded in June, and construction on the project is expected to begin by year-end. The solar and wind park is expected to be fully completed and operational by 2027.
HAVEL & PARTNERS advised Sekyra Group, a prominent Czech real estate developer on the recent sale of large land plots located in the up-and-coming Smíchov City district of Prague. Besides other development, the Smíchov Campus will also feature the new headquarters for one of the country’s largest banks, Česká spořitelna.
The legal advice primarily involved negotiating and drafting the extremely extensive transaction documentation, as well as addressing third-party bank financing of the transfer and various corporate and regulatory issues.
The Tým HAVEL & PARTNERS team managed by partner Martin Ráž and consisting mainly of associates Patrik Chrást and Jakub Jireš, with the support of counsel Natalija Traurigová and other colleagues, continued the long-term representation of the client by partner Václav Audes.
The Smíchov Jih development, where the Smíchov Campus is currently under construction, is the largest and the second out of a total of four stages of the Smíchov City project. The Campus will encompass four buildings spanning approximately 75,000 square meters, as well as generous public spaces designed for regular social events. The campus will also feature a corporate kindergarten for the children of Česká spořitelna’s employees and a boulevard named after former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was of Czech origin. The Smíchov Campus is expected to be completed by 2027-2028.
The entire new residential and commercial district, which is to feature a robust infrastructure including a new primary school, hotel, car park, a number of shops and several parks, is to be completed in 2032. Approximately 12,000 people will find employment or housing within this community. To the south, the district will connect directly to a new transport terminal overseen by the Railway Administration and the Capital of Prague. In the north, it will link to the existing Na Knížecí bus station.
With the assistance from HAVEL & PARTNERS, Albatros Media recently completed its 20th acquisition, which was also the largest in its history. The publishing house acquired a 100% stake in Libristo Media, a major online bookstore specialising in foreign-language literature.
Libristo Media, based in Vsetín, now has over two million customers in 25 EU countries. It operates a total of 15 online stores and has almost 22 million books on offer.
The law firm’s legal advisory services were provided by partner Jan Koval with the involvement of senior associate Ivo Skolil and associates Simona Tziata, Tomáš Jansa and Martin Rott, to name a few.
The transaction was signed and closed in May this year and will mean a significant increase in sales for Albatros Media by approximately one-third.
The firm’s transaction team was involved in a major telecommunications transaction in the Czech market. In the transaction, a ČEZ energy group’s subsidiary became the owner of a regional Internet provider in Eastern Bohemia and Vysočina.
The legal advisory to the owners of EDERA Group, whose services are used by tens of thousands of customers, was led by the firm’s partner Jan Koval, senior associate Ivo Skolil, and junior associate Johana Němečková. The legal advisory included mainly the preparation and negotiation of transaction documentation, and the settlement of the transaction.
The transaction was closed and settled in April this year.
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ Competition team successfully represented HP Tronic and NAY in proceedings before the Czech Office for the Protection of Competition and the Slovak Antimonopoly Office for the clearance of their merger.
The granting of approvals in both proceedings before the competition authorities of both countries was a necessary condition for the successful implementation of the planned merger of the two groups into a joint holding.
The team of lawyers in both proceedings was led by a firm’s partner Robert Neruda and included Roman Světnický, Dušan Valent, Robert Nersesjan and Monika Juriková. The Czech-Slovak competition team of HAVEL & PARTNERS is one of the largest in the CEE region. As a whole (and its members individually), it is regularly recognized in the world’s leading legal rankings as well as in the Czech and Slovak Law Firm of the Year competitions.
Both HP Tronic and NAY are leading multi-channel retailers in the consumer electronics sector with more than 25 years of history in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, operating DATART, ETA, Electro World and NAY store networks. The merger will unify the stores in the Czech Republic under the DATART brand and in Slovakia under the NAY brand.
HAVEL & PARTNERS’ M&A team also advised HP Tronic on the corporate matters of the transaction, including the preceding step, which was the purchase of a one-quarter shareholding from the Luxembourg-based Genesis Private Equity Fund III.
We are very proud to have been in the legal team lead by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Germany that advised PAI Partners (“PAI”) on the acquisition of the majority stake in VAMED Group’s rehabilitation business (“VAMED”) from Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA.
On HAVEL & PARTNERS side, the professionals involved in the transaction were Martin Peckl (partner), Kateřina Slavíková (partner), David Šmída (counsel), Silvie Király (senior associate), Adam Karban (senior associate), and Hana Erbsová (associate).
VAMED’s rehabilitation business operates 67 clinics and care centers across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the UK, serving more than 100,000 patients annually. Supported by around 10,000 highly-skilled staff, the unit provides a comprehensive range of inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services, as well as specialist acute care. The business follows a multidisciplinary approach to patient care, with areas of expertise including neurology, orthopedics, psychosomatics, and cardiology.
PAI Partners is a pre-eminent private equity firm investing in market-leading companies across the globe. The Firm has approx. €27 billion of assets under management and, since 1994, has completed over 100 investments in 12 countries and realized more than €24 billion in proceeds from 60 exits. PAI has built an outstanding track record through partnering with ambitious management teams where its unique perspective, unrivalled sector experience, and long-term vision enable companies to pursue their full potential – and push beyond.
The completion of the transaction is expected for the second half of 2024 and is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions,
HAVEL & PARTNERS represented HP Invest as the majority shareholder in a transaction in the consumer electronics retail sector. Thanks to this, DATART, the leading national network of electrical appliance stores, has once again a single owner, namely HP Invest. The seller of the stake was the Luxembourg-based Genesis Private Equity Fund III.
The firm’s partner Václav Audes, senior associate Ivo Skolil and associate Tomáš Jansa were involved in the transaction, providing comprehensive corporate and competition law advice in connection with the merger of HP Tronic with the Slovak group NAY, which owns the national chain of Electroworld stores, into the joint holding HP Invest.
HP Tronic itself, or through its subsidiaries, is engaged mainly in the sale of electronics in brick-and-mortar stores and online in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Germany.
