BOYANOV & Co. Advised Eurobank Bulgaria on the Acquisition of BNP Paribas Personal Finance – Bulgaria branch
June 2023
BOYANOV & Co. advised Eurobank (Bulgaria) – the fourth-largest banking institution in the country based on assets, on the acquisition of BNP Paribas Personal Finance – Bulgarian branch, the Bulgarian business establishment of the French BNP Paribas Group.
BOYANOV & Co. provided crucial support in obtaining concentration clearance from the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of the Competition as well as in relation to the regulatory permit for the deal and the preparation of the closing process.
This acquisition strengthens Eurobank’s position in the Bulgarian retail…
NNDKP Successfully Assisted Grupo Bimbo with the Acquisition of Vel Pitar
March 2023
NNDKP confirms that Grupo Bimbo has included Romania in its global growth strategy and has completed the acquisition of Vel Pitar as a nation-wide development platform.
NNDKP acted as local legal counsel for Grupo Bimbo, advising on all aspects of the acquisition of Vel Pitar, from transaction structuring to negotiation and completion. NNDKP assigned a multidisciplinary team specializing in agribusiness and food M&A (as well as day-to-day) assistance to advise on the transaction. The team was coordinated by Adriana I. Gaspar (Senior Partner), and included Corina Dumitru (Partner), George…
DTB Assists PPD in Selling 50% Shares in TMF, Majority Shareholder of Petrokemija d.d.
November 2022
Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka (DTB) has assisted Prvo plinarsko drustvo, the leading subsidiary of the largest Croatian private company ENNA, in the disposal of its participation in joint venture company Terra Mineral Fertilizer Ltd. (“TMF”). TMF is the largest shareholder of the only Croatian fertilizer company - Petrokemija. The majority stake in Petrokemija has been sold to Turkish conglomerate Yildrim Group, and the completion of the transaction is subject to customary approvals of regulators in several jurisdictions. DTB has assisted Prvo plinarsko drustvo with…
The New VBER and How It Affects the Assessment of Vertical Agreements in Candidate Countries
July 2022, BDK Advokati
The European Commission adopted in May 2022 a new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and new Vertical Guidelines (Guidelines), effective as of 1 June 2022 and valid until 31 May 2034. The new VBER applies to all agreements concluded on or after 1 June 2022. The agreements which were in force as of 31 May 2022 and enjoyed under old VBER an exemption from the prohibition which is no longer available under the new VBER, will continue to be covered by the exemption until 31 May 2023.
VBER provides a safe harbour for agreements between suppliers and customers which…
Serbian Competition Watchdog Issues Model Compliance Program
July 2022, BDK Advokati
Model Program
The Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition has published Model Competition Compliance Program, along with the guidelines on how market participants should adapt the model to their personal circumstances. The practice of competition law enforcement in Serbia so far shows that competition law infringements are often result of a complete lack of awareness of the legal requirements. The main aim of the published compliance program model is to raise compliance awareness among market participants and reduce the risks of provoking competition law infringements.
The…
Competition Law Bulletin in the Last Quarter of 2021
January 2022
Authors: Neyzar Unubol, Ali Tuncsav, Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli Law Firm
2021 has been an active period in the field of competition law in Turkey. The ratification of the secondary legislation on the recently introduced commitment, settlement, and de minimis mechanisms, the Turkish Competition Authority’s reports on sector inquiries regarding fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), e-marketplace platforms and payment services sector, and the Competition Board’s (the “Board”) notable decisions made 2021 a very dynamic period in terms of competition law. This bulletin briefly covers…
Serbian Competition Commission Adopts Guidelines on Competition Compliance Programs
December, 2021
Author: Branko Gabric, BDK Advokati
The practice of the Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition (“Commission“) shows that competition law infringements are often not intentional but a consequence of a lack of understanding of one’s obligation under the law. Aiming to increase the awareness among market participants of practical implications of abstract competition law norms and promote the adoption of compliance programs, the Commission has published on 24 December 2021 its Guidelines on Competition Compliance Programs (“Guidelines“).
The Guidelines offer a…
Decrease in Market Share Threshold for Vertical Agreements’ Block Exemption
November 2021
The Communiqué Amending Block Exemption Communiqué No. 2002/2 on Vertical Agreements (the “Amendment Communiqué”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 5 November 2021 and entered into force on the same day. The Amendment Communiqué essentially decreased the market share threshold in Block Exemption Communiqué No. 2002/2 on Vertical Agreements (the “Block Exemption Communiqué”) from 40% to 30%. Accordingly, in order for a vertical agreement to benefit from a block exemption, (i) the supplier’s market share in the market for which the contracted goods or services…
The General Court Underlines The Importance of Standstill Obligation Before Obtaining Merger Approval
October 2021
Authors: Natasa Pipan Nahtigal, Spela Remec
In its recent judgement, the General Court confirmed the importance of observing the standstill obligation in mergers that are subject to approval by the competent competition authorities. The Court only slightly reduced the record-breaking gun-jumping fine imposed by the European Commission.
A. What is gun-jumping and who needs to consider it?
In order to ensure that the most important mergers will bring about welfare for the society or, at minimum, not have a negative effect on the competition on the market, such transactions are subject…
Competition Board's Commitment Decision On Coca-Cola
September 2021
Authors: Neyzar Unubol, Ali Tuncsav
With its decision dated 2 April 2020, the Competition Board (“Board”) initiated an investigation on the allegation that Coca-Cola Satis ve Dagitim Anonim Sirketi (“CCSD”), one of Coca-Cola Icecek Anonim Sirketi’s Turkish subsidiaries, violated Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”) by preventing the sales of its competitors’ products at the final sales points. The investigation was launched to examine whether certain provisions of the agreements executed between CCSD and the final sales points, such…
A new procedure in Competition Law: Settlement
Authors: Neyzar Unubol, Ali Tuncsav
One of the significant amendments to Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (the Competition Law) was the introduction of the settlement mechanism into Turkish competition law on 24 June 2020. The settlement procedure, which has been in force in the EU and many EU countries, such as France and the UK, can be simply defined as a reduction in administrative fines in return for the admission of a competition law violation by an investigated undertaking. Article 43 of the Competition Law states that if an undertaking admits the existence and alleged scope…
Hellenic Competition Commission sector inquiry into the provision of private healthcare and related insurance services: The HCC focuses on the interpl...
Authors: Ifigeneia Argyri, Vicky Vlontzou
LIFE SCIENCES & HEALTHCARE PRACTICE
Hellenic Competition Commission sector inquiry into the provision of private healthcare and related insurance services: The HCC focuses on the interplay between Big Data and the private health care sector
The Hellenic Competition Commission (“HCC”) initiated on 05.07.2021 a sector inquiry (“SI”) into the market of provision of private health care and related insurance services[1]. This comes in the aftermath of the restructuring[2] of the private health care sector over the last five years and increasing…
