The Legal 500

The strength of Bogdanovic, Dolicki & Partners’ finance and real estate practices, combined with the firm’s outstanding reputation for handling complex international transactions, has ensured that the firm gets a share of the renewable energy projects which are currently benefiting from government incentives. The firm advised on the corporate and financing side and on the real estate and corporate aspects of Spanish energy company Acciona’s entry into this market. Société Générale was assisted with the financing of several windfarms. The firm also obtained compensation for client SNH from the State Privatisation Fund in litigation which ran for 12 years.

Divjak, Topic & Bahtijarevic is distinguished by the high percentage of foreign clients on its books. A highlight for Emir Bahtijarevic’s team was advising US investment fund WP Carey in a sale-and-leaseback transaction with a privately owned logistics company. The €65m deal is the largest recent investment in the logistics facilities. Previous projects have included tenders in the gas supply sector and large-scale real estate developments.

Hanzekovic & Partners’ experience is a continuum of early involvement in privatisations on behalf of the government, which stood the firm in good stead when advising Croatian Motorways on the regulatory environment for payment systems and the successful bidder for the €20bn Bar-Boljare Motorway concession. In addition to advising largely domestic clients on infrastructure projects, the firm acted for Verdispar International in the €120m Ozonia Business Garden projects. Jasminka Corda Truhar has a good reputation amongst peers.

Porobija & Porobija has a varied portfolio of projects experience which matches the current trend for energy (oil and gas), renewable energy and infrastructure projects. The team is advising HSH Nordbank in its €63m financing of a wind farm in Vratarusa, and has completed the financing of another €10m wind farm for a lender. A consortium of lead arrangers and lenders, including RBS and Société Générale, recently instructed the firm on the ongoing secured refinancing of the Istrian Epsilon Motorway. Real estate specialist Sanja Porobija is advising Riviera Porec in the uncharted area of amendments to laws covering privatisation and the status of tourist land.

With a wide international client base and experience in inward investment, Savoric & Partners is well equipped to handle instructions from foreign investors in infrastructure and energy projects. The firm was instrumental in the recent successful international tender for steel factory Sisak by US-listed Commercial Metals International following negotiations with the Croatian privatisation fund. Boris Savoric and Marin Vice Vujicic continue to assist the EBRD with its lending to Croatian municipal authorities.

Zuric i Partneri’s 15-year specialisation in the energy sector has been recognised by the European Energy Law Group. Most recently, the team assisted Enercap on the development of wind energy on the Croatian coast, and advised several energy trading organisations. Previous projects included the €381m refinancing of the Croatian motorways, and assisting foreign investors in the development of tourist resorts.

At Babic & Partners Law Firm, Boris Babic and Marija Gregoric are singled out as having ‘team spirit, the capacity to work with non-lawyers, and accuracy’. They were recently instructed by a multinational corporation on the financing arrangements for the construction and development of various tourism and leisure facilities on the Croatian coast, valued at €60 million; and have previously overseen a potential renewable energy joint venture. A key feature for investors is the team’s competition law practice.

CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz Branch Office Zagreb numbers international players such as Chevrolet, Diageo and Du Pont amongst the clients it advises on inward investment. In addition to its notable expertise in international real estate finance, the team recently picked up clients in the energy sector including e2 energy, which took advantage of Wolfgang Auf’s expertise in tax structuring to engineer a sophisticated investment model for the construction of a biomass plant. OGP was also assisted on an acquisition of a wind energy space.

Aleksej Miskovic and Beata Glinska at Law Firm Glinska & Miskovic Ltd have a wealth of project experience from both the finance and real estate angles. Miskovic has advised foreign banks on financings in the energy and motorway sectors; while Glinska represents global real estate investors and retailers in the development of shopping centres and office buildings. A recent illustration was advice given on the €110.8m financing of a large hotel and resort complex, which also included input on real property issues.

Wolf Theiss – Zagreb branch receives impressive foreign investment mandates requiring an ability to communicate with international players on local law at a detailed level. Recent highlights include advising Deutsche Bank on the €400m financing of the development, construction and operation of three football stadiums by Alpine Bau and FCC Constructiones; and advising US private equity fund NCH Advisors on the $3.1m financing of a residential development in Dubrovnik. Clients consider it to be ‘the “go to” firm in Croatia. The service level is excellent; it is able to deliver a prompt yet considered and helpful response’.

Law Office Boric is oriented towards German-speaking SMEs investing into Croatia, and has experience in the energy and utilities sectors having advised the government on tendering for gasification and an Austrian utilities giant.

International clients rate Madirazza & Partners’ ability to relate to their business requirements and ethos – a feature which has sustained relationships with clients in the energy and hotel sectors looking for advice on development rights for wind farms and hotels. Assistance is also given with negotiations with the privatisation fund, and on tax, insurance, and land acquisition issues.

Mamic Peric Reberski Rimac frequently represents the Croatian party in projects involving foreign investment and in PPPs, such as the Port of Ploce in its raising of capital from the World Bank. However, Natalia Peric is equally at home assisting foreign investors such as Bluehouse on acquiring real estate and developing a €50m shopping centre in Zagreb. She is ‘reliable, with business sense, high availability, and is a team worker, efficient and productive’. The team provides a ‘high level of service based on its industry knowledge’.

Schoenherr Rechtsanwälte GmbH in co-operation with Croatian Lawyers offers its central European clients strength in corporate and real estate law. The group is beginning to garner instructions from international investors relating to the development of renewable energy.

Law Office Vukic & Partners assisted a local government in relation to a gas distribution project in the Rijeka region.

In 2010, Vukmir & Associates unwound some of the foreign investments which the firm had previously established for Nordic and southern European clients; but also won new clients in the tourism sector and continued to service Fortune 500 companies.

Cirkveni & Partners has PPP and BOT experience, and continues to offer foreign investors an all-round service with a particular focus on tax advice and representation.

Curkovic, Curic, Janusic and Banic Law Firm has a track record in assisting clients in the media, IT, telecoms and transport sectors, having advised on privatisations in these areas and a pan-European acquisition in the broadband industry.

At Ivekovic Law Offices, German-speaking Branimir Ivekovic provides central European businesses with advice on projects in the infrastructure and oil and gas sectors.

Juric & Vrbanovic LLP’s international clients in the pharmaceutical, health and life sciences sectors rely on the firm’s sound knowledge of the regulatory environment when pursuing investments in the jurisdiction.

Kunstek, Halle & Simac is assisting a European postal operator in its attempts to open up the Croatian postal services monopoly; and has advised Hungarian and American investors in Croatian real estate and property and potential infrastructure PPPs.

Real estate finance is a feature of Travas & Partners’ foreign investment advice.