Austria: Schoenherr advises HETA on the sale of HETA Slovenia to MK Group

Following an open and transparent auction sales process, HETA and the MK Group reached an agreement on the sale of HETA Slovenia and the Loan Portfolio, in September 2019. Closing of the transaction was conditional upon the approval by the Slovenian, Serbian and Montenegrin competition authorities and took place in June 2020.

The disposal of HETA Slovenia and the Loan Portfolio adds another transaction to Schoenherr's outstanding track record as sell-side M&A advisor in the financial services industry. "We are particularly pleased that we were able to support our client on the sale of HETA Slovenia as this transaction marks a milestone in HETA's series of auction sales in the SEE region," said Schoenherr partner and co-head of the corporate/m&a practice group Sascha Hödl. "With the closing of this transaction our client has managed to successfully dispose of its largest remaining foreign exposure."

Schoenherr provided comprehensive legal support including structuring the transaction as share and asset transfer, performing a vendor due diligence on HETA Slovenia and the Loan Portfolio's underlying loans and collateral, assisting on the bidder selection process and negotiating the final transaction terms.

HETA is a wind-down company owned by the Republic of Austria set to dispose of the remaiming assets of Hypo Alpe-Adria-International AG, which was nationalised in 2009. The disposal of HETA Slovenia and the Loan Portfolio was contemplated in accordance with HETA's wind-down plan.

The MK Group is a diversified holding company active in the SEE region with balance sheet assets of almost EUR 5 billion. Portfolio companies held by the MK Group are active in various sectors including agriculture, banking and tourism.
The Schoenherr team advising HETA was led by Sascha Hödl (partner, Vienna); Clemens Gaugusch (attorney at law, Vienna); and Vid Kobe (partner, Ljubljana). The team was further supported Eva Škufca (partner, Ljubljana); Peter Gorše (attorney at law, Ljubljana, banking/finance); Alexander Gruber (associate, Vienna); and Lea Avsenik (associate, Ljubljana).

Deloitte acted as financial advisor to HETA.