08 October 2018
press release
austria
croatia
serbia
slovenia
Austria/SEE: Schoenherr advises immigon and VR-Leasing on sale of VB-Leasing International
Schoenherr has advised German VR-Leasing AG ("VR-Leasing"), a leasing subsidiary of DZ Bank, and Austrian immigon portfolioabbau ag ("immigon"), the wind down company of the former Österreichische Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft, on the sale of VB-Leasing International to a consortium of partners consisting of APS, a leading CEE/SEE distressed debt investment advisor and manager, Nomura, the Asia-headquartered financial services group, and Balbec Capital, a global private investment firm.
The transaction consisted of the sale of VB-Leasing International Holding, a holding company headquartered in Vienna, together with its operational subsidiaries in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia. "This transaction forms the final step in the sale of the VB-Leasing International operations in Central and Southeastern Europe", said corporate/m&a partner Sascha Hödl, who lead the Schoenherr transaction team. Schoenherr previously advised immigon and VR-Leasing on the successful sales of VB-Leasing operations in Poland and Romania to Getin Holding S.A., in the Czech Republic to GE Money Bank A.S., and in Slovakia to ČSOB Leasing, a.s..
Schoenherr assisted in the preparation and management of the auction process and advised the sellers on the drafting and negotiation of the transaction documentation with the purchasers' consortium as well as in the transaction process through closing. The sellers' financial advisor was Ithuba Capital, Austria.
The team advising VR-Leasing and immigon consisted of Sascha Hödl (partner, Vienna, corporate/m&a); Thomas Kulnigg (partner, Vienna; corporate/m&a); and Christopher Jünger (associate, Vienna, corporate/m&a). Several lawyers from Schoenherr's international offices in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, including Vojimir Kurtic (attorney at law, Belgrade, corporate/M&A) assisted on this transaction.
The consortium of investors was advised by the Austrian law firm Graf Patsch Taucher Rechtsanwälte GmbH (Lead: Wolfgang T. Graf).
