Corporate M&A

Swift and sound advice on mergers and acquisitions.

Corporate transactions can be high pressure, requiring fast responses, clear advice and a firm hand in negotiations. It’s important to have advisors who you trust representing your interests, particularly when you are working in an unfamiliar jurisdiction.

At Stankovic & Partners (NSTLAW) we regularly handle some of the largest, most complex and demanding corporate transactions in Serbia and Montenegro. Our clients include major international corporate groups and investment funds, as well as domestic companies, public sector bodies and funders. We assist our clients at every stage in the deal process, from helping to define strategy, advising on transaction structuring, undertaking legal due diligence, assisting with financing, negotiating and documenting transactions, and finally helping with all aspects of implementation, including filing obligations and post-merger issues.

Experienced in handling transactions in a wide range of sectors, we have expertise in public and private M&A, disposals and demergers, negotiating complex cross border joint ventures and strategic alliances, as well as IPOs and equity offerings, corporate governance and directors’ responsibilities, and regulatory and commercial advice. We also work with colleagues across the firm to provide advice on related areas – whether employment, intellectual property, competition, real estate or risk management – to ensure that your transaction runs as smoothly as possible.

What our clients’ really appreciate, however, is our ability to treat their deal as a top priority. This means finding out about their business drivers and aims, thinking creatively about solutions to challenges, and working responsively right from the first strategy meeting to closing the deal and beyond.

Our client list includes many nationally and internationally significant businesses such as Mining & Smelting Combine Bor (the largest Serbian copper mine and smelting facility), Heta Asset Resolution AG (former Hypo-Alpe Adria bank International AG), AD Imlek, CCBill SRB doo Novi Sad (part of CCBill Group USA, a leading payments company), UCTAM (part of Unicredit Group), Apatinska pivara (part of Molson Coors Group), Sport Vision (the general distributor of Nike for Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina), Novartis, EMS SA Brazil, Takeda, Berlin Chemie AG, Uniqa Insurance, Monster Energy, Rand Investment Canada, Dominion Voting Canada, CB&I USA, GOPA Consultants, ODIEN Hotels USA, Technomer doo Beograd, Sberbank Serbia, Radical Instal Solutions SRL, Romania, Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia, and a host of other major names.

Recent highlights:

  • advising Vojvodinaput, a specialist infrastructure construction and maintenance company in Serbia and Montenegro, on the high profile sale of its shares by Subotica to Boje;
  • advising EMS SA, Brazil on the acquisition of Galenika, the biggest regional pharmaceuticals factory;
  • advising a Serbian brewery on the acquisition of another brewery;
  • advising the biggest regional diary producer on the acquisition of a dairy in Serbia;
  • advising a Serbian bank on its €20 million acquisition of a bank specialising in mobile banking from a major international telecommunications company;
  • advising a group of Slovenian investors on the acquisition of one third of the shares in Citadel Securities AD, one of leading Serbian brokerage companies;
  • advising Austrian and Hungarian Jungbunzlauer on selling a stake in local company to local management by means of a leveraged buyout;
  • advising Celanova Capital Serbia on restructuring the company via a series of mergers of local affiliates and debt restructuring;
  • advising on the structuring and completion of a merger between road construction companies Vojput Subotica AD and Somborputevi;
  • assisting with the restructuring of Trebjesa Brewery Montenegro (a member of Molson Coors Group) from a public to a limited liability company, and additionally on its merger with Black Sea Montenegro;
  • advising Finkom Ukraine on its acquisition of Fabrika automobila Priboj in a complex privatization procedure;
  • advising AC Broker and MV Investments on their successful hostile takeover of the one of the biggest Serbian construction companies;
  • advising minority shareholders (including ACH Slovenia and East Capital Sweden) on negotiations with the Republic of Serbia and the National Bank of Serbia in connection with the restructuring of Agricultural bank Agrobanka a.d. Serbia;
  • advising on the acquisition of the shares in the biggest Serbian facilities management company Hauzmajstor (a member of Rusler Group);
  • advising on the sale of 100% of the shares in Serbia’s second biggest chemical food additives wholesaler to Azelis Group.