WKB law firm advised Duna House (listed on the Prime Market of the Budapest Stock Exchange and an owner of, among others, Metrohouse and Gold Finance in Poland) on the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Alex T. Great (a company specializing in financial intermediation) by its subsidiary, Metrohouse Franchise S.A.

As of 1 January 2020 certain amendments concerning the introduction of shareholders' register for non-public joint stock companies and partnerships limited by shares came into force. The shareholders' register is a new institution in the Polish legal system, which introduces the mandatory dematerialisation of shares for those companies and partnerships mentioned above. The purpose of the amendments is to improve the security of trading shares in non-public companies and to enable all of their shareholders to be identified.

WKB law firm advised Intel Corporation on the Polish aspects of its acquisition of Habana Labs, an Israeli company specializing in the design of processors for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. The transaction, worth approximately two billion dollars, was announced on 16 December 2019.

WKB starts 2020 with a refreshed logo and new branding. The revamped logo presents the firm as a team of “WKB Lawyers” emphasising the firm’s dynamic growth, as well as recognising the value added by each of the firm’s more than 100 lawyers.

WKB Wierciński, Kwieciński, Baehr acted as local Polish counsel to the private equity real estate fund manager Benson Elliot (together with Walton Street Capital and Schroders) on the sale of the five-star Sheraton Warsaw hotel to Patron Capital

Domenico Di Bisceglie – hitherto a counsel at WKB’s Italian Desk – has assumed the position of International Partner at the firm. He specialises in international investment matters and business relations between Italy and Poland, in particular advising clients in matters involving Polish daughter-companies and branches of Italian companies.

WKB advised Centrum Rozliczeń Elektronicznych Polskie ePłatności on their acquisition of 100% of shares in Billbird (a leader in providing innovative payment methods in Poland) from International Game Technology (IGT), a multinational gaming company. The transaction was finalised on 25 November.

On 1 March 2020, an amendment to the Code of Commercial Companies will come into force, introducing a new form of capital company – the simple joint-stock company (prosta spółka akcyjna – PSA). Lawyers from Company Law and Corporate Governance practice present details of this new solution in the newest legal alert.