BDK Advokati, Binder Groesswang, and Lakatos Koves & Partners, working with SZA Schilling Zutt & Anschuetz, have advised Turkish investors Baran Celik and Nuvit Gundemir and their families on the sale and purchase agreement with insolvency administrator Jan Markus Plathner to acquire Veritas Group's subsidiaries in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Turkey, and Hungary and three production plants in Germany. 

A number of changes have been recently introduced and will be introduced in the near future in Hungary that fundamentally affect both the most commonly applied legislation, as well as the day-to-day work of lawyers. Below is an overview of the important points of these developments.

Jalsovszky’s Head of Corporate and M&A and former Senior Associate Agnes Bejo has been appointed as a Partner with the firm.

Kinstellar has advised S Immo on the acquisition of six office properties in Budapest valued at EUR 244 million from Immofinanz. Oppenheim advised Immofinanz.

All evidence shows that the legal rules regarding the marketing activity which is carried out by influencers will increasingly be the subject of legal analysis in the coming years. Influencer marketing has grown into a global industry showing significant growth year after year. In comparison, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub, the value of the market was estimated globally only at USD 1.7 billion in 2016 while, by 2022, this figure reached USD 16.4 billion.

Former Kapolyi Law Firm Partner Jozsef Antal joined Grundfos as its Lead Legal Counsel in Hungary. 

BDK Advokati and Lakatos Koves & Partners have advised Integrator on its acquisition of Manpower’s human resources and workforce business in Hungary from the Manpower Group. PwC Legal Hungarian affiliate Reti Varszegi & Partners and Italy's PwC TLS reportedly advised the seller.

Schoenherr has advised Singapore-based Harps Global on its acquisition of the medical business division Sempermed from the Austrian Semperit Group for an enterprise value of EUR 115 million.

Kinstellar has advised OTP Bank on its acquisition of Uzbekistan’s Ipoteka Bank. The White & Case London and Tashkent offices reportedly advised the seller.

The global economic downturn has hit Hungary much like the rest of the region but the country may be on its way to a quick recovery on the wings of diverse and dispersed investor interest, according to BLS-CEE Hungary Partner Erzsebet Szalay.

Ostermann & Partners, working with Herbert Smith Freehills, has advised Gamepires on its sale to Jagex. Wolf Theiss advised Jagex on the acquisition.

According to the Hungarian Civil Code, the debtor is liable to pay interest on any owed money that has fallen due from the first day of the delay in payment, even if the use of the money was free of charge until the delay.

On 2 December 2022, a new act entered into force on the modification of certain acts related to the operation of territorial administration, the land registry and regional development. Under the new act, the new Land Registry Act will enter into force one year later, on 1 February 2024, instead of 1 February 2023 as planned originally. The new modifying act also contains other amendments.

On December 14, 2022, the Lajer law firm announced that the sale of the Hungarian subsidiary of Commerzbank to Erste (reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 10, 2022) had closed.

Schoenherr has advised IT, consultancy, and recruitment company IDBC Hungary on securing its new headquarters in the Duna Tower through a lease agreement with GTC.

The 2022 Fall Tax Package has been officially accepted by the Hungarian Parliament with the changes for 2023. The tax package does not bring fundamental changes, but includes finetuning with many different taxes, e.g. SMEs, real estate transactions and local business taxation.

The Hungarian Parliament recently adopted a rather significant update to Act LVII of 1996 on the prohibition of unfair market practices and the restriction of competition (“Hungarian Competition Act”). The updates are, at a number of points, based on recommendations made by the Hungarian Competition Association (with DLA Piper’s antitrust group providing significant input). The amendments will generally enter into force on 1 January 2023 (with some exceptions for 1 February 2023). Below, we have collected some of the key changes for Hungarian and international businesses.

Clifford Chance has advised Waterland Private Equity portfolio company United Petfood on its acquisition of Cargill's production facilities in Krzepice, Poland, and Karcag, Hungary. Lakatos Koves and Partners reportedly advised the buyer as well.