Schoenherr advised OMV Slovensko, s.r.o. ("OMV Slovakia"), a subsidiary of Austria's OMV group, on the acquisition of a network of 27 filling stations operated under the Benzinol brand. Most of them are located in western and north-central Slovakia.
Headquartered in Bratislava, OMV Slovakia has the second-largest chain of filling stations in the Slovak Republic (105 before this transaction). The inclusion of Benzinol's sites will further strengthen the company's position as the number two on the market.
Schoenherr primarily represented OMV Slovakia in complex Phase II merger control proceedings before the Slovak competition authority. Following an in-depth investigation of the retail sales of fuels on the Slovak market, the Slovak competition authority cleared the transaction upon condition that one of the filling stations must be divested.
During the merger proceedings, the Slovak competition authority granted an exemption from the prohibition to implement certain rights before the transaction is approved. This exemption is granted very rarely. Based on publicly available information, the last such exemption was granted 16 years ago and several applications were recently rejected.
In addition, Schoenherr provided selected transactional advice related mostly to employment and environmental law issues.
"We are proud to have advised OMV Slovakia on this important transaction achieving its expansion goals," said Schoenherr partner Michal Lučivjanský. "The exemption from the prohibition to implement certain rights before approval granted in this case can set a precedent for future proceedings in Slovakia."
The core Schoenherr team advising OMV on the transaction consisted of project leads Michal Lučivjanský (partner) and Franz Urlesberger (partner), supported by Marek Fuchs (associate). The team advising on further transactional matters consisted also of Soňa Hekelová (partner), Peter Devínsky (counsel), Ján Farbiak (attorney at law) and Tomáa `ilhánek (attorney at law).
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