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Cerha Hempel's capital markets team has seen some change over the last year, with the departure of Philipp Spatz to join Baker & McKenzie's capital markets practice.

Department head Edith Hlawati led the firm's lead counsel mandate for ÖIAG and Austrian Airlines in the privatisation of ÖIAG's shareholding in Austrian Airlines in the form of a structured tender procedure. This was the largest privatisation of 2008 and, because of the difficulties faced by the Austrian airline industry and the onset of the global financial crisis, involved the team creating some truly innovative solutions.

The firm's reputation in Vienna as specialists in equity deals left some wondering what would happen to its capital markets practice during the global downturn, with the equity market being particularly badly affected. However, the firm has been acting in some notable debt issuance programmes.

Johannes Buchinger and Thomas Zivny advised Bawag on the 2008 update of its €10 billion debt issuance programme, and Volker Glas advised Strabag on its €75 million bond, which was offered to institutional and retail investors in Austria and placed at an interest rate of 5.75%.

In January 2009, Glas advised Telekom Austria Group on the issue of a bond with a benchmark volume of €750 million – the first successful placement of a corporate bond in 2009.

Cerha Hempel's reputation for banking mandates has increased, with the firm acting in some outstanding deals. One client, when asked why they chose Cerha Hempel for a large and complex financing deal, says: "This is what their reputation is based upon, their ability to perform in this tricky world. I'd worked with them before, so I knew that."

Members of Cerha Hempel's finance team are well known on the market. Edith Hlawati led a team advising Commerzbank on its €5.1 billion purchase of, and merger with, Dresdner Bank, which involved dealing with Austrian, Hungarian and Bulgarian banking and competition law aspects.

Peter Knobl advised Iceland's Kaupthing Bank in its founding of an Austrian branch in the summer of 2008. Soon after finalising the registration details, the Icelandic bank fell bankrupt, asking Cerha Hempel to stay on-side to assist in liquidation of the branch.

Volker Glas advised Telekom Austria/Mobilkom Austria on a series of cross-border financings, including the re-allocation of posted collateral and the negotiation of termination agreements.

Albert Birkner and Peter Knobl also represented Alon Israel Oil Company in its efforts to finance the requisition of all shares in a large specialist Austrian bank.

Cerha Hempel's corporate department has a formidable reputation among peers and clients, particularly for its public M&A work. The firm has had a busy year, advising a range of buyers and sellers across a variety of sectors.

Edith Hlawati and Thomas Trettnak advised Strabag in the acquisition from private-equity investors and management of a controlling share in leading toll service provider Efkon, utilising a complex three-tier acquisition structure.

Hlawati and managing partner Albert Birkner also advised Hygiene Holding as shareholder in takeover proceedings by the AVW Group of Vienna-listed S&T. The €200 million transaction involved enforcement action by the Austrian takeover panel against AVW.

At the end of Q1 2009, Clemens Hasenauer, Johannes Prinz and Peter Hiller advised OMV on the sale of its 21.2% stake in the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL to Surgutneftegas, one of the biggest producers in Russia. This was one of the largest deals of its kind in the oil and gas sector in Europe in recent times.

Hasenauer and Prinz have also been advising OMV on its joint venture with Gazprom, Centrex Europe Energy & Gas and Wiener Börse, the operator of the Vienna Stock Exchange. This innovative deal involves the development of Central European Gas Hub, an Austrian hub operator, into a leading hub in continental Europe and the establishment of a central-European gas exchange for the trading of gas products on the spots and futures market.

Although the firm has a small team in Belarus, the Austrian firm's international backup gives it top expertise, huge resources and well-honed international standards of operation. This positions them as a clear leader in the liberalising Belarus market where, as one competitor says, "we haven't seen much change in local firms in terms of quality and sophistication".

CHSH has a raft of international blue chip clients including Deutsche Bank, Mobilkom Austria (the mandate that initially brought them to Belarus) and Lukoil International.

In one of the largest deals in the market, Sergei Makarchuk and Vladimir Kukuruzin advised the Bank of Social and Economic Development of Venezuela in a $500 million loan agreement to the government of Belarus, with Austrian partner Peter Hoffman advising from Vienna.

The firm acted for Serbia's MK Group on a €40 million acquisition of nine agricultural companies from the Belarus state, and is also advising on a large acquisition in the brewery sector.

Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati moves into the third tier this year on the back of some positive feedback from the market. The Sofia office has a new managing partner in Boyko Guerginov, a German-trained lawyer with an excellent reputation for quality work across jurisdictions.

The firm has been providing advice to some high-profile clients over the last year. One notable matter involved counsel to Alfa Finance Holding on the joint-venture creation of a bank. Another mandate saw the firm advise Commerzbank on its merger with Dresdner Bank.

Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati's banking team, led by Tamás Polauf, has been working with some big clients over the last 12 months. Polauf and Volker Glas advised GE Capital Bank on the regulatory, contractual and consumer protection issues surrounding their corporate card programme. Also, Peter Knobl joined Polauf in advising the German government's Financial Market Stabilisation Fund on its acquisition of a 25% plus-one-share stake in Commerzbank.

Martonyi Law Firm in association with Bolton May was formed this year by former Baker & McKenzie capital markets lawyer Zoltán Martonyi, who left the US firm in November 2008 and brought Alexandra Papp with him.

The firm was very active in the debt capital markets this year, with FHB Mortgage bank a particularly strong client. The firm acted for the bank on a repo transaction and on the update to its Euro MTN programme. Unicredit also instructed Martonyi Law Firm on the establishment of its €2 billion mortgage bond programme in December 2008.

Martonyi Law Firm was also active in the real-estate financing market, advising Hungarian investor groups on a greenfield real-estate investment in Budapest, and on a real-estate development and financing project in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.

Leading lawyers: Zoltán Martonyi

Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati's Budapest office represents a good range of clients in the financial services, real estate and construction industries. Deals over the last year include advising MID Holding of Austria on the €200 million sale of a portfolio of retail properties and counselling Commerzbank/ Dresdner Bank on their merger.

Jankovic Popovic & Mitic in association with Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati moves up to tier one this year due to the proven strength of its practice and a shift in market opinion. The team has carved out for itself a reputation working on some of the biggest deals involving international parties.

The firm has had a particularly active year in M&A, working on some big-ticket mandates, including advising Naftna Industrija Srbije on the €400 million sale of a majority stake to Gazprom Neft. Senior partner Nenad Popovic, who led the deal, was described by one client as being "a true professional. He's a dependable lawyer you can trust to go the extra mile when it's most needed".

Other standout M&A matters involved acting for Daimler Germany, Casinos International Austria and the Republic of Serbia. In the latter, senior partner Julijana Jevtic and senior lawyer Dusan Djordjevic acted for the Republic of Serbia in the creation of a joint venture between the Republic and Fiat Automobiles.