WOLF THEISS, one of the leading law firms in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, has advised Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG (Erste Bank Austria) and Erste Bank Hungary Zrt. (Erste Bank Hungary) on the acquisition of Intermarket Bank AG, Austria’s biggest factoring bank.

Erste Bank Austria has acquired a majority stake in Intermarket Bank from BRE Bank of Poland, a subsidiary of Commerzbank. The acquisition increases Erste Bank Austria’s existing stake of 22.4% in Intermarket Bank by a further 56.2%. Intermarket Bank is Austria’s leading factoring bank with a 45% market share. It also operates subsidiaries in Hungary (Magyar Factor), Slovenia (s Factoring), the Slovak Republic (Transfactor Slovakia), the Czech Republic (Transfinance) and Poland (Polfactor). As part of the transaction, Intermarket Bank’s participations in its Czech and Polish subsidiaries will be sold to BRE Bank, whereas Intermarket Bank’s participations in its Slovak, Slovenian and Hungarian subsidiaries will remain under the ownership of Erste Group. In addition, Erste Bank Hungary is acquiring a 50% share in Magyar Factor previously owned by BRE Bank. Closing of the transaction is scheduled to take place in autumn 2011, subject to regulatory approvals.

Wolf Theiss advised Erste Bank Austria and Erste Bank Hungary on the transaction and was responsible for coordinating a due diligence review of Intermarket Bank, negotiating the transaction documentation and advising on antitrust and merger law matters.

Partner Richard Wolf, who managed the transaction on behalf of Wolf Theiss, says: “The special feature of this transaction was that each party acted as buyer and as seller at the same time. This complicated the otherwise distinct roles in the contract negotiations.”

Along with Richard Wolf and Associate Christopher Nahler (corporate), Partners Günter Bauer (antitrust law) and Matthias Unterrieder (employment and pension law), Counsel Peter Thyri (antitrust law), Attorney Roland Marko (IP and IT law) and Associate Stephanie Bloch (employment and pension law) also worked on the transaction on behalf of Wolf Theiss.

Attorney Andrej Schwarz and Associate Erika Galgóciová advised on Slovakian law; Attorney Gábor Erdős and Associates Eszter Bihari-Nagy and Dániel Ling advised on Hungarian law. The law firm Kunz Schima Wallentin advised Intermarket Bank on the transaction.