Szabó Kelemen & Partners Andersen Attorneys

The firm: Szabó Kelemen & Partners Andersen Attorneys is a full-service law firm in the area of business law which can trace its origins back to partners from the Budapest legal department of a global consulting firm in 1996. Between 1996 and 2006 the firm was the Hungarian member/cooperating partner of various international advisory and law firms. In 2014, another law firm specialized and experienced in the areas of banking and finance, joined the practice. At present, more than 30 lawyers attend to our clients’ needs.

Our firm is collaborating with Andersen Global Network in Hungary as of January 1, 2019 and is a member thereof since January 1, 2020. Andersen Global is an independent global alliance, that consists of independent tax advisory- and law firms. Founded in 2013 by Andersen Tax LLC in the United States, Andersen Global, through its member firms and collaborating firms, can support clients currently with more than 5,000 professionals in 165 locations in 72 countries.

Accordingly, Andersen in Hungary is a tax and law firm based in Budapest, established in 2020 with the combination of Szabo Kelemen & Partners and OrienTax. Andersen in Hungary serves more than 600 clients from various industries, including energy, pharmaceutical, financial and banking, telecom, IT, media and entertainment and is the fifth largest tax and legal practice in Hungary (after the Big Four).

Our impressive client base consists of multinationals, as well as large and medium-sized Hungarian companies. We advise clients in a wide range of industries, and we aim to provide clients with a full range of legal services and up-to-date solutions of the highest professional standard. Our particular strengths include corporate, commercial and MCA work, banking and finance law, litigation, competition law, real estate as well as providing advice in various industry sectors. The number of practice group members exceeds ten.

Area of recent growth: agri-business and real estate-driven M&A activities. Following the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), our firm has established a working group within its corporate practice group to assist Hungarian subsidiaries of well-known international companies during the preparation for the application of the regulation. 

Main areas of practice

• Antitrust/competition law
• Banking and finance
• Capital markets
• Corporate and commercial
• Dispute resolution
• Employment and compensation
• Intellectual property
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Projects
• Real estate

Work highlights per practice area
Antitrust/competition:

• Advising and representing a leading international aluminium casting company before the HCA in the merger clearance of its acquisition of a regional aluminium extrusion plant.
• Advising and representing an international insurance company before the HCA in a merger clearance for an international insurance portfolio acquisition.
• Advising and representing a leading book retail company before the HCA in the merger clearance of the acquisition of a large domestic publishing house. 

Banking and finance:

• Drafting financing documentation for a major Hungarian TV channel group restructuring as to its financing
• Drafting financing documents for a Hungarian Investment Fund with over EUR1bn of managed assets
• Drafting several project finance loan documentations for financing renewable energy projects 

Corporate restructuring and insolvency:

• Advising the Hungarian Reorganisation Asset Management Plc in connection with the restructuring of loan transactions with 20,000 retail and 4,000 corporate customers.
• Providing advice in connection with the takeover of bank distressed asset portfolios.
• Representing the client as creditor in a liquidation procedure of a Hungarian heating plant.
• Representing various entities of a property group re: bankruptcy proceedings. 

Dispute resolution and litigation:

• Regular representation of clients before GAFTA, FOSFA, ICC ICA and domestic arbitration courts
• Advising and representing a global commodities trader’s Hungarian affiliate before GAFTA and the HCC Arbitration Court re: a damage claim
• Plaintiff-and defendant side litigation in commercial and labor law disputes 

Employment:

• Reviewing all the client’s employment contracts and policies, drafting new contract samples, including special managerial employment contracts
• Representing the client in a labour law litigation concerning the lawfulness of the work schedule and successfully proving that the client is in compliance with the relevant legal requirements
• Providing legal support regarding e.g. individual labour law litigations with employees and with the Labour Supervision Authority, handling the trade union’s demands, etc. 

IT and telecommunications:

• Advising a company that specializes in IT security software. Creating commercial agreements, registering intellectual property, and carrying out daily advisory work.
• Supporting the client in large-scale IT projects, including system development and implementation. 

Restructuring and insolvency corporate and mergers and acquisitions:

• Advising a Hungarian financial institution on a merger with other financial institutions, creating thereby the second largest Hungarian financial institution
• Seller-side and buyer-side representation regarding the sale and purchase of private health institutions
• Reorganisation of 12 Hungarian corporations belonging to the same group of companies (oil industry) via mergers, dissolutions and share transfer transactions
• General corporate work for a number of multinationals and their Hungarian subsidiaries

Real estate and commercial property:

• Advising the client on large-scale greenfield investments involving the construction of a logistics facility, and also re: renting and operation of existing logistics facilities
• Transactional advice in connection with the sale of a share in a joint venture holding a real estate project (residential building with approximately 900 flats)
• Providing legal advice, conducting negotiations and contract conclusion in connection with the purchase of a downtown real property having a heritage listing
• Providing legal support to the client in the course of its office construction project
• Advising the client during the development of an industrial property, including purchasing, financing and drafting agreements related to development

Areas of recent growth:
Data protection
Agribusiness: Buyer-side representation in the sale and purchase of more than 80% of an agribusiness company, as well as sector-specific due diligence.

Number of lawyers: 32
Languages: English, German, French, Hungarian