Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised Energie AG Oberösterreich on the sale of the Eastern Europe division of the AVE Group to the Czech company EP Industries, a.s. (EPI). The Closing performed on Tuesday, 12 November 2013, completed the sale of the CEE disposal division to the Czech company EP Industries, a.s.

Bringing together the activities in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Ukraine under the roof of EPI contributes to the strategic development of AVE Group's activities in Eastern Europe. In Moldova, the activities are taken over by AVE's partner city. The Austria and South Tyrol business of the AVE Group remains within the Group and is currently undergoing a restructuring process.

Advisors to Energie AG Oberosterreich were Société Générale in Frankfurt, the law firms Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in Vienna and SCWP Schindhelm in Linz, as well as KPMG in Linz. Freshfield's team of advisors included Dr Willibald Plesser, Dr Michal Dobrowolski and Dr Dora Rendessy (all Corporate/M&A), Dr Florian Klimscha and Christopher Hall (both Finance), and Dr Bertram Burtscher (IP/IT) from the Vienna office, with Dr Andreas von Bonin and Sarah Blazek from the Brussels office advising on state aid aspects of the transaction.