Schoenherr advised VB-Leasing International (VBLI), the joint venture between Österreichische Volksbanken-AG (ÖVAG) and Germany's VR-Leasing AG, on the sale of VB Leasing Slovakia to CSOB Leasing, a. s., a subsidiary of Belgium's KBC Group, and on the replacement of 100% of the shareholder funding at par (including accrued interest) by the KBC Group. The relevant agreement was executed on 1 July 2015. With the sale, ÖVAG and VR-Leasing have achieved another milestone in their strategic re-alignment to focus on their core business. The sale of the remaining subsidiaries of VBLI remains ongoing.

VB-Leasing International with its headquarters in Vienna has been a well-established equipment leasing provider in Central and Eastern Europe for 20 years. ÖVAG and VR-Leasing-AG started the sales process for VBLI in 2013.

With total assets of approximately EUR 170 million, VB Leasing Slovakia is one of the leading leasing companies in the Slovak market.

The Schoenherr team was led by Thomas Kulnigg (partner; Corporate/M&A) and Sascha Hödl (partner, Corporate/M&A), primarily assisted by Clemens Rainer (attorney at law; Corporate/M&A), with Sona Hekelová (partner, Bratislava; Corporate/M&A, Banking & Finance) handling the Slovak law aspects of the transaction.

Further advisors on the sell-side: Ithuba Capital and Deloitte.

KBC Bank and CSOB Leasing were advised by Havel, Holásek & Partners (Slovakia) and Baker & McKenzie Diwok Hermann Petsche Rechtsanwälte (Austria).