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International Edition

Iberia: First contract

A very important new piece of legislation was approved by the Portuguese government on 20 September last year. It was published in the official journal on 29 January, 2008, and will come into force by the end of July. The public contracts code (PCC) plays a central role in the public administration's contractual activity as it not only establishes the regime of public procurement but also rules the performance of public contracts. For the first time in the Portuguese legal order, a single law regulates both these aspects. It is considered a milestone in the evolution of Portuguese administrative law. In the first instance, PCC aims to comply with European Union Directives 2004/18/EC, on the co-ordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts; and 2004/17/EC, on the coordination of procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors of 31 March, 2004. Nevertheless, the PCC's scope goes far beyond these directives. In fact, the Portuguese legislator created a complete set of rules on public procurement procedures (including those not covered by EC Directives) along with a comprehensive regime of public contracts performance.
7 minute read

International Edition

Iberia: Common interest, common market

Every day we see an increasing number of transactions between Spain and Portugal. The official figures published in both countries show that Spain and Portugal are increasing their imports and exports and the flow of direct investment with each other. Some of the largest Spanish companies have made significant investments in key economic areas of Portugal. It is clear that the Spanish companies are naturally expanding their business to the Portuguese market. Portuguese companies are also increasing their investments in Spain and are more actively searching for new business opportunities. There are about 3,000 Spanish companies established in Portugal and around 300 Portuguese companies established in Spain. The cross-border investment between Portugal and Spain has created a large number of jobs in both countries. It is likely that the cross-border investments and the creation of new jobs will continue to increase in the future.
6 minute read

International Edition

Iberia: Flying high

In the very near future, Iberia should present an offer to purchase Spanair, the company owned by Scandinavian travel and airline group SAS. The company has been the main candidate in the running to acquire Spanair since Marsans gave up its bid. On 14 February, 2008, the company notified the Spanish Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) as the board of directors authorised it to present, along with Spanish company Gestair, a purchase offer to SAS for 100% of Spanair's shares. So a new company joins as a partner in the operation and the intentions of Iberia over Spanair have been secured. The official note shows that the offer follows the purchase schedule established by the SAS Group in this process. Nevertheless, the offer will be subject to the fulfilment of several conditions that Iberia did not specify. Iberia enlisted the services of Morgan Stanley in order to formalise the purchase offer.
6 minute read

International Edition

Spain: Open and honest

Information and transparency are essential elements for the adequate operation of securities markets and fundamental to their development and consolidation. Acutely aware of this, European legislators, in the context of the European Union (EU) Financial Services Action Plan approved by the European Commission in 1999, adopted Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market. As established in the Directive, efficient, transparent and integrated securities markets contribute to a genuine single market in the Community and foster growth and job creation by better allocation of capital and by reducing costs. The disclosure of accurate, comprehensive and timely information about security issuers builds sustained investor confidence and allows informed assessment of their business performance and assets and, ultimately, this enhances both investor protection and market efficiency.
5 minute read

International Edition

Kaye Scholer takes German partner from US rival

Kaye Scholer has boosted its Frankfurt office with the hire of Mayer Brown patent litigation partner Wolfgang Leip. Leip moved to the US firm's German arm last month along with associate Benedict von St Andre and two assistants.
2 minute read

International Edition

Skadden Euro push lands Links tax man

Skadden Arps Meagher & Flom has boosted its French practice with the hire of a tax partner from City giant Linklaters. Philippe Derouin will join Skadden in Paris as a partner next month. He advises clients on tax aspects of a wide range of domestic and international matters, including M&A, corporate restructurings, structured and project finance and tax litigation.
2 minute read

International Edition

EU and Competition: A question of control

It is perhaps not surprising that the high level of merger activity in the second half of 2007 threw up some interesting developments in merger control policy in London and Brussels. The European Commission (EC) has exclusive jurisdiction to examine very large, international mergers in the European Union (EU), under the European Merger Regulation (ECMR). Following a string of high-profile reverses in the European courts, the EC has become more reluctant in recent years to block mergers. Last year nevertheless saw only the second prohibition decision since 2002, when the EC blocked Ryanair's acrimonious attempted hostile takeover of Aer Lingus. The EC took this decision on the basis that the merger of the two companies would have harmed consumers by creating a monopoly or a dominant position on 35 routes currently operated by both airlines, principally out of Dublin airport. The EC noted that this would have reduced choice and led to higher prices for more than 14 million EU passengers using these routes each year. The EC declined to accept the remedies offered by Ryanair, on the basis that they were inadequate to remove the competition concerns.
8 minute read

International Edition

DLA Piper adds in Madrid with Ferrovial in-houser

DLA Piper has appointed a new head of its Spanish equity capital markets practice, with the hire of corporate partner Maria Segimon de Manzanos. De Manzanos joins the transatlantic firm's Madrid office as a partner after a spell in-house with infrastructure giant Grupo Ferrovial, where she headed up the corporate legal team.
2 minute read

International Edition

Shearman selects Selzner as Euro M&A chief

Shearman & Sterling has appointed Duesseldorf-based partner Harald Selzner as the head of its European M&A practice, the New York firm announced today (19 February). The appointment, which is effective from this month, sees Selzner takes on management responsibility for the European transactional practice as co-deputy head of M&A.
2 minute read

International Edition

Swedish Bar deadlocked in dispute over number of bidders at auctions

The Swedish Bar Association is divided over controversial proposals to relax Bar rules governing how many bidders a law firm can represent in an auction. The organisation has been forced to push back a decision about relaxing the rules because board members could not reach an agreement. While the majority of the board was in favour of sticking with current rules - which allow firms to represent only one bidder - disagreements mean it is now considering a compromise solution.
3 minute read

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