foreign direct investment info corner

As of 11 October 2020 the EU FDI Screening Regulation is in force, ending the long wait for a Union framework to screen foreign direct investments. The umbrella spanned by the EU FDI Regulation is a further (crucial) building block in the EU's endeavours to tighten and coordinate the screening of foreign direct investments.

Please see here for more information.

A (mandatory) filing requirement is triggered if a foreign investor intends to carry out an investment (directly/indirectly) in an Austrian undertaking.

This includes (i) the acquisition of shares reaching/exceeding 10 %, 25 % and 50 % (voting rights), (ii) the acquisition of control, and (iii) the acquisition of essential/all assets of an undertaking (asset deals), provided that (a) the undertaking is active in a critical sector, and (b) the undertaking is Austrian, i.e. has its seat or its central administration in Austria (local nexus).

Please see here for more information.

New FDI legislation will enter into force on 1 May 2021. It introduces a mandatory, suspensory, pre-closing notification obligation for acquisitions of “effective control” over Czech companies active in industries deemed capable of threatening the security of the Czech Republic and internal or public order by parties resident outside of the European Union, or whose ultimate controlling parent is resident outside of the European Union.

Mandatory notifications can take the form of either (i) a mandatory FDI filing or (ii) a mandatory FDI consultation. If unclear whether a transaction constitutes a notifiable FDI, the Foreign Investor can make use of a consulting procedure.

Please see here for more information.

Although there is no FDI filing requirement in Croatia, the Implementing Regulation has established the National Contact Point and the Interdepartmental Commission, which will act as the competent authorities for a coordination mechanism under the EU FDI Screening Regulation.

Please see here for more information.

Hungary has enacted two separate sets of FDI rules. The different regimes relate to different investors, and protect different companies/sectors. The relevant authorities, the procedural rules and fines are also different. However, an acquisition that violates the rules will be null and void under both regimes and the fines are quite significant in both cases.

Please see here for more information.

Poland has enacted two separate sets of rules related to different investors, with other companies/sectors protected, different competent authorities, separate procedural rules and fines.

Please see here for more information.

An information letter must be provided to the National Defence Council (via the Romanian Competition Council) if (i) the economic concentration (which involves a change of control) occurs in one of the relevant sectors, and (ii) the turnover thresholds required for a merger control filing (i.e. aggregate worldwide turnover of EUR 10m and Romanian turnover of EUR 4m for the involved parties) are not fulfilled.

Please see here for more information.

The Romanian Competition Council has published a draft law aimed to tighten the FDI screening (please see here for more information); public consultation is still ongoing at this date.

New investment screening legislation will enter into force on 1 March 2021, under which the acquisition of a shareholding in certain designated entities or of the business of these entities will need to be reported and may be subject to approval of the Slovak Government.

This obligation will apply regardless of whether the acquirer is a Slovak or foreign entity and will also apply to indirect transactions, i.e. a change in the persons having a direct or indirect participation in the operator of critical infrastructure exceeding a 10 % shareholding or voting rights is eligible to be screened.

Please see here for more information.

A (mandatory) filing requirement is triggered if a foreign investor intends to carry out or has carried out a foreign direct investment (i.e. merger or acquisition of an undertaking, investment in tangible and intangible assets, acquisition of the right to dispose of land and real estate essential to critical infrastructure / located near such infrastructure), which aims to establish or to maintain lasting and direct links between the foreign investor and an undertaking active in a sector affecting the security and public order of Slovenia and is seated in Slovenia, and the investment concerns at least 10 % of the capital or the voting rights.

Please see here for more information.