Wolf Theiss, one of the leading law firms in Austria, is to enter the Romanian legal market at the beginning of July by opening an office in Bucharest, according to the website of the British publication Legal Week.
Wolf Theiss is expanding its presence in south-east Europe through the launch of new offices in Romania and Bosnia. Another Austrian company with an office in Bucharest is Schoenherr Rechtsanwalte, which advised OMV in the 2002 acquisition of 25.1% in Rompetrol.
"Expansion has been our core strategy for the past five years with the aim of becoming the leading regional practice in south-eastern Europe," said Markus Heidinger, Wolf Theiss managing partner.
Wolf Theiss has hired Dorina Dumitrescu as partner in Romania. Dorina Dumitrescu had her own practice and is a former in-house counsel at the Romanian subsidiary of ABN Amro.
The firm is also in talks to bring in a team of local lawyers for the practice to be headed by Vienna-based corporate partner Horst Ebhardt.
Officials of the firm confirmed this information.
Wolf Theiss has been considering entering the Romanian market for some years as a move to complement its regional office network.
Wolf Theiss had previously focused its local practice on a referral relationship with Romanian market leader Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen.
Market players put this market in Romania at 25-30 million euros a year.
The major European law firms are still only modestly represented in Romania due to low profit margins and an underdeveloped transactions market, which has not justified the opening of a local office. The exception is British giant Linklaters, which has been involved in the market since 2001. Local and regional players, however, are very active.
The offensive by Austrian firms in Romania follows in the footsteps of Austrian investors, who are the second most important investors in Romania ranked by country. adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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