Glatzová & Co. represented KBC Bank in the acquisition of a 50% stake in the start-up Digital & Legal

Belgian KBC Bank N.V., whose group includes, among others, Československá obchodní banka, a.s., joined Digital & Legal s.r.o., a company primarily engaged in ESG scoring, carbon footprinting and related reporting using artificial intelligence. For the young company is the brainchild of its founders Jan Zvěřina and Karel Kotoun, who will be part of the joint venture with KBC Group to further develop ESG products and provide them not only to KBC clients. In addition to the upfront investment, the transaction also included setting the terms of a long-term cooperation within the joint venture and a possible buyout of the remaining stake by KBC Bank. The transaction was handled by a legal team led by partner Jan Vesely and associate Jan Peřinky, who commented: "Defending the interests of a client from a banking background while understanding the needs of a young start-up is always a challenge. In this case, we were again able to to find the intersection between the two worlds and to create a comprehensive framework for their future collaboration, which will, we believe will be successful."