Mon, June 07, 2021

Dentons and Impact Advisory advise on the acquisition of Budapest Metropolitan University, the largest privately-owned university in Hungary

Dentons and its joint venture advisory firm – Impact Advisory – advised Central Europe Alfa Asset Management Ltd., and its sole investor Optima Investments Limited, an asset manager owned by the foundation established by the National Bank of Hungary, on the acquisition of Budapest Metropolitan University (METU) from CEE Equity Partners for a cash consideration of US$50 million.
Dentons acted as legal advisor, while Impact Advisory was the lead M&A advisor to Optima on the transaction.
“We were delighted to advise Optima in this strategic transaction, which marries a long-term investor with substantial financial resources with a fast-growing university with regional and global aspirations,” said Rob Irving, Co-chair of Dentons’ Europe and Global Private Equity groups.
“Our engagement on this matter shows the strength and added value of our one-stop-shop service offering of legal and advisory services,” commented Balázs Tüske, Head of Advisory at Impact Advisory.
“I would like to thank Dentons and Impact Advisory for their support and unselfish devotion that they provided in this matter” added Zoltán Fekete, CEO of Optima Investments Ltd. “Their ability to provide integrated legal and financial services was very valuable in helping us secure this investment within a compressed time frame.”
The Dentons team on the deal was led by Partner Rob Irving supported by Partner István Réczicza, Counsel Tünde Gönczöl and Associates Nóra Jakab and Brigitta Kovács.
The Impact Advisory team on the deal was led by Head of Advisory Balázs Tüske, supported by Partner Zoltán Dömötör.
Last year, the same team advised Optima on the acquisition from leading private equity firm Lone Star Funds of a Dutch holding company owning a 61,49% stake in Globe Trade Centre S.A (GTC). This was one of the largest deals in the Central European region in 2020.