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CMS advises AnaCap on sale of Equa bank

International law firm CMS has advised AnaCap Financial Partners (AnaCap), a leading financial services specialist mid-market private equity investor, on its sale of Equa bank (Equa) to Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) through its Czech subsidiary Raiffeisenbank a.s.

Based in the Czech Republic, Equa is an award-winning, tech-enabled full-service bank that focuses on private individuals and SME businesses. Under AnaCap’s stewardship, Equa has transformed into a market-leading challenger bank thanks to the implementation of an accelerated challenger bank growth strategy. During 2020, despite the ongoing economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Equa continued to grow its customer base and achieved total balance sheet growth of 15% year-on-year.

CMS worked alongside Rothschild & Co on the successful competitive sale process and the transaction is subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals. CMS worked with AnaCap on the original acquisition and subsequent restructurings of Equa prior to this sale.

Dipesh Santilale, CMS Corporate partner, comments: “AnaCap is a valued longstanding client of the firm and we are delighted to have assisted them on this sale, one of the most notable deals in the Czech market so far this year. The sale involved the close collaboration of CMS lawyers in the UK and Czech Republic, demonstrating the firm’s multi-jurisdictional capabilities and deep sector expertise.”

Tassilo Arnhold, Partner at AnaCap, comments: “CMS provided invaluable support throughout this sale process and demonstrated an impressive understanding of the financial services sector and M&A process. The CMS team’s professional, commercial and collaborative manner contributed to the deal. We are delighted with the growth that Equa has enjoyed under AnaCap’s ownership and we wish Equa continued success for the next chapter of their journey.”

The CMS team in London was led by Dipesh Santilale (Corporate) with support from Jamie Burgess and Jennifer Ross (Corporate), and Paul Edmondson (Finance). Further support was provided by the CMS team in Prague, led by Helen Rodwell and supported by Patrik Przyhoda and Stepan Havranek (Corporate), and Lukas Valusek (Finance).