Wolf Theiss advises Intuitive Surgical on the Sale of Its Distribution Business to Synektik S.A.

Wolf Theiss provided transactional legal assistance to Intuitive Surgical on the sale of its distribution and maintenance business in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to a Czech subsidiary of Synektik, a distributor based in Poland. The closing occurred on 1 February 2022. 

Intuitive Surgical has successfully transferred its distribution and maintenance business in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Synektik. Intuitive Surgical is a leading developer and manufacturer of robotic products for use in the healthcare industry for minimally invasive surgery (da Vinci Surgical Systems) headquartered in the USA. Synektik is a Polish distributor of innovative products, services and IT solutions for surgery, diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine.

Wolf Theiss acted as lead counsel to Intuitive Surgical in the form of multi-jurisdictional M&A advice, on all phases of the complex transaction, including the structuring of the deal, preparing and negotiating transactional documentation, advising on regulatory aspects and public procurement rules and also communicating with customers. The cross-border nature of the deal involved jurisdictions of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Under the lead of Counsel Tereza Naučová (Corporate and M&A, Czech Republic) and Senior Associate Michal Matouš (Corporate and M&A, Czech Republic), the multi-jurisdictional team consisted of experts from: Prague – Kamila Seberová (Counsel, Regulatory & Administrative Law), Sabina Krajíčková (Senior Associate, Employment), Dominik Havliš (Associate, Corporate and M&A); Slovakia – Bruno Štefánik (Counsel, Corporate and M&A), Simona Ferenčáková (Associate, Corporate and M&A), and Poland – Dariusz Harbaty (Counsel, Capital Markets, Corporate and M&A).

“We enjoyed assisting the friendly team of Intuitive Surgical on this deal. This transaction was made particularly challenging by the public procurement rules and regulatory aspects that exist in pharmaceutical law both in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The dynamics of the healthcare sector posed a demanding but interesting challenge for our lawyers from several different jurisdictions in CEE. The industry expertise and dedication of our transaction team was essential to getting the deal through”, stated Tereza Naučová, Counsel, and member of the Corporate and M&A team in the Wolf Theiss Prague office.

In relation to Swiss transaction matters, the client was assisted by Lenz Staehelin (Swiss local counsel of the client).