April 29, 2015 — Europe’s CEE Legal Matters recently interviewed Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference LLP Partner Gregory Sichenzia and Gyorgy Feher, Partner of the Budapest based law firm SRFF-Fabry on the recent affiliation of their two law firms. View the live article in this week’s edition here or read the article below:
From New York to Budapest: The Story Behind an Unusual Choice for a First Office Across the Atlantic
Tuesday, 28 April 2015 13:03 – Written by Radu Cotarcea
Stories about new firms moving into CEE countries are rare these days – definitely rarer than those about international firms pulling out. Nonetheless, in January 2015, the US law firm Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference (SRFF) announced its affiliation with the Fabry Law Office in Budapest (which until recently was affiliated with the Czech PRK Partners law firm) – which will operate as SRFF-Fabry going forward. The affiliation, which became official on January 1, 2015, represents the first office outside of the US for SRFF, known for its securities and corporate practices. We reached out to Gregory Sichenzia, Founding Partner of SRFF, to learn more.
Why Budapest As a First European Footprint?
“I found myself in Budapest quite often,” explained Sichenzia. “I had a lot of different connections – both business and personal – with the city and I thought the opportunities for a firm like ours are excellent in the market.”
According to Sichenzia, the “obvious answer” to questions about the move was that he knew Agnes Fabry and Gyorgy Feher very well and believed they were simply “the perfect guys.” The SRFF Partner added: “over time we’ve built a great deal of respect and familiarity with them. Gyorgy was also educated here in New York so he has a lot of familiarity with the NY/US market.”
“Not a Lot of Competition”
“I agree, Budapest is not the first city most firms think of in terms of a first European expansion, but we have a lot of confidence in the move based both on our experience in the market and the track record built by our local colleagues.” He added that another reason he’s optimistic is the general lack of real competition on the ground.
Sichenzia concedes that a number of international firms are in the market, but claims that “we have a different model. We do not aim to service primarily established US businesses looking to break into Hungary but the other way around – we’re looking to support more entrepreneurial organizations in Hungary and other CEE markets who are keen to obtain financing from the US market.”
Build Up, Cross the Ocean, Finance
The US firm is looking to leverage its experience in Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) issuances in the US in its new affiliation.
“A great deal of Hungarian companies are quite entrepreneurial in nature and depend on financing to grow. We are well positioned to support them on the ground now until they hit a certain stage where we can bring them across the Atlantic to a market where the valuation of financing available is better,” Sichenzia explained. “We have an excellent farming system for young companies in Hungary which our local colleagues help develop now.”
And following the move, the local team is looking to further add to its capabilities in this sense. According to Feher, the local team is just adding a new banking partner – Judit Szoradi. “Our office has always been relatively small and we like our rather informal business culture, which fits perfectly with that of our colleagues from across the ocean,” Feher stated.
Commenting on the impact that the new affiliation is having on their business, Feher said: “We’re very happy with the new arrangement and are already seeing it pan out for us. With Gregory’s excellent contacts we’ve already registered 5 times more referral work than from our previous affiliated firm.”
Building Block For The Future
According to Sichenzia, the firm has plans to expand further, both in CEE and other complementary markets, the affiliation with the Fabry Law Office will not only be a critical learning opportunity in that process but, with the expansion, he expects the local office to become all the more critical for the firm as a whole as its first non-US venture.
We only wish their venture the best of luck and hope to see more firms turning their sights on CEE.
