Dr. Elke Maria Napokoj LL.M. (London)
Partner, Co-Head Corporate M&A
elke.napokoj@bpv-huegel.com
Elke Napokoj is partner and co-head of the Corporate/M&A practice group. She specialises in national and international M&A transactions, corporate law, restructurings, private equity and capital markets. She advises strategic and financial investors across a range of industry sectors and has over 20 years of professional experience in corporate transactions, particularly in the pharmaceutical and life sciences, aviation, banking, insurance, energy and industrial sectors.
Selected mandates include:
- EVK DI Kerschhaggl GmbH on the sale of all shares to Headwall Photonics, Inc.
- Zentrasport on the transfer of the operating business to ANWR GROUP
- German Ziegler Group on the acquisition of HS Timber Productions in Sebes, Romania
- Dutch Specialist Group International B.V. on the establishment of STAR Stadlmann GmbH and the acquisition of the labour leasing division of Stadlmann Tec GmbH
- German Cloudflight Group on the acquisition of the Austrian mobile agreements GmbH, a company in the field of consulting for digital strategy and business model development
- Voyageurs du Monde (France) on the acquisition of a majority stake in the Austrian Eurofun Group, a company with shareholdings in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and France
- Microsoft Venture Fund M12 and Point72 Ventures on their $20M funding in Blackshark.ai, the creator of first semantic 3D digital twin of the entire Earth
- German Würth Group in the acquisition of the Upper Austrian C.I.C.M.P. Vertriebs-GmbH, a leading company focusing on hydraulic connection technology and the assembly of hydraulic hoses
- Zeus Packaging Group Limited on the acquisition of the Petruzalek Group and 11 subsidiaries of Petruzalek in the CEE region
- International Aviation Group and Vueling Airlines on the offer to acquire Niki Luftfahrt GmbH and in connection with the formation of Level Airlines in Austria
- ALLISTRO CAPITAL Fonds, Germany, in connection with the acquisition of the Hofer Medical Group, an Austrian manufacturer of medical products
- ELK Holding AG on the sale of ELK Fertighaus GmbH
- Valneva SE in the cross-border merger of Intercell AG and in the subsequent procedure for reviewing the appropriateness of the exchange ratio
Board Seats and Memberships
- Officer for Diversity and Inclusion of the Closely Held Companies Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA)
- Vice-President of the Association for Corporate Growth, Austrian Chapter
- Member of the Advisory Board of the Austrian Association of Company Law (GVÖ)
- International Bar Association
- Vienna Bar Association
- King’s College London Alumni Association
- VGR Scientific Association for Corporate and Company Law
- International Women´s Forum
Teaching activities and lectures
Elke is a lecturer at the Department of Economic Law and European Integration of the Danube University Krems, lecturer at the University of Vienna, and regularly gives lectures at other universities, institutions, congresses and seminars.
Rankings and Awards
Current rankings in lawyer directories
- Legal 500 (2024 edition) lists Elke Napokoj as „leading individual“ in commercial, corporate and M&A
- Chambers Global (2024 edition) lists Elke Napokoj as top-ranked lawyer (Clients say: “She is highly knowledgeable in negotiating deals, and her guidance and seniority help a lot.”)
- Juve (Handbuch 2024/2025) lists Elke Napokoj since many years among the leading names in corporate M&A (Clients say „tough negotiator“, „professionally very fit“; and competitors say :“ausgezeichnete Anwältin für M&A und Gesellschaftsrecht“)
- IFLR (2024 edition) „Women Leaders“
Education and professional background
Elke Napokoj graduated from the University of Vienna in 1999 (Dr.iur.) and holds an LL.M. in banking and financial law from King’s College London. In 2018, Elke Napokoj completed an Excellence Programme for Supervisory Boards at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. She has been a Partner at bpv Huegel since 2007 and co-head of the corporate M&A practice group.
Languages
German, English
Publications
Elke Napokoj is the author of several books and articles:
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