Marek Staroň joined White & Case in September 1996.  During his practice, he has obtained extensive experience in the areas of direct foreign investments, mergers and acquisitions, telecommunications regulatory issues, financing, securities,  and corporate matters.

Prior to his relocation to Bratislava, Mr. Staroň worked for the Prague and New York offices of White & Case, where he gained considerable experience in various international commercial transactions.

Electronic Communications
In the area of electronic communications, Mr. Staroň participated as a lead counsel in the following transactions:

• Advised Clearwire in connection with its intended acquisition of a Slovak holder of a licence and frequency spectrums for provision of national wireless internet services;
• Provided VERIZON Communications Inc. with advice in connection with sale of significant stake in major mobile telecommunications operator Eurotel;
• Assisted Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic in drafting the new Slovak telecommunications law, license and secondary legislation (various legal norms and regulations) in connection with the sale of Slovenské Telekomunikácie, a.s. to a strategic investor;
• Acting for Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic and Deutsche Bank as its financial advisor in the privatization of Slovak Telecom, the monopoly fixed line telecommunications provider in the Slovak Republic. This privatization was the first privatization of a utilities company in the Slovak Republic; and
• Advised numerous clients on telecommunications regulatory aspects of their projects, including internet services, operation of network, interconnection issues, etc.

Mergers & Acquisitions
In the area of mergers & acquisitions, Mr. Staroň participated in a number of significant transactions completed in Slovakia:

• ČEZ, a. s., the Czech energy company, in connection with its bid to acquire Slovenské elektrárne, a.s., a major Slovak energy company, including its nuclear power division, from the Slovak government;
• Allianz AG, a German insurance company, on the acquisition of a majority stake in Slovenská poisťovňa, the largest Slovak insurer, from the National Property Fund;
• Verizon Information Services, in connection with the sale of its telephone directory operations in Gibraltar, Austria, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia;
• MOL plc., the largest Hungarian energy company, as special counsel in connection with its acquisition of a majority in Slovnaft, a.s., a major downstream oil and petrochemical company in the Slovak Republic; and
• RWE Gas, on the purchase of a 40 percent stake in Nafta Gbely, a.s., a significant gas storage company in the Slovak Republic, and its subsequent sale to Ruhrgas.

Banking and Project Financing Transactions
Mr. Staroň has also gained considerable expertise in structuring, negotiation and documentation of a wide variety of financings. Among others, he has represented the following clients:

• Assisting ČSOB in connection with the financing of the development of a combined residential, administrative, detail and hotel project Riverpark in Bratislava;
• Assisting a syndicate of international banks in connection with the financing of the development of the Lakeside Office Park at Nove Mesto, a district of Bratislava;
• Citibank (Slovakia), a.s., in connection with the preparation and provision of export financing to a Turkish project company secured by export insurance provided by the Slovak Export-Import bank;
• Citibank (Slovakia), a.s., in connection with a structured guarantee provided to a major international IT provider in connection with the supply of complex technologies to an infrastructure operator in the Slovak Republic, secured by the assignment of contract receivables;
• EBRD in connection with its loan to and investment in Slovalco;
• Malženice Power, a special purpose vehicle formed by Advanced Power AG and Siemens Project Venture, in connection with the development of a combined-cycle gas fired 380 MW project in Malženice;
• Paroplynový cyklus, a.s. Bratislava, as a member of the team, in obtaining permanent financing from the European Investment Bank secured by a state guarantee and additional bridge financing from a consortium of international banks; 
• Globtel GSM, a.s., one of the two providers of cellular phone services in the Slovak Republic, with respect to obtaining project financing for the construction and operation of the GSM network in the Slovak Republic; and
• Všeobecná úverová banka, the second largest Slovak bank, in connection with export financing provided to ZAO SP Matador Omskshina jsc, a Russian tire manufacturer; and to Dniproshina, a Ukraine tire plant. Both loans are to be insured by the Slovak Export-Import bank. 

In the latest Chambers Global, Mr. Staroň was named as one of the leading lawyers in Slovakia in the area of corporate and commercial law.

Bars and Courts
Czech Bar Association
Slovak Bar Association

Education
LLM, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Great Britain, 1996
Master's Degree, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 1995

Languages
Czech
English
German
Slovak

Citizenship
Slovak Republic