Biography
Jan Vacula is a local partner in our Capital Markets practice.
Jan has broad experience advising corporate clients and financial institutions on a wide range of debt and equity capital markets transactions, including investment-grade bonds, high-yield bonds, regulatory bonds, covered bonds, green and sustainability-linked bonds, private placements, EMTN programmes, liability management, and IPOs. Jan also provides expert counsel to financial institutions on complex regulatory and compliance matters. Jan is both Czech and English law qualified.
Experience
Jan has represented, among others, the following clients:
International Debt Capital Markets
- ČEZ Group in connection with several sustainability-linked bond issuances as well as on the recent issue of €750 million 4.375 per cent. European Green Bonds due 2034, which represented the first-ever European Green Bond issuance on the Czech market and one of the first of its kind in CEE. These transactions mark import milestones in the integration of ESG objectives into corporate financing. We also advise on the annual updates of the company's €8 billion EMTN programme.
- Slovenské elektrárne on the establishment of its €2 billion EMTN programme and the successful debut issue of €750 million 3.875 per cent. green bonds due 2032 under the programme. The transaction was recognized as "Country Deal of the Year (Slovakia) 2025" by the CEE Legal Matters.
- EP Infrastructure, a leading European energy infrastructure utility, on the establishment of its EMTN programme and the issuances thereunder of €500 million 4.375 per cent. green bonds due 2034 and €600 million 4.125 per cent. green bonds due 2033.
- ENERGO-PRO, a leading European electricity distribution and renewable hydropower generation company, as issuer on several issuances, including the recent issue of €300 million 6.45 per cent senior guaranteed notes due 2031 issued through a private placement and offered under Regulation S, the issue of €700 million 8.00 per cent guaranteed notes due 2030 offered under Rule 144A and Regulation S and the subsequent €50 million tap issuance. The transaction was awarded the "Deal of the Year – Czechia" at the Global Banking & Markets CEE, CIS & Türkiye Awards 2025.
- CTP Group on the establishment of its EMTN programme, its subsequent annual updates, multiple issues of green bonds thereunder, and tender offers in respect of outstanding notes. The most recent update of the programme involved a complex revision of the programme documentation to enable the company to issue both senior notes and hybrid notes. The issued notes are listed on the Global Exchange Market of Euronext Dublin.
- EPH Financing International as issuer and Energetický a průmyslový holding (EPH) as guarantor on the establishment of EPH's €3 billion EMTN programme, its annual update, and all issues thereunder, including the inaugural issue of €500 million 5.875 per cent. guaranteed green notes due 2029. The transaction was awarded the "Debut Corporate Bond Deal of the Year and Energy Transition Deal of the Year" at the Global Banking & Markets CEE, CIS & Türkiye Awards 2024.
Domestic Debt Capital Markets
- České dráhy on the issue of CZK 8 billion (approximately €330 million) senior unsecured notes with a coupon of 5.50 per cent. and a maturity of five years.
- NET4GAS on a CZK-denominated bond offering in an aggregate amount of CZK 10.998 billion (approximately €440 million). The dual-tranche transaction consisted of CZK 4.098 billion floating rate bonds due 2028 and CZK 6.9 billion 2.745 per cent. bonds due 2031. The transaction represented the largest CZK-denominated corporate bond offering at its time.
- Česká spořitelna, Komerční banka and UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia as joint lead managers together with Privatbanka as manager in respect of the up to CZK 1.25 billion (approximately €50 million) 6.75 per cent. guaranteed retail notes issued by the Dr. Max Group, a leading pharmacy chain in Europe.
- Česká spořitelna and Komerční banka as joint lead managers on the issue of CZK 1.1 billion (approximately €42 million) floating-rate bonds due 2023 by DEKINVEST, an investment fund with variable share capital, acting as investment manager of the sub-fund DEKINVEST podfond Alfa, and guaranteed by DEK, a holding company of a leading group supplying construction products and services in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
- ČD Cargo, part of the České dráhy group, on the issue and private placement of CZK 1 billion (approximately €39 million) 2.55 per cent. bonds due 2025 and several issues of bonds under its up to CZK 6 billion ten-year domestic bond programme.
Equity Capital Markets
- CTP Group, the largest full-service owner-developer of prime industrial and logistics property in the Central & Eastern Europe region, on its initial public offering (IPO) and listing of its shares on Euronext Amsterdam – the largest real estate IPO in Europe since 2014.
- Avast (Gen Digital), a multinational cybersecurity software company headquartered in Prague and a long-term client of the firm, on its US$816.6 million initial public offering (IPO).
- Česká spořitelna, Komerční banka, Société Générale and WOOD & Company as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners in connection with the initial public offering (IPO) of shares of CZG – Česká zbrojovka Group (Colt CZ Group), one of the leading European producers of firearms for military and law enforcement, personal defence, hunting and sport shooting, and their listing on the Prague Stock Exchange.
Ranked as Notable Practitioner
in Capital Markets (IFLR 1000, 2025)