CEE Legal Matters

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  • TGS Baltic and RTPR Advise on INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund’s Acquisition of Pehart Group

    TGS Baltic has advised INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund on its acquisition of Pehart Group in Romania from Abris Capital Partners. RTPR advised Abris Capital Partners.

    INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund is a Baltics-based private equity fund with a size of EUR 165 million.

    Pehart Group is a tissue paper producer in South-East Europe.

    Abris Capital Partners is an independent private equity fund focusing on mid-market opportunities in Central European countries.

    “Partnership has always been central to our philosophy, and we’re thrilled at the prospect of collaborating with the Pehart Group’s management team,” commented INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund Partner Vytautas Plunksnis. “Upon the successful completion of the transaction, Pehart Group will become the tenth portfolio investment of INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, marking a significant milestone in completing the fund’s portfolio.”

    The TGS Baltic team included Partner Marius Matonis and Senior Associate Ruta Tikuisyte.

    The RTPR team included Managing Partner Costin Taracila, Partners Cosmin Tilea and Roxana Ionescu, Counsel Vlad Stamatescu, Managing Associate Andrei Tosa, Senior Associates Marina Fecheta-Giurgica, Cezara Urzica, Diana Dimitriu, and Andreea Nedeloiu, Associate Serban Halmagean, and Junior Associates George Capota, David Mirea, Alexandru Dumitrescu, Irina Marinescu, and Maria Luca.

  • Call for Investment Projects in Ukraine

    During EU-Ukraine Investment Conference on 13-14 November in Warsaw the European Commission has announced a call for private investment projects in Ukraine that have cost at least EUR 50 m, of which the project initiator provides at least 10% in the own contributions. 

    The financial support of the project implementation will come from the Ukraine Investment Facility (UIF), a part of EUR 50 bn Ukraine Facility designated over the period of 2024-2027. 

    Eligibility criteria are quite simple and include:

    • Applicant or a leader of applicant consortium must be a company incorporated and operating in the EU or EEA, with a valid registration number as a VAT payer and in  the EU Transparency Register 
    • The investment must be made within the territory of Ukraine
    • Participants can be private enterprises, joint ventures or a consortium of companies.

    The project must cover one of the identified priority sectors of the economy and be aligned with public sector investments in:

    • agriculture land’s demining 
    • education
    • energy infrastructure
    • financial compensations for damaged housing 
    • healthcare
    • housing for vulnerable groups 
    • social infrastructure 
    • support of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), small and medium processing enterprises 
    • transport infrastructure 

    The deadline to apply is 1 March 2025, 00:00 Brussels time.

    Applications must be submitted through the official platform.

    The call of proposals concerns EUR 2.75 bn of UIF funds, that will be made available to private sector before the end of 2025. 

    Background information

    UIF totals EUR 9.3 bn, consisting of EUR 7.8 bn in guarantees and EUR 1.5 bn in grant funding; in 2024, EUR 1.4 bn is being made available through a number of loan programs with the following distribution (MinEconomy of Ukraine data): Manufacturing, energy, transport and  IT (combined) – EUR 857.5 m; MSME support, including agriculture – EUR 507 m; big infrastructure projects – EUR 29.75 m. 

    By Oleh Zahnitko, Partner, Integrites

  • GKC Partners and Clifford Chance Advise on Ankara Esenboga Airport EUR 342 Million Financing

    White & Case’s Turkish affiliate law firm GKC Partners has advised Turkiye Is Bankasi and TSKB on EUR 342 million financing for the Ankara Esenboga airport. Clifford Chance advised TAV Airports as the borrower.

    According to Clifford Chance, the financing consists of a 13-year, EUR 300 million term facility to refinance an existing bridge loan and fund capacity increase works; a EUR 10 million revolving facility for short-term working capital; and a EUR 32 million non-cash facility for letter of guarantee obligations connected to operating the airport.

    The GKC Partners team included Managing Partner Guniz Gokce, Partners Sebastian Buss and Ates Turnaoglu, Associates Aybike Iplikci, Baran Abur, and Goktug Yigiter, and Legal Interns Tibet Seheri and Esin Kurtulus.

    The Clifford Chance team included Istanbul-based Partner Sait Eryilmaz, Senior Associate Basar Kirka, and Associates Fatih Goktug Ipin, Utku Aydin, and Melisa Mengu and Paris-based Partner Nikolai Eatwell.

  • Bernitsas Law Advises Thanos Hotels & Resorts on EUR 107 Million Refinancing

    Bernitsas Law has advised Thanos Hotels & Resorts on a EUR 107 million refinancing package from Piraeus Bank.

    Thanos Hotels & Resorts is a privately owned hospitality group based in Cyprus operating luxury lifestyle hotels in Cyprus and Greece.

    The Bernitsas Law team included Managing Partner Panayotis Bernitsas, Partners Maria Nefeli Bernitsa and Fotodotis Malamas, Senior Associate Sildia Fotopoulou, and Associates Antonis Fix and Marinos Shiapanis.

    Bernitsas did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

  • Schoenherr Advises Siemens Energy on Acquisition of Gridpulse

    Schoenherr has advised Siemens Energy Holding on the acquisition of a 76% stake in Slovenia-based Gridpulse from Mosdorfer and C&G Skupina Investiranje in Svetovanje. Advant Beiten reportedly advised the sellers.

    No financial details were disclosed.

    Siemens Energy offers solutions across power generation, transmission, and storage. 

    Gridpulse specializes in line monitoring and rating of overhead lines, aiming to improve the efficiency and reliability of electricity systems.

    The Schoenherr team included Slovenia-based Partner Peter Gorse, Vid Kobe, and Matej Crnilec, Attorney at Law Manja Hubman, Associate Zana Zabnikar, and Legal Advisor Borce Malijanski and Austria-based Partners Markus Piuk and Teresa Waidmann and Associate Hanna Elisabeth Kirschner.

  • Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli and Herguner Advise on Volt Motor’s Sale to WEG

    Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli has advised Volt Motor and its individual shareholders on the sale of the company to WEG. Herguner advised WEG.

    Volt Motor, a Saya Group company, is a Turkish electric motor manufacturer.

    WEG is a manufacturer of electric motors.

    The Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli team included Partner Serhan Kocakli, Senior Associate Ceyda Betul Gulmezoglu, and Associates Duygu Yurtal and Nilsu Gozukara.

    The Herguner team included Partners Umit Herguner and Deniz Tuncel and Senior Associate Basak Etik.

  • Wolf Theiss and Tuca, Zbarcea & Associates Advise on BCR’s EUR 29.5 Million Financing for Unirii View Office Building

    Wolf Theiss has advised Banca Comerciala Romana on a EUR 29.5 million credit facility granted to Unirii View. Tuca, Zbarcea & Associates advised Unirii View.

    According to Wolf Theiss, the financing will be used to refinance an existing loan for the Unirii View office building, located centrally in Bucharest.

    The Wolf Theiss team included Partners Claudia Chiper and Roxana Roman, Counsel Dana Toma, Senior Associates Alexandru Asaftei, Iuliana Stoicescu, and Smaranda Vacaru, and Associates Catalin Sabau and Ana Florea.

    The Tuca, Zbarcea & Associates team included Partners Gabriela Anton, Razvan Gheorghiu-Testa, and Alexandra Peres, Managing Associate Catalin Georgescu, Senior Associate Stefania Serban, and Associate Paul Butuzar.

  • Cobalt Advises Decathlon on Lease Agreement with Spice Home

    Cobalt has advised Decathlon on a new lease agreement with Spice Home shopping center in Riga, Latvia. Azanda & Associates reportedly advised Spice Home.

    According to Cobalt, the lease agreement will enable Decathlon to open up a new 3,000-square-meter store in mid-2025. “To accommodate Decathlon’s arrival, over EUR 1 million will be invested in infrastructure and environmental improvements.”

    The Cobalt team included Partners Toms Sulmanis and Dace Silava-Tomsone and Associate Krista Helmute.

  • Kinstellar Advises Mpac Group on EUR 56 Million Acquisition of CSi Palletising

    Kinstellar, working with Osborne Clarke, has advised Mpac Group on its EUR 56 million acquisition of the CSi Palletising group.

    Mpac Group is a UK-based packaging automation company. According to Kinstellar, the deal includes the indirect acquisition of Romanian subsidiaries CSI Romania and Alpha Las. The transaction is “aligned with Mpac Group’s strategy to enhance its delivery of comprehensive automation solutions while integrating specialized manufacturing expertise into its global supply chain.”

    The Kinstellar team included Partner Zsuzsa Csiki, Counsel Catalin Graure, Managing Associates Mihai Stan and Madalina Perte, Senior Associate Cosmin Vasilescu, Associate Ioana Popescu, and Junior Associate Teodora Nicoschi.

    Kinstellar did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

  • Koutalidis Advises Winning Consortium on EUR 71.2 Million Kalamata Airport Concession

    Koutalidis has advised a consortium comprising Fraport Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, Delta Airport Investments, and Pileas on a 40-year concession for Kalamata Airport Captain Vassilis Konstantakopoulos via a tender conducted by Growthfund, the National Fund of Greece.

    According to Koutalidis, the concession involves an upfront fee of EUR 45 million, with total payments to Growthfund over the concession period expected to reach EUR 71.2 million. The consortium has committed to investing EUR 28.3 million in infrastructure upgrades within the first three years, including modernizing facilities, expanding the terminal, developing IT systems, and enhancing passenger services.

    The Koutalidis team included Partners Yiannis Kantas, Yiannis Loizos, and Lydia Sofrona and Associates Despoina Koutsou, Evangelos Mylonas-Tsoumas, Nikolaos Vergetakis, and Christos Stranis.

    Koutalidis did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.