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Zagreb-based Mamic, Peric, Reberski Rimac has advised the EBRD on a EUR 20 million loan to SG Leasing, a Croatian subsidiary of Societe Generale Splitska Banka, to expand lease financing for equipment, light commercial vehicles, trucks and trailers. The loan is the first project under the EBRD’s new Croatia Leasing Sector Framework.

The Croatian leasing market has been severely affected by the global financial crisis over the last five years as total assets of the sector decreased by 46 per cent and the amount of new business last year was down by 65 per cent compared with before the crisis.

Nick Tesseyman, EBRD Managing Director Financial Institutions, stated that: “I am pleased to sign today’s agreement because it marks the beginning of an important initiative. For the EBRD, strengthening the Croatian leasing sector and supporting private local enterprises are important goals and today’s signing is designed to meet these objectives.”

Vedrana Jelusic Kasic, EBRD Director for Croatia, added: “Our loan to SG Leasing marks an important step in our activities in Croatia. The EBRD has supported the financial sector in the country mainly by providing medium-term funding to banks and our new leasing framework now marks a further deepening of cooperation. It is especially important that the beneficiaries will be Croatian entrepreneurs who are driving forward the country’s economy.”

Kresimir Steinbauer, President of the Management Board of SG Leasing, underlined: “This project between the EBRD and SG Leasing will provide indispensable and tailored leasing finance for micro, small and medium-sized companies in Croatia. As a key element of this program our business partners will benefit from increased competitiveness and the possibility of further growth in a challenging environment.”

The EBRD has been active in Croatia as an investor since the country’s independence and has invested EUR 2.95 billion in more than 161 projects to date. The Bank’s activities include all sectors of the economy, including infrastructure, corporate, financial institutions and energy.

Societe Generale Splitska Banka established SG Leasing in 2008 in Croatia.

Partner Luka Rimac led the MPRR team on the transaction, working with Senior Counsel Jelena Madir and Principal Counsel David Mascari of the EBRD.

Studnicki Pleszka Cwiakalski Gorski has provided advice to Bank Peako (a member of the Unicredit Group) in connection with the extension of a construction credit facility, investment credit facility, and revolving credit facility.

The credits are for Buma Inwestor 5 spolka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia SKA that belongs to Buma group, for the financing and re-financing of an investment related to the construction of the Aleja Pokoju 5 office building in Krakow. According to SPCG, the Aleja Pokoju 5 office building will consist of nine over-the-ground stories and two underground stories. The total leasable space will amount to approximately 13,000 square meters.

The transaction was handled by SPCG Partner Wawrzyniec Rajchel and Junior Associate Leszek Czop.

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has advised IMMOFINANZ in connection with the issuance of bonds exchangeable into BUWOG shares with a volume of EUR 375 million.

The bonds were offered to institutional investors as part of an accelerated book building procedure and were successfully placed on September 4, 2014.

The bonds have a coupon of 1.5% per annum and an exchange premium of 15% on the reference price and will be issued and redeemed at 100% of their principal amount. The bonds mature on 11 September 2019. They are the first exchangeable bonds to be issued in Austria since OIAG issued a series of exchangeable bonds for privatization purposes.

CHSH previously advised IMMOFINANZ on capital market aspects and financing in connection with the IPO of BUWOG (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on May 7, 2014).

The team at CHSH consisted of Partners Thomas Zivny and Volker Glas, and Associate Oliver Volkel.

BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley acted as Joint Bookrunners. 

Kocian Solc Balastic has confirmed its role in what it calls “one of the biggest real-estate transactions in Europe in the last decade”: the sale of 58 modern logistics buildings with 627,000 square meters of leasable area and 90 acres of development land to the Prague branch of Point Park Properties (a deal originally reported on by CEE Legal Matters on August 28, 2014). 

VGP Group sold the property — the majority of which is in or around Prague — together with its joint venture partner, Tristan Capital Partners. KSP said the private of the transaction was EUR 523 million. The VGP Group will re-invest its part of the proceeds to develop projects in Central Europe and Germany. 

KSB has advised VGP Group since the developer first launched its operations on the market and has provided legal advice on the acquisitions, development, construction, leases and operations of a substantial part of VGP’s property portfolio.

PointPark Properties was advised by White & Case in this deal. 

Kachkin & Partners has successfully persuaded the St. Petersburg City Court that the Architecture and Art Rules of Nevsky Prospekt and surrounding areas adopted by the Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning of St. Petersburg were unreasonable and “unduly prejudiced” claimants’ rights. 

The regulations set forth requirements for buildings’ facades, kiosks, summer-air restaurants, outdoor advertising, and lighting on Nevsky Prospekt — the famous main street of St. Petersburg.

Kachkin & Partners Partner Dmitry Nekrestyanov — working together with Alexandra Degtyarev, a senior lawyer at the FREMM law firm — demonstrated that the Committees for Architecture and Urban Planning had overstepped its authority and usurped the functions of other executive bodies,  had imposed unreasonable restrictions on activities within Nevsky Prospekt, and had created Regulations which were, in some cases, self-contradicting. 

In its decision of August 28, 2014, the St. Petersburg City Court declared the architectural and artistic regulation of Nevsky Prospekt and the surrounding areas invalid.

Tark Grunte Sutkiene has advised the insolvent BAB bankas Snoras on the sale of an A class office building located at J.Dalina 15, in Riga, which was the former headquarters of Latvijas Krajbank.

The building was sold for EUR 10,516,200 after three rounds. The building was acquired by “JD 15” established by “LNK (Latvian Novelty Complex)”, and going forward will be known as “LNK Center.” The sale was concluded with the assistance of Colliers International, an international commercial real estate service company acting as intermediary

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Squire Patton Boggs has announced that it has been retained to represent the Slovak Republic in an ICSID arbitration dispute brought by EuroGas and Belmont Resources.

The two companies claim an entitlement to lost investments that allegedly resulted from the withdrawal of rights to the talc mining area in Gemerska Poloma in 2005 by the Slovak Republic. The claim generally alleges a breach of the Treaty between the United States of America and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic Concerning the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investment, and the Agreement between Canada and the Slovak Republic for the Promotion and Protection of Investments. 

The Squire Patton Boggs team includes Partners Stephen Anway, George von Mehren, David Alexander, Rostislav Pekar, and Tatiana Prokopova, Senior Associate Alexis Martinez, and Associate Lenka Abelovska.

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