CEE Legal Matters

Author: admin

  • Tark Grunte Sutkiene Represents Riigi Kinnisvara in Facio Bankruptcy

    Tark Grunte Sutkiene Represents Riigi Kinnisvara in Facio Bankruptcy

    Tark Grunte Sutkiene’s Estonia office is advising Riigi Kinnisvara AS (RKAS) in the bankruptcy proceedings of the Facio construction company. RKAS is Facio’s largest creditor.

    According to Tark Grunte Sutkiene, the following companies related to Facio have already declared bankruptcy: Elinord Ehitus (former known as Facio Grupp), Torutoode Projektijuhtimise OU (formerly known as Facio Enviro), CPK Elekter (formerly known as Facio Elekter), Facio Ehituse, and Facio Eesti, a company created upon the division of Facio Ehituse.

    RKAS is represented in the bankruptcy proceedings by Tark Grunte Sutkiene Senior Associate Elmer Muna.

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  • Herbst Kinsky Adds New Equity Partners

    Herbst Kinsky has announced that lawyers Sonja Hebenstreit and Mario Steinkellner have been made equity partners at the firm.

       

    Sonja Hebenstreit and Mario Steinkellner (herbstkinsky.at)

    Hebenstreit specializes in Austrian and European antitrust law, IP/IT/Life Science and is in particular a long-standing adviser of biotechnology and pharma companies. She studied law at Vienna University and Paris II (earning her Master’s Degree in 1997 and a Ph.D. in 2001) and joined Hausmaninger Herbst Rechtsanwalte in 2000 — staying with the firm when it expanded into Herbst Kinsky Rechtsanwalte in 2005. She was admitted to the Austrian bar in 2003.

    Steinkellner, who specializes in the fields of corporate law, transactions, public commercial law, real estate law and arbitration, manages the firm’s Linz office. He studied law at Vienna University (obtaining his Master’s Degree in 2001 and a Ph.D. in 2003). In 2002, he was also awarded a degree in Engineering. Steinkellner joined Herbst Kinsky in 2005 and was admitted to the Austrian bar in 2007.

    Christoph Herbst, founding partner of Herbst Kinsky Rechtsanwalte, issued a statement on the promotions: “It is a tribute to our law firm that two outstanding lawyers such as Sonja Hebenstreit and Mario Steinkellner, not only wanted to be part of Herbst Kinsky as associates, but have consciously chosen to continue with our law firm as equity partners. Such ‘internal expansion’ of our team is also the result of our long-term, sustainable succession policy and a tangible sign of our consistent growth.”

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  • Have your Say: CEE Best Lawyers Survey

    Lawyers in Central and Eastern Europe are ambitious, skilled, experienced, dynamic, charismatic, and effective. Trying to identify which of those lawyers truly stand-out from their peers and the one deal that stood out from the rest in the past twelve months, are fools’ errands.

    And we’re just the fools to do them.

    Today CEE Legal Matters is launching its premiere Best Lawyers Survey, in an attempt to find the very best lawyers in each market — or at least, to find those who are identified as such by their colleagues, counterparts, and peers — and to find the one deal that most respondents identify as the most important in their market for the past 12 months. Beyond that, we offer no guidelines, rules, or criteria. Just help us identify the best lawyers, and the most important deal. Period. Full stop.

    The numero uno. The cream of the crop. The best of the best. The ace in the hole. The cherry on the ice cream sundae. 

    You get the idea. 

    It’s simple. The survey consists of only one page, and takes less than 3 minutes to fill out. The survey will be open until September 22nd, and the winners will be announced in early-October.

    Please take a few brief minutes out of your schedule to join us in this foolish but fun experiment. And make sure to pass the link to the survey on to your friends, peers, and colleagues — the more who participate in this adventure, the more useful (and interesting!) the results will be. Don’t wait. Do it now.

    Access the Best Lawyers Survey here.

  • AstapovLawyers Advises KVV Group on Potential Acquisition of Baltic Steel Mill

    AstapovLawyers Advises KVV Group on Potential Acquisition of Baltic Steel Mill

    AstapovLawyers is representing the KVV Group in a potential acquisition of “Liepajas Metalurgs,” Latvia’s biggest industrial enterprise as well as the only steel mill in the Baltic states.

    According to AstapovLawyers, “KVV Group is one of two finalists for further talks on the sale of the metallurgical company.” The expected deal value has not been disclosed, though AstapovLawyers expects it to be “in the range of EUR 80-100 million.”

    Liepajas Metalurgs produces and markets steel products in Latvia and around the world. It offers steel rolled bars for reinforcement of concrete structures, rolled steel products, and crushed slag products that are used in road construction, as well as in manufacturing asphalt and building materials.

    The AstapovLawyer team is led by Partner Oleh Malskyy, the firm’s Head of Corporate and M&A.

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  • Tark Grunte Sutkiene Advises on Schottli Management Buyout

    Tark Grunte Sutkiene Advises on Schottli Management Buyout

    Tark Grunte Sutkiene has advised Schottli Keskkonnatehnika on a management buyout transaction in which Christina Jorg sold and the current management of the company bought 100% of the shares in Schottli Keskkonnatehnika.

    Schottli Keskkonnatehnika is a leading Estonian company in the design, selling, assembling, and maintenance of drinking and waste water treatment technologies.

    The client was advised by Tark Grunte Sutkiene Partner Risto Vahimets and Senior Associates Hannes Kuun and Piret Jesse.

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  • ACI Partners Adds New Partner in Moldova

    ACI Partners Adds New Partner in Moldova

    ACI Partners has announced that attorney Daniel Martin joined the Moldovan firm in August as a Partner, and is now heading the firm’s Litigation Department.

       

    Daniel Martin (aci.md)

    Martin has 16 years of experience as an attorney-at-law and as a teacher of law at the State University of Moldova. According to ACI Partners, he “is one of the most respected lawyers in Moldova having an outstanding record in Civil, Criminal and Administrative Litigation.” The firm also explained that “Daniel counsels a number of Moldovan and foreign investors and is also known for representing major transnational corporations in Copyright Protection cases preoccupied with fighting Piracy and other Copyright Infringements in Moldova.”

    Martin is a Professor of Law at the State University of Moldova. Prior to joining ACI Partners, he founded the Avornic si Partenerii law firm in Moldova.

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  • Ilyashev & Partners Successfully Represents Antonov Chief Executive

    Ilyashev & Partners has persuaded the Kiev Circuit Administrative Court to bar the Registrar of Companies from making any changes to the records of Antonov — the Ukrainian government-owned aircraft producer — that would result in dismissing Kiva as chief executive officer and/or board member and appointing Sergiy Merenkov instead.

    In May and July 2014, Oleksandr Kalenkov, the Under-Secretary of the Industrial Policy Ministry, who was appointed in May 2013 by Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, sanctioned the dismissal of Kiva as the President of Antonov, and appointed Sergiy Merenkov — who, as an Antonov executive, was fired by the company back in 2006 — as new interim President. 

    According to Ilyashev & Partners, “on August 1 and September 3, security officers and employees kicked Sergiy Merenkov and his armed thugs off the company premises, frustrating an attempt of forced illegal takeover of Antonov.” Following the Court’s September 3 order, however, “the Court has put to rest the question of who is the actual CEO of the company by upholding the powers of Dmytro Kiva as the President and Chief Design Officer. Antonov’s 14,000-strong team can now breathe a sigh of relief and get back do their jobs instead of preparing to resist another ‘fake executive.’”

  • Osborne Clarke Advises Wirecard on Acquisition of 3pay

    Osborne Clarke Advises Wirecard on Acquisition of 3pay

    The Wirecard Group has acquired all shares in Turkish Micro Edema Sistemleri Iletisim San.ve Tic., operating as 3pay.

    The Istanbul-based company is considered one of the leading providers in Turkey for mobile payment / direct carrier billing services. Its clients and partners include all the Turkish mobile phone companies as well as extensive partnerships with games publishers and social networks.

    The sellers are the majority owner Mediterra Capital Partners I, a private equity firm, and the CEO, who will continue to represent the management team. The transaction involved a cash payment plus earn-out components valued at as much as approximately EUR 26 million. The transaction requires the approval of the competent authorities in Turkey.

    Osborne Clarke’s team was led by Partners Bjorn Hurten and Matthias Terlau, and Associates Efthimios Detsikas, Nico Just, and Laura Meliss.

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  • Lavrynovych & Partners is a General Partner of UBA Students’ League

    Lavrynovych & Partners is a General Partner of UBA Students’ League

    Lavrynovych & Partners has become a general partner of the Ukrainian Bar Association Students League for 2014-2015.

    The partnership between the firm and the UBA Students League will provide workshops and meetings between students and Lavrynovych & Partners’ experts as well as coordinate a joint charity project. Additionally, Lavrynovych & Partners holds an annual scholarship contest in corporate law and support student teams in international competitions on WTO law. The UBA Students League is a youth wing of the Ukrainian Bar Association, with the goal of increasing the professional level of law students.

    On September 4, Lavrynovych & Partners and the UBA’s Students League have announced the opening of the IV Scholarship Contest in Corporate Law.

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  • SORAINEN Advises Rimi on Sale of Estonian Logistics Center and Headquarters

    SORAINEN Advises Rimi on Sale of Estonian Logistics Center and Headquarters

    SORAINEN Estonia has advised Rimi Eesti Food in a sale-and-lease back transaction of its logistics center and headquarters building to East Capital Baltic Property Fund II, managed by East Capital.

    The total purchase price was EUR 13.4 million. Ruth Laatre, the head of Rimi Baltics Real Estate, stated that the sale of the Juri logistics center and headquarters is part of a larger plan to restructure Rimi real estate holdings in the Baltics. The cash received will be used to finance enlargement of Rimi retail operations in the Baltics. Laatre added that Rimi — a leading retailer in the Baltic States and a subsidiary of Swedish food retailing group ICA — will sign long term lease agreements and will continue to use the premises. 

    SORAINEN advised on the bidding process, drafted transaction documents including the sale-and-lease agreements, and negotiated with the purchaser/landlord. According to the firm, “the transaction was complex as it involved a property held in co-ownership with a third party, and so requiring additional three-way negotiations and arrangements to facilitate division of the property.”

    SORAINEN’s team was led by Partner Toomas Prangli, Specialist Counsel Urmas Volens, Senior Associate Paul Kunnap, and Associate Kaija Riismaa. The financial adviser on the transaction was Catella Corporate Finance.

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