CEE Legal Matters

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  • Lextal Achieves Acquittal of Estonian Defendant in Criminal Matter

    Lextal  has announced its successful representation of defendant Einar Vettus in a long lasting and closely followed Estonian criminal prosecution.

    According to Lextal, the case — which the firm describes as the “longest lasting judicial process in Estonia” — was finally decided with a 203-page ruling by the Estonian Supreme Court on June 30, 2014. 

    Vettus was the only of the seven individuals and 2 entities prosecuted in the criminal matter to be “discharged from criminal responsibility” by the Supreme Court. Although initially acquitted by the Harju County Court, that ruling was annulled by the Tallinn Circuit Court, and then reversed again by the Supreme Court.

    Lextal’s representation of Vettus in the matter began in 2006. Vettus was represented throughout by Lextal Partner Ullar Talviste, assisted by attorney Oliver Naas.

     

     

  • White & Case Advises on First Domestic Offering by a Russian Issuer in 2014

    White & Case has advised the joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the follow-on offering by the Central Bank of Russia of shares in the charter capital of Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest securities exchange group.  

    Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan, Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners in the offering, and Citigroup and Gazprombank are joint bookrunners.

    White & Case reports that the domestic offering is the first by a Russian issuer in 2014 and represents a transaction value of approximately USD 469 million.

    The White & Case team on the offering was led by Moscow Partners Darina Lozovsky and Dmitry Lapshin and included London Partners Doron Loewinger and Allan Taylor. The team was also supported by Moscow Associates Renat Akhmetzyanov, Amulang Povaeva, Anna Soroka, and Yulia Petelina.

     

     

  • Dentons Acts for Lenders in Refinancing of P3 Logistics Portfolio

    Dentons advised Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and UniCredit Bank Austria on their joint EUR 215 million senior facility to refinance the portfolio of five modern logistics parks located in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia.

    The Class A portfolio is owned by Point Park Properties (P3) and spreads across Central and Eastern Europe. Two assets are situated in top logistics locations in Prague, one outside Bratislava, one in Mszczonow, near Warsaw, and one in Poznan. The logistics parks contain total warehouse space of more than 550,000 square meters, and a substantial land bank in these locations, which will be used for the development of additional warehouse and distribution space. The portfolio is almost fully leased to over 50 international tenants. 

    The Dentons team was led by Senior Associate Anna Hergottova,  supervised by Partner Mateusz Toczyski, both working out of Dentons’ Warsaw office. Prague-based Partner Jiri Strzinek, Bratislava-based Partner Peter Kubina, and London-based Partner Lorraine Davis were also involved. Mateusz Toczyski, Co-head of Dentons’ banking team for Europe said: “We were pleased to have assisted Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and UniCredit Bank Austria jointly on successful completion of this challenging transaction which involved multiple parties in three jurisdictions. Seeing such a positive end result, we are keen to strengthen further the potential of our cross-practice and cross-country cooperation at Dentons.”

     

     

  • KSB Represents LEO Express in Case Against Ceske Drahy

    Kocian Solc Balastik is representing LEO Express before the Municipal Court in Prague in an unfair competition case against Ceske drahy (Czech Railways) — the main railway operator in the Czech Republic.

    In particular, LEO Express claims that, under the Czech Act on the Protection of Economic Competition and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Ceske drahy committed predatory pricing by offering very low prices on the Prague – Ostrava route, causing damage to LEO Express in the amount of CZK 418 million (approximately EUR 15.2 million).

    LEO Express is an open-access train operator set up in 2010, which launched inter-city services in November 2012 on the Prague–Ostrava route.

    KSB Partner Pavel Dejl, who’s leading the firm’s team on the case, added that “the action is important for the development of a competitive environment in railway passenger transport not only in the Czech Republic but in the European Union as a whole. The goal is to remedy the damage that CD, as holding a former monopoly, has caused in trying to prevent competitive private carriers such as LEO Express from entering the market and competing without EU subsidies.”

     

     

  • Varul Lithuania Announces New Partners

    Varul’s Lithuania office has announced the promotion of attorneys Giedre Dailidenaite, Ernesta Ziogiene, and Tomas Venckus to the partnership.  

    Dailidenaite advises clients on competition, biotechnology and other regulatory compliance matters. Ziogiene advises on various financing, information technology, and innovation projects. Venckus specializes in real estate and public private partnership transactions and will further develop the firm’s activities in advising both public and private sectors in the partnership projects.

    According to Varul, all three have “extensive experience in advising both domestic and international clients in entering and leaving Baltic markets, various investment and M&A transactions as well as solving project financing, corporate restructurings and transformations, corporate governance matters, shareholders’ disputes and management crisis situations.”

    Robert Juodka, the Managing Partner of the Lithuanian office, commented on the promotions: “A partnership which has grown from an existing cooperation with attorneys at law Giedre Dailidenaite, Ernesta Ziogiene, and Tomas Venckus allows VARUL’s Vilnius office to further develop and strengthen the firm’s expertise and to ensure the highest quality of services in business transactions.“  

  • Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for EU Integration Appointed From Arzinger

    Arzinger has announced that Arseniy Yatsenyuk, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, has appointed Arzinger Associate Anton Yanchuk to a position as Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for European Integration.  

    At Arzinger, Yatsenyuk practiced contract law, foreign trade, intellectual property rights, competition, healthcare, and retail trade.  

    Arzinger Managing Partner Timur Bondaryev commented on losing his second lawyer to the new government: “As a result of the last month’s reboots in the government two legal experts of Arzinger were appointed to important government posts (in May, Arzinger’s Partner Vitalii Kasko was appointed Deputy Attorney General for International Legal Cooperation). We are witnessing the emergence of a new state, and this process requires the involvement of new specialists to work in the government. We appreciate the high confidence placed in our colleagues and I hope that they will justify it. I am sure of their high professional and ethical level and I think that their appointment will really contribute to the work of the government. I wish Anton good luck in his new position, and I hope he will make every effort to promote the rule of law in Ukraine.” 

     

  • Lakatos, Koves Advises Al-Habtoor on Purchase of Intercontinental Hotel in Budapest

    The Hungarian Lakatos, Koves & Partners law firm has advised the Al Habtoor Group on its purchase of the Hotel Intercontinental in Budapest.

    The purchase price was not disclosed. The purchase follows the signing of an agreement in February between the UAE and Hungary that provides the legal framework for operators to launch flights between the two countries without any restrictions.

    Khalaf Al Habtoor, the billionaire chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, tied his interest in the hotel to the recovering Hungarian economy, saying.“I am very pleased to add the InterContinental Budapest to the Al Habtoor Group’s hotel portfolio. The Hungarian economy is growing at its fastest pace since 2007. It has recovered well from the recession. The economy grew 1.2 per cent last year and is doing even better this year. Hungary has a stable government with Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government being elected for a second term recently, ” 

    The Intercontinental becomes the second hotel to be purchased by the Al Habtoor Group in the Hungarian capital, after its acquisition of the historic Le Meridien Budapest in 2012. The Al Habtoor Group owns and manages three other hotels in Dubai and two in Beirut, in addition to its Hungarian properties.

    Dubai-based private equity firm PCP Capital Partners also advised on the Intercontinental transaction.

     

     

  • Freshfields Advises on Republic of Bulgaria’s Sovereign Bond Issue

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Citigroup, HSBC, and J.P. Morgan in relation to the issue by the Republic of Bulgaria of EUR 1.493 million 2.95% Notes due 2024.  

    The Republic of Bulgaria made another impressive foray into the public international debt capital markets following a successful return in July 2012. The Freshfields team advising on the deal was led by Freshfields debt capital markets Partner Duncan Kellaway and Senior Associate Nick Hayday.  

    Commenting on the transaction, Duncan Kellaway said “We were very pleased to support the Republic and the underwriters on a further important transaction by the Republic.” The transaction follows the firm advising on the recent bond issues undertaken by the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Armenia.

    Editor’s Note: On July 10, 2014, the Bulgarian firm of Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners announced that it advised Citigroup, HSBC, and J.P. Morgan on Bulgarian law aspects of the banks’ underwriting role for the Eurobonds issued by Bulgaria in July 2014. 

     

     

  • Dentons Advises Blackstone on Logistics Acquisition

    Dentons’ real estate team has advised Blackstone, the global investment and advisory firm, on the acquisition of a portfolio of 6 logistics and distribution parks from Pramerica Real Estate Investors.  

    The 6 parks are located throughout Poland and the Czech Republic. The acquisition was completed via Logicor, Blackstone’s European logistics platform. These standout logistics parks totaling 200,000 square meters include Panattoni Parks in Czeladz, Krakow, Gliwice, and Blonie in Poland and Prague Airport in the Czech Republic; and Stolica Business Centre Lazy in Poland. 

    Dentons cross-border team was led by Partner and Head of CEE Real Estate Stewart Middleman, and included Warsaw-based Partner Tomasz Stasiak and Senior Associates Agnieszka Nagorska, Anna Garbula-Wegrzynowska, and Martyna Markiewicz, as well as Prague-based Counsel Michal Hink and Daniel Hurych and Associates Eleanor Johnson, Adela Horakova, and Hana Hrbacova.

    Stewart Middleman commented: “We are pleased that the multi-jurisdictional and comprehensive advice of our Warsaw and Prague-based real estate and finance teams has resulted in the successful project completion for our client. The acquisition of such a premier portfolio further strengthens Logicor’s position in the logistics sector throughout Central and Eastern Europe.”  

     

     

  • Gessel Advises Lux Med on Purchase of Diagnostics Facilities from Enel-Med

    Gessel has advised Lux Med Diagnostyka on its PLN 52 million purchase of seven diagnostics facilities from Centrum Medyczne Enel-Med.

    The transaction was structured as a purchase by Lux Med of a 100% stake in Centrum Medyczne Diagnostyka, an entity onto which the operations of the Enel-Med diagnostics centers has been transferred.

    According to a Gessel press release, “the Lux Med group is a leading provider of private medical services and the largest medical entity in Poland. The present transaction derives from Lux Med’s strategic goal of increasing its presence in the image-based diagnostics and hospital sectors; consequent to its implementation, Lux Med’s diagnostics facility network has grown to 27 locations.”

    Gessel Partner Marcin Macieszczak and Managing Associate Michal Boryczka counseled Lux Med throughout the the transaction, beginning with the due diligence study and proceeding through drafting of the full set of transaction documentation, current advice, and closing.