CEE Legal Matters

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  • Hogan Lovells Advises MOL on USD 130 Million North Sea Acquisition

    Hogan Lovells has advised MOL Group on the acquisition of six UK North Sea licenses from Premier Oil UK Limited for USD 130 million, subject to adjustment, announced on June 30, 2014.

    MOL Group has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement to acquire interests in six Central North Sea offshore licenses and related assets; including a balanced mix of existing and new production, as well as both operated and non-operated exploration opportunities in the Scott, Telford, and Rochelle fields. The transaction is subject to certain third party and regulatory consents.

    MOL Group is listed on both the Budapest Stock Exchange and the Warsaw Stock Exchange, and the company possesses an extensive international upstream portfolio of oil and gas exploration activities in 12 countries and valuable producing assets in seven countries.

    Hogan Lovells previously advised MOL Group on its participation in a joint USD 2.25 billion project to develop the North Sea Catcher oil field, in which MOL Group owns a 20% stake; and on its agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Wintershall (UK North Sea) Limited for a base consideration of USD 375 million, signed in December of last year (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on December 19, 2013).

    The Hogan Lovells team advising MOL Group was led by London corporate Energy Partner Steven Bryan and Senior Associate Tamsin Doran, assisted by Energy and Natural Resources group Partners Richard Tyler and David Moss and Associate Janet Duff, as well as Tax Partner Karen Hughes and Senior Associate Fiona Bantock.

     

     

  • New Alliance on The (Adriatic) Block

    Law firms in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia are preparing to launch a new legal alliance: Top-tier Legal Adriatic (TLA).

    TLA’s founders claim they are bringing together “only top-tier” law firms in the alliance, and that the alliance will consist of over 100 lawyers in a one-stop-shop concept for clients looking at the Adriatic region. The projected official launch of the alliance is set for September 2014. 

    To find out the members as well as the rationale of founders behind the project you can read the article “Adriatic Firms Gearing Up For Regional Alliance Launch”, published in the latest issue of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine. 

  • CHSH Advises on Acquisition of Vienna Office Building

    CHSH has advised Union Investment on its successful acquisition of the Euro Plaza 5 office building in Vienna. Union Investment is one of the largest German asset managers. 

       

    v.l.t.r.: Matthias Nödl , Mark Krenn, Manfred Ton, Stefan Huber (chsh.com)

    CHSH claims in a press release that this is the fifth transaction by Union Investment in Austria made with the firm’s assistance.

    CHSH Partner Manfred Ton, who led the team on the deal, stated that, “with a purchase price of approximately EUR 104 million, it is one of the largest real estate transactions in Austria so far this year.” In addition to Ton, the team consisted of CHSH lawyers Mark Krenn, Matthias Nodl, and Stefan Huber.

     

     

     

  • Linklaters Advises on Polish Wind Farm Acquisitions

    Linklaters’ Warsaw Energy & Infrastructure team has acted for the TERNA Energy Group, the Greek renewable energy company, which acquired three independent wind farms in northern Poland.

    Linklaters advised on all aspects of the transaction, including drafting and negotiating the transaction documents, up to its closing. The first two projects were successfully closed in mid-May 2014. The third one is expected to be closed in due course after the fulfillment of certain conditions precedent.

    TERNA Energy has a pipeline of around 8,000 MW of RES projects in operation, under construction, or in an advanced stage of development, and with a footprint in Central Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and North and South America. 

    TERNA Energy was advised by Linklaters Managing Associate Agnieszka Koniewicz and Senior Associate Krzysztof Gorny.

     

  • EPAM Appoints New Lawyers in Moscow

    EPAM Appoints New Lawyers in Moscow

    Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev and Partners has announced new appointments in its Moscow office.

    Effective July 1, 2014, Elena Gavrilina is a Partner in the firm’s Real Estate and Construction practice, litigation Associates Alexander Vaneev and Vera Rikhterman have become Counsels, and Elena Kazak has been made a Senior Associate in the firm’s Competition Practice.

    Elena Gavrilina is a Partner in the firm's Real Estate and Construction practiceGavrilina specializes in real estate, land law, privatization, public procurement and other federal and municipal property management matters. According to EPAM, Gavrilina “is experienced in structuring of and providing legal support for major privatization deals; advising on ownership and lease conveyance deals involving public land plots (including agricultural land); advising on the disposal of public properties and other methods of making public properties available for general trade, including implementation of investment projects involving public legal entities; performing market-value appraisals; and performing legal due diligence in respect of privatized and other properties.” Before joining EPAM, Elena was Chief of the Legal Support Section in the Legal Department of Vnesheconombank Investment Company (VEB Capital).  Prior to that, she worked as Deputy Director of the Legal Department at the Federal Agency for Management of State Property (Rosimuschestvo). Gavrilina also has 10 years of experience working with the Russian Fund of Federal Property, a specialized state institution of the Russian government.  

    Vaneev has specialized in dispute resolution and commercial law for the past 10 years, primarily on litigation and arbitration matters. He also advises on restructuring and insolvency matters and provides commercial advice to clients active in a number of industries. EPAM says that Vaneev “has been deeply involved as a leading attorney in a number of high-profile domestic litigations in construction, automotive, agricultural, pharmaceutical and financial sectors.” Prior to joining EPAM, Vaneev worked as a Legal Counsel at Volvo Financial Services Vostok. He holds an honors degree from the Law School of the State University – Higher Schools of Economic,s where he is now doing postgraduate studies. He also lectures at the Moscow State Academy of Law on international commercial arbitration.  

    Rikhterman, also a litigator with EPAM, focuses on representing the interests of domestic and foreign companies in litigations related to corporate and sport disputes, as well as disputes arising out of contractual relationships. The firm says that Rokhterman “represent[s] clients in arbitrazh courts and general-jurisdiction courts of all levels, particularly in the Higher Arbitrazh Court and the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation,” and that “she also specializes in restructuring, insolvency and debt recovery matters.” She graduated from the Moscow State Legal Academy with honors and from the Economic Faculty of the Moscow Aviation Institute. 

    According to EPAM, “Kazak is experienced in obtaining clearances from competition authorities with regard to international mergers.” Kazak graduated with honors from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Law. She has a PhD in Law and had her secondments at the University of Regensburg, Germany, and the University of Salzburg, Austria.  

     

  • Hogan Lovells Advises Lenders on USD 450 Million Loan Facility to Uralkali

    Hogan Lovells has advised Nordea, Commerzbank, ING Bank, SG Group (Rosbank and SGBT Asset Based Funding), and UniCredit Bank on a USD 450 million unsecured club loan facility to Uralkali.

    Nordea was Mandated Lead Arranger, Bookrunner and Documentation Agent. Commerzbank was Mandated Lead Arranger and Facility Agent. ING Bank, SG Group, and UniCredit Bank were Mandated Lead Arrangers and Bookrunners

    Uralkali is one of the world’s largest potash producers and exporters. Uralkali’s assets consist of 5 mines and 7 ore-treatment mills situated in the towns of Berezniki and Solikamsk, in the Perm Region of Russia. Uralkali employs around 11,300 people in the main production unit, and its shares and GDRs are traded on the Moscow Exchange and London Stock Exchange, respectively. 

    The loan facility is a debut unsecured facility for Uralkali. It has a five-year term and will be used to refinance Uralkali’s existing financial indebtedness and for general corporate purposes. 

    Moscow-based Partner Alexander Rymko, who led the Hogan Lovells team along with London-based Partner Andrew Taylor, feels that the deal is significant, as it “demonstrates the ability of international financial institutions to make funds available to Russian top-tier borrowers in the current difficult market conditions.” Rymko and Taylor were assisted by Moscow-based Senior Associate Alexander Gasparyan and London-based Associate Emma Milne. The team also included Partners Aleksandar Dukic, Philip Harle, and Louise Lamb, Of Counsel Catherine Robert, and Associate Tom Eyre-Brook.

     

  • Wolf Theiss Announces Its Role on FACC IPO

    Wolf Theiss has announced that it provided local Austrian advice to FACC on the Chinese company’s EUR 213 million IPO and listing on the Viennese Stock Exchange. As reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 27, 2014, Skadden provided the international advice.

    This is the first IPO in Vienna in three years.

    Wolf Theiss explained that 49 percent of FACC shares will be traded publicly, with the remaining 51 percent held by the previous sole owner, the Chinese state Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) company. 

    Wolf Theiss’s Banking & Finance Team under the direction of Partner Richard Wolf, supported by Senior Associate Petra Heindl, advised FACC on all legal matters in Austria relating to the deal. They led FACC through the preparation of the IPO, the reorganization of the group, and the Due Diligence, and supported the preparation and approval of the prospectus by the financial market authorities. 

    JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, and Erste Group were aligned as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, with UBS as co-bookrunner. 

     

     

  • Gazprom Re-Elects Valery Musin to BOD

    Gazprom’s annual General Shareholders Meeting elected its new Board of Directors on June 27, 2014.

    Valery Musin, who has been a member of the Board since 2007, remains the only lawyer. Musin is the Head of the Civil Procedure Department at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University. A graduate of the Faculty of Law at Leningrad State University, he is an expert in civil law, civil procedure, and private international law. 

    The full Board of Directors elected by the General Shareholders includes:

    1. Andrey Igorevich Akimov, Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprombank (Open Joint Stock Company) 

    2. Farit Rafikovich Gazizullin, Member of the Board of Directors, OAO Gazprom 

    3. Timur Askarovich Kulibaev, Chairman of the Legal Entities Association “Kazakhstan Association of Oil, Gas and Energy Sector Organizations (KAZENERGY)”, Chairman of the Presidium of the National Economic Chamber of Kazakhstan 

    4. Vitaly Anatolyevich Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, OAO Gazprom 

    5. Viktor Georgievich Martynov, Rector of Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas 

    6. Vladimir Alexandrovich Mau, Rector of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 

    7. Alexey Borisovich Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee, OAO Gazprom 

    8. Valery Abramovich Musin, Head of the Civil Procedure Department, Faculty of Law, Saint Petersburg State University 

    9. Andrey Yurievich Sapelin, First Deputy Chairman – Board Member, State Corporation Vnesheconombank 

    10. Mikhail Leonidovich Sereda, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee – Head of the Administration of the Management Committee, OAO Gazprom 

    11. Viktor Alexeevich Zubkov, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Cooperation with Gas Exporting Countries Forum

     

  • Bostina si Asociatii Supports Enviropractica at BBU

    The Romanian Bostina si Asociatii law firm will be advising on the implementation of the “Enviropractica” project in the Babes-Bolyai University (BBU) in Cluj-Napoca. 

    The project – named the “Practica studenteasca si orientarea profesionala a studentilor in perspectiva colaborarii si dezvoltarii parteneriatelor cu potentiali angajatori – Enviropractica” – is co-financed by the European Social Fund through the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development — Priority Axis 2, linking life-long learning and labor market.

    The advice offered by the firm will revolve around labor law, including specifically contracts of employment or internship contracts as well as job descriptions necessary for implementing the project. At the same time, Bostina si Asociatii lawyers will supervise and advise on the financing for the project. Lawyers from both the Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest offices of the firm will work on the project.  

    This article is powered by our friends at LegalMarketing.ro.  

     

  • DLA Piper Advises on Launch of EC Cloud Computing Guidelines

    DLA Piper has announced that it played a key role in the launch of guidelines issued by the European Commission intended to help businesses save money and get the most out of cloud computing services.

    According to the firm, “the guidelines aim to ensure contracts between professional cloud users and cloud providers are written plainly, boosting confidence in the digital market,” and “are widely recognized as the first step towards standardized building blocks for Service Level Agreements (SLAs) terminology and metrics.” An SLA is a part of a service contract that defines the technical and legal aspects of the service offered.

    The guidelines were developed as part of the Commission’s European Cloud Strategy to increase trust in these services, and were shaped by a Cloud Select Industry Group (C-SIG) which included DLA Piper lawyers Patrick van Eecke, Mark O’Conor and Antoon Dierick. Other major cloud providers including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle and IBM were also part of the C-SIG.

    It is hoped that this will inspire standardization of SLAs at an international level. Internet service providers commonly include SLAs in contracts with customers to define the levels of service being sold, and they form an important component of the contractual relationship between a customer and a cloud provider. Given the global nature of the cloud, cloud contracts often span different jurisdictions, with varying applicable legal requirements, in particular with respect to the protection of personal data hosted in the cloud.

    According to Patrick van Eecke, “the lack of a common contracting template has been a real stumbling block to the roll-out of cloud computing in Europe. For this reason, guidance on developing a standardized Service Level Agreement that can be adopted by both providers and users is hugely welcome. We were pleased to play a significant role in the development of the guidance, and look forward to continuing the industry-wide dialogue to remove the barriers to the adoption of cloud computing.”

    European Commission Vice-President Neelie Kroes said: “This is the first time cloud suppliers have agreed on common guidelines for service level agreements. I think small businesses in particular will benefit from having these guidelines at hand when searching for cloud services.” And Vice-President Viviane Reding added: “The new guidelines will help generate trust in innovative computing solutions and help EU citizens save money. More trust means more revenue for companies in Europe’s digital single market. This is the same spirit as the EU data protection reform which aims at boosting trust. A competitive digital single market needs high standards of data protection. EU consumers and small firms want safe and fair contract terms. Today’s new guidelines are a step in the right direction.”