CEE Legal Matters

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  • Vasil Kisil Advises UBG on Dobrobut Medical Centers Share Sale

    Vasil Kisil & Partners has announced that it has acted as legal advisor to the UBG Corporation in its February sale of shares in the Ukrainian Dobrobut medical clinic chain to Concorde Capital and Oleg Kalashnikov, the co-owner of the Luxoptica chain in Ukraine.

    The value and terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the firm expects the transaction to completely close by the end of 2014.

    According to a statement released by VKP, Dobrobut Medical Centres have been offering private medical services since 2001. The chain consists of eight clinics in Kiev and Donetsk which, combined, treat approximately 25 thousand patients a month.

    Vasil Kisil & Partners supported UBG in all stages of the transaction, including negotiations, drafting security documents (including the Share Purchase Agreement and Shareholders Agreement), advising on escrow arrangements for both parties to the transaction, and consulting on other issues related to the implementation of the deal. The VKP team was led by Partner Anna Babych and included Corporate/M&A Senior Associate Oksana Krasnokutska and Associates Yaroslav Lepko and Olena Malets. 

     

  • Papapolitis & Papapolitis Advises BlackRock in Assessment of Greek Banking System

    Papapolitis & Papapolitis has advised BlackRock Solutions in its assessment of the loan portfolios of a select group of Greek commercial banks following BlackRock’s engagement by the Bank of Greece.

    In a Memorandum of Understanding entered into by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund (collectively known as the “Troika”) and Greece, it was mutually agreed that a diagnostic assessment would be completed by the end of 2013.

    According to Papapolitis & Papapolitis the assessment consisted of four work-streams: Asset Quality Review, Credit Loss Projections, Troubled Asset Review, and Foreign Loan Books Review.” 

    The P&P team was led by Nicholas Papapolitis, and included Banking Partner Nikolaos Katsaros, Dispute Resolution Partner George Gravias, and Associates Katerina Dalamara, Sophia Mavridou and Sergios Manarakis.

     

  • Bondoc & Asociatii Adds Partner in Corporate/M&A Team

    Bondoc & Asociatii has announced strengthening its Corporate/M&A team with the addition of Mihaela Bondoc as Partner. 

    Prior to joining the firm Bondoc worked for over 13 years with KPMG, the last six as Director. Her experience focuses on Commercial, Corporate/M&A (coordinating numerous restructuring projects, mergers, spin-offs as well as post-acquisition integration processes), and Real Estate, in addition to other matters. Bondoc & Asociatii also announced the addition of two other lawyers to the team: Mihaela Vochineci as an Associate in the Banking and Capital Markets team, and Sandra Frunzulica as a Junior Associate in the Corporate/M&A team. Vochineci joins from Deloitte Romania, and Frunzulica moves from Nestor, Nestor, Diculescu, Kingston, Petersen.

    Bondoc & Asociatii was created following White & Case’s withdrawal from the Romanian Market (reported on January 30, 2014), with former W&C Co-Executive Partner Lucian Bondoc as its Managing Partner. The firm has a formal alliance with White & Case in the country.

     

  • Sayenko Kharenko Advises on Capital Increase of Raiffeisen Bank

    Sayenko Kharenko has acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to the joint global coordinators Deutsche Bank, Raiffeisen Centrobank, and UBS on the recent EUR 2.78 billion capital increase of Raiffeisen Bank International AG (“RBI”).

    RBI placed 97,473,914 new shares at the price of EUR 28.50 per share, thereby increasing its capital by 50%. With proceeds from the issue amounting to EUR 2.78 billion, Sayenko Kharenko claims that the capital increase is the third largest of its kind on the Vienna Stock Exchange to date.

    RBI plans to use the proceeds from the issue to repay participation capital in the amount of EUR 2.5 billion (EUR 1.75 billion of which to the Republic of Austria).

    The Sayenko Kharenko team working on the transaction included Partner Nazar Chernyavsky, Senior Associate Anton Korobeynikov, and Associates Olena Krasna and Taras Shyb.

     

  • King & Wood Advises TransDigm on EME Group Acquisition

    King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin has advised the NYSE-listed TransDigm Group on the acquisition by its UK subsidiary Technical Airborne Components of all shares in EME Holding.

    The purchase price of the deal, which included EME Holding’s subsidiaries in Germany and Hungary, was approximately USD 47.4 million.

    EME Group, which is headquartered in Ingolstadt (Germany), manufactures proprietary, highly engineered aerospace electromechanical actuators, electrical and electromechanical components and assemblies primarily for commercial aircraft, helicopters, and other specialty applications.

    TransDigm Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a leading global designer, producer, and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components for use on nearly all commercial and military aircraft.

    The large and multi-office King & Wood Malleson’s SJ Berwin team representing TransDigm worked together with Partner Zoltan Csernus at the Hungarian VJT & Partners Law Firm and Partner John Allotta at the American BakerHostetler Law Firm.

     

  • Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii Advises on Public Procurement Contract

    Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii Advises on Public Procurement Contract

    The Romanian Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii law firm has advised on a public procurement contract between the Romanian Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN HH) and a European consortium led by “Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare” in Italy.

     

    Serban Paslaru, Partner, Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii

    The deal relates to the research and development of the largest laser in the world as part of the European ELI-NP project. The Engineering, Acquisition and Construction contract will cover the design, production, shipping, testing, operating and maintenance of the the three pillars of ELI – Extreme Light Infrastructure — at Magurele. The contract is valued at EUR 66.8 million and is financed entirely from European Union funds.

    Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii acted as legal counsel for the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, which, in turn, leds the European consortium, called EuroGammaS. The consortium collaborates with the La Spaienza University in Rome and two other institues: the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France and the Science and Technology Facilities Council in the United Kingdom.

    The Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii team advising on the contract included Partner Serban Paslaru, Senior Lawyer Iuliana Leon, and Lawyer Ruxandra Frangeti-Ghinea.

     

  • CEE Legal Matters Student Corner

    As part of our mission to offer a well-rounded perspective to our readers, CEE Legal Matters is proud to announce the launch of a new section: The CEE Legal Matters Student Corner. 

    In this section we will cover regular news and updates, and provide analysis on trends, for and about current law students and recent law school graduates in CEE. We encourage firms to let us know how they support the development of fresh graduates from competitions and events to recruitment campaigns either via our TipLine or at press@ceelm.com

    The CEE Legal Matters Student Corner section can be found here.

     

  • Lawyr.it Announces Open Call for Articles

    Lawyr.it, a peer-reviewed legal journal in English powered entirely by students, has announced an open call for articles to their fifth and newest issue.  

    The publication encourages any current law student to submit an article by March 31, 2014, at editors@lawyr.it, accompanied by contact details, brief details about the student’s law studies, and a business-portrait photograph. The Lawyr.it team emphasizes that applicants are at liberty to approach a legal theme of their choice, falling under either of the sections Domestic Focus, International Focus or Reflections.

    Lawyer.it encourages students should take a look at the Editorial Guidelines section of their website beforehand, to ensure that their article is in line with the requisites of the publication. For any additional queries, they may contact any member of the editorial team.

  • Drakopoulos Advises Saudi Group on Greek Real Estate Acquisition

    Drakopoulos has announced that it has advised a major Saudi conglomerate on a multi-million euro real estate acquisition in the southern suburbs of Athens.

    The deal consisted of a cross-border acquisition involving the Saudi, Swiss, Luxembourg, and Greek jurisdictions. This is the first investment in Greece of the Saudi conglomerate, which is active in many industries and several countries in the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. In a statement released by Drakopoulos, the firm described the acquisition as constituting “a vote of confidence in the prospects of the Greek economy, since the Saudi Group is currently looking closely in the local market for more opportunities, mainly in real estate.”

    The identity of the client was not revealed, nor was the specific amount or location of the transaction. Drakopoulos said that the purchasing Saudi group plans a total refurbishment of the property and a transformation into a luxury five-star boutique complex of suites expected to attract tourists from the Middle East.

    The Saudi conglomerate was advised by Drakopoulos Partners Panagiotis Drakopoulos and Christos Christou in Greece and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ducrest Heggli Avocats in Switzerland and Luxembourg, while the Piraeus branch of Ince and Co. represented the Seller. 

     

  • Law Games Begin in Poland

    Wierzbowski Eversheds and the European Law Students’ Association ELSA Poland have announced the opening of the 9th edition of the Law Games. Winners of the competitions will receive a one-month paid internship at the law firm.

    The Law Games competition is designed for law students in their 3rd to 5th year and recent law graduates. In order to participate, contestants must complete the registration form available at www.elsa.org.pl/lawgames. In the first stage, contestants will be asked to solve one of two case studies—involving civil law or copyright law—in which they will play the role of either plaintiff or defendant. The roles will be assigned automatically at the time of registration. The deadline for submitting solutions is April 6, 2014.

    The authors of the best works submitted in the preliminary phase will be invited to take part in the finals, which will be held in Warsaw on May 7-8, 2014. There the contestants will be divided into four-person teams to tackle the task of drafting a joint ruling in the case assigned in the elimination round and to develop four arguments supporting the given position. Then, during a four-minute oral argument, each of the contestants will present one of the selected positions to the panel of judges.

    According to Krzysztof Wierzbowski, Managing Partner of Wierzbowski Eversheds, “It is an excellent opportunity for them to test in practice the knowledge they have gained in the classroom. Our staff include former Law Games winners who impressed us during their internship with their knowledge, enthusiasm, and skill at creatively solving difficult issues, who we asked to continue working with us after the internship ended. We hope that will be the case this year as well.” 

    The winners of the competition will be announced at the finals in Warsaw on May 7-8, 2014.