Members of IFA Ukraine — the Ukrainian branch of the International Fiscal Association — have reelected Iryna Marushko as a Board Member for 2014-2015.
Marushko, a Partner at Ukraine’s Lavrynovych & Partners Law Firm, was elected for the fourth time in a row.
The International Fiscal Association brings together over 12,500 tax managers, governmental officials, and researchers to study and advance international and comparative fiscal law in the 111 countries in which the IFA is established.
Dentons has advised the electricity and gas provider E.ON Connecting Energies (ECT), a new international unit of E.ON Group, on the acquisition of the Russian Noginsky Teplovoy Center company from AMG Industrial Investment Corporation.
Noginsky Teplovoy Center provides heat and energy through a cogeneration plant to the Noginsk Industrial Park, located about 50 kilometers from Moscow. Tenants of the Noginsk Industrial Park include the chemical and pharmaceutical group Bayer, the retail chain Metro, and the Russian mobile service provider MegaFon. Closing of the transaction is conditional to obtaining Russian merger control approval and is scheduled to take place in spring 2014. Additionally, ECT and DEGA, the Swiss parent company of AMG, entered into a long-term joint-venture agreement to build, own and operate on-site combined heat and power generation facilities for future similar industrial parks in Russia.
The Berlin and Moscow Dentons team led by Berlin Partner Christof Kautzsch advised the buyer during the entire transaction – from due diligence to drafting and negotiating contracts (including contracts under Swiss law) and merger control approval in Russia. Others on the team included Partners Alexei Zakharko and Marat Mouradov, Senior Associate Judith Aron, Counsel Daniel Barth, Of Counsel Nadezhda Gryazeva, and Associates Dennis Azara, Sergey Gurdzhian, and Artashas Oganov.
White & Case has advised Avast Software and a selling shareholder consortium on the sale of a significant minority stake to CVC Capital Partners, one of the world’s leading private equity and investment advisory firms.
Avast Software is one of the world’s major players in the antivirus market. The company provides free antivirus software which can be downloaded from the internet and its products are used on more than 200 million PCs and other devices worldwide. It sells additional, premium products to subscribers to its basic free software package.
White & Case’s involvement in the deal included advising on the new US borrower financing that supported CVC’s acquisition of an approximate 40 percent interest in Avast, which values the Prague-based business at around USD 1 billion.
White & Case Partner Michal Smrek, who is based in Prague and leads the firm’s relationship with Avast, said: “We were very excited to support Avast again and in such an important transaction. It is another milestone in our long term relationship with this company.
Partner Ian Bagshaw, London-based co-head of the firm’s private equity practice in EMEA, said: “This fantastic mandate clearly demonstrates the rationale behind strengthening our private equity capability in EMEA. White & Case was able to support Avast on a US borrower financing solution for CVC and, at the same time, represent the selling shareholders on this significant transaction.
The White & Case team on the deal was co-led by Partners Smrek and Bagshaw, and included Partners Eric Berg, Justin Wagstaff, Ales Zidek, Damian Beaven, and Jiri Tomola, as well as Associates Jakub Zavadil, Jakub Mencl, Steven Hannah, Sevda Staykova, Marcus Booth, Charlotte Dixon, and Heather Borthwick.
White & Case has advised Polish mobile telecoms operator P4, which trades as Play, on its groundbreaking, inaugural EUR 870 million and PLN 130 million, dual-tranche high yield bond issue and entry into a new super senior revolving credit facility.
Play is a portfolio company co-owned by Olympia Development and London based investment firm, Novator.
White & Case Partner Jill Concannon, who advised on the bond issue, declared it to be “the largest debut high yield bond deal since 2010, the largest Central & Eastern Europe high yield deal ever, the second largest European telecoms debut ever and the first ever Polish zloty-denominated high yield bond issued on the international capital markets.”
The White & Case team advising Play was co-led by Partners Jill Concannon and Ian Bagshaw, and included Partners Ross Allardice, Jeremy Duffy, Rob Mathews, Marcin Studniarek, and Rob Irving, Local Partner Nicholas Coddington, Counsel Gregorz Jukiel, and Associates James Greene, Rafal Kaminski, and Aneta Urban.
King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin advised Earlybird Digital East Fund 2012, a Luxembourg-based venture capital fund, on a closing that surpassed its USD 110 million target.
The Earlybird Digital East Fund 2012’s investment focus is on early and growth-stage technology companies within Turkey and CEE, which are highly-scalable businesses with international business potential.
King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin acted as legal counsel to the Fund and advised on the key documentation and negotiations with investors, as well as the complex regulatory discussions with the Luxembourg financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier. The King & Wood Mallesons team was headed by Munich Partner Sonya Pauls, with assistance from Associate Nicholas Wolfe, and Luxembourg-related aspects were co-ordinated by Partner Alexandrine Cerfontaine-Armstrong, assisted by Counsel Thomas Chevalier.
CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz has announced the promotion of Monika Ploier to Partner at the firm as of February 1, 2014.
Ploier, who joined the firm in 2005, focuses on Medical Law and Hospital Law, and works closely with health-care institutions on matters of medical malpractice, the foundation of medical practices, and anti-corruption law. She also works in the CMS RRH Labor Law team and advises on labor aspects in cases involving health-care institutions.
CMS RRH Partner Peter Huber released a statement announcing that “in the past years, Monika Ploier has developed extensive and well-founded expertise in medical law. With her energetic personality and intuition about clients’ needs, she has significantly contributed to establishing our law firm in this practice area. We are very happy to welcome her as a new partner and head of the medical law practice area.”
Noerr has advised Siemens on an agreement with Russian Machines Corporation in the establishment of a joint venture for the production and sale of subway cars.
The two companies will invest a total of EUR 160 million in the joint venture, which will be based in the Moscow region of Russia and employ up to 800 people. The joint venture expects to participate in the tender of the Moscow Metro, which is modernizing and planning the purchase of more than 2,000 cars.
Moscow Partner Bjorn Paulsen led the Noerr team advising Siemens on the transaction. Noerr Partner Hannes Lubitzsch and Lawyer Olga Mokhonko assisted.
The Serbian Arbitration Association (SAA) has announced the founding of the Belgrade Arbitration Center (BAC), which started operating in January, 2014 as the first arbitration institution in Serbia not established by the State.
The BAC will hear arbitrations both with and without foreign parties (the two existing arbitration institutions in Serbia, both of which are attached to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, divide jurisdiction in this manner between them). Also, unlike the Permanent Court of Arbitration attached to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, which can per law administer only disputes that arise between its members, BAC is an “open” arbitration forum, and has no such restrictions. The BAC will be the first arbitration institution in Serbia not to mandate arbitrators, as parties are free to choose whomever they want to (subject to confirmation of the BAC Board).
The Serbian Arbitration Association currently consists of over 60 members, including attorneys from over 20 law offices, multiple university professors, and lawyers with expertise in domestic and international arbitration. Gaso Knezevic is serving as the first President of the BAC, with Vladimir Pavic the Vice-President. The SAA Board of Directors includes, among others, Attorneys Nikola Jankovic (from JPM Jankovic Popovic Mitic) and Mirsolav Paunociv, Milena Dordevic and Dragor Hiber (both on the Faculty of Law at Belgrade University), and Maja Stanivukovic (on the Faculty of Law at Novi Sad University).
Watson, Farley & Williams has advised Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik (LMF), a portfolio company of the Equita private equity company, on a new financing agreement with European private capital fund manager Metric Capital Partners.
The financing by Metric is expected to support further international growth to reinforce LMF’s positioning as a global provider of premium compressor systems.
Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik is headquartered in Leobersdorf, Austria, and is a leading manufacturer of made-to-order high-pressure piston compressors for natural gases, process gases and air. LMF’s compression solutions are provided for a range of niche applications in the oil and gas industry. Equita is an independent private equity company unaffiliated to banks, acquiring majority stakes in medium-sized companies in the German-speaking markets.
The WFW team advising EQUITA and LMF on the facility and related documentation was led by WFW Partner Stefan Kilgus, with support from Simon Preisenberger and Associates Alexander Wojtek and Marcus Mutzelburg.
The Real Estate & Construction team at CHSH has advised KGAL, one of Germany’s largest asset managers, on its purchase of the Shopping Horn shopping center in the northern Austrian town of Horn.
The CHSH team was led by Partner Manfred Ton, with assistance of Partner Mark Krenn and Senior Associates Matthias Nodl and Stefan Huber. “We are pleased that the acquisition of the retail center in Horn already represents the third project in which KGAL has relied on the expertise of CHSH,” said Ton.