CEE Legal Matters

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  • Borenius Advises on Acquisition of Norvik Bank

    Latvia’s Borenius Law Firm has advised Grigory Guselnikov, the owner and leading partner of London-based investment fund G2 Capital Partners, in his acquisition of 50%+1 share of Norvik Bank.

    As a result of the acquisition, Guselnikov became a majority shareholder and strategic investor of the bank. In addition to its role as legal advisor in the transaction, Borenius participated in the structuring of the transaction, drafted transaction documents, and represented Guselnikov before Latvia’s Financial and Capital Market Commission in relation to his receipt of permission to acquire the shares of the bank.

  • Tercan Law Office Opens for Business in Turkey

    The crowded Turkish legal market just got more so.

    Senior lawyer Erkan Tercan has left the Paksoy law firm after 3.5 years to open up his own firm, which, he says, will focus on “capital markets, corporate, commercial, banking and finance, Islamic finance, antitrust, compliance & investigations and financial crimes.”

    Before joining Paksoy in 2010 Tercan had worked for 13 years as an expert with the Capital Markets Board of Turkey.

  • Paksoy Promotes Energy and Infrastructure Partner

    The Paksoy law firm in Turkey has promoted Energy and Infrastructure Counsel Zeynel Tunc to Partner, effective as of January 1, 2014.

    Tunc has been heavily involved in advising on the regulatory processes, privatizations, licensing requirements, and project finance work in the Turkish energy sector, working along with sponsors, lenders (including DFIs and ECAs), procuring entities, suppliers, contractors, government agencies, the Turkish energy regulator, and other consultants in power, gas, mining, and infrastructure investments. He has also advised on FIDIC and non-FIDIC based construction matters, and the engineering and maintenance of large and mid-size power projects and infrastructure facilities. He also has substantial banking and finance experience.

    Before Paksoy, Tunc worked for many years as Head of Legal in the EnerjiSA Group.

  • Gessel Advises IBES on Sale to Carrefour Poland

    Gessel has represented IBES in its sale of the RAST supermarket chain to Carrefour Poland. Through the transaction, Carrefour took over 10 supermarkets in the city of Olsztyn.

    The Gessel team was led by Managing Associate Maciej Kozuchowski, who was assisted by Partner Marcin Macieszczak and Associate Maciej Boryczko. 

  • Watson, Farley & Williams Appoints CEE Expert as Senior Consultant in London

    David Shasha, formerly a Partner in the London office of Canadian firm Gowlings, has agreed to join Watson, Farley & Williams as a Senior Consultant. 

    At Gowlings Shasha headed up the Energy, Infrastructure and Mining group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His particular expertise involves corporate and project transactions in the energy and natural resources sector, as well advising clients on privatizations, mergers & acquisitions, and international joint ventures as well as public and private offerings.

    Prior to joining the London office of Gowlings in 2010, David was a partner at Simmons & Simmons for eight years (where he headed the firm’s Energy & Infrastructure practice) following a 23-year career at Clifford Chance, in which he lived and practiced in several CEE hubs.

    Shasha stated that “I am very pleased to be joining WFW’s Corporate group, [as] it offers me a fantastic international platform to service clients and the potential opportunities are very exciting indeed.”

  • Reff & Associates Advises on Acquisition of the City Park Constanta Shopping Center

    The Reff & Associates law firm, a member of Deloitte Legal in Romania, has assisted New Europe Property Investments in the acquisition of City Park Constanta, a shopping center developed by Neocity and financed by Eurobank and the National Bank of Greece.

    Reff & Associates claims that the transaction is “the most important 2013 real estate transaction in Romania.” The team led by Partner Alexandru Reff and Managing Associate Ruxandra Macelaru worked in close connection with the Deloitte Tax team, which provided tax services for the buyer.

    Partner Alexandru Reff was enthusiastic about the project. “We are thankful to NEPI for continuing to entrust us with their legal affairs. Given how thorough and demanding NEPI’s approach to every project is,  their continued trust is a worthy validation of our performance. I am proud of our team, which reconfirms our ability to manage, particularly in this practice area, any project, irrespective of how complex and demanding both in terms of know-how and volume of work.”  

    Managing Associate Macelaru noted that she was “extremely honored that I could take part in what stands out as the most important real estate transaction of 2013 in Romania.”

    The Romanian Firon Bar-Nir law firm assisted Neocity group on the sell-side of the transaction.

  • CMS Sits Across from Schoenherr on Polypore – Seven Mile Capital Deal

    Austrian CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz advised Polypore on the deal initially reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 1, 2014.

    CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz advised Polypore on the company’s USD 120 million sale of the company’s Microporous Business Unit to the New York-based Seven Mile Capital Partners private equity firm.

    CMS Reich-Rohrwig Partner Johannes Trenkwalder played a critical role in the deal, along with Partner Sibylle Novak, Attorney Clemens Grossmayer, and Associate Kai Ruckelshausen. 

  • Gessel Advises mBank in Purchase of Stone Master Shares

    Gessel advised mBank on debt financing to purchase shares of Stone Master, a leading Polish manufacturer of decorative elements and facade coverings of stone on the Polish market.

    Gessel’s support included the preparation and negotiation of loan documentation and collateral documents. The firm’s team was led by M&A Team Managing Associate Margaret Badowska.

  • Gide Advises on the First Motorway PPP in Romania

    Gide Loyrette Nouel has advised a consortium consisting of VINCI Concessions, STRABAG, and AKTOR on a 29-year public-private partnership contract covering the Comarnic–Brasov section of the Bucharest–Brasov motorway in Romania.

    The project covers the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of a 54 km motorway section on the A3 motorway, which crosses the Carpathian Mountains and is the main artery linking Bucharest and Transylvania with Western Europe. The work will include the construction of three major interchanges, 39 bridges, and three dual-tube tunnels with a total length of 19.4 km.

    The consortium advised by Gide had been named as the preferred bidder by the Romanian Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. Gide reports that the deal constitutes the first motorway PPP in the country.
     
    The Gide team acting on the project was headed by Partner Stephane Vernay, and included Associates Anne Framezelle, Frederic Pia, and Pierre Bernheim in France, and Partners Bruno Leroy and Andreea Toma and Associates Adina Damaschin, Cristina Togan, and Catalin Barb in Bucharest.

  • Baker Botts Adds Corporate/M&A Partner in Moscow

    Russian Mergers & Acquisitions lawyer Mikhail Semyonov has joined Baker Botts as a Global Projects Partner in the firm’s Moscow office.

    Semyanov had been at Linklaters for the past eleven years, before moving to Baker Botts.  He represents clients in major M&A and energy transactions in Russia and has experience in the establishment of joint ventures for both Russian-based and international clients. In recent years he has also advised multinational energy clients on major investments in the Russian oil and gas industry.

    Maxim Levins, the Partner in Charge of Baker Botts’s Moscow office, said that “Mikhail enhances our strength in providing counsel to clients on complex M&A transactions,” and that “our recruitment of Mikhail demonstrates our continued commitment to maintaining the Moscow office as a global resource to our clients in the region or who are doing business here.” 

    Semyanov’s recent work includes advising Rosneft in relation to agreements with ExxonMobil and Statoil for joint development of difficult-to-extract resources of hydrocarbons in Russia, and advising Gazprom on the acquisition of Sibneft (Gazpromneft) and Huadian, one of China’s major state owned power companies, on the formation together with TGK-2 of a joint venture project company to develop a 450MWt gas fueled power plant in the Yaroslaval region of Russia. 

    Semyonov’s practice also includes providing corporate and transactional guidance to clients such as Unilever, Inchcape, and PepsiCo.