Category: Latvia

Cobalt has advised joint lead managers Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Citi, and Goldman Sachs International on the issue of a 30-year Eurobond by the Republic of Latvia in a total amount of EUR 700 million.

The Eurobond matures on February 19, 2049, with a setting yield at 1.929% and a coupon of 1.875%.  

According to the Treasury of the Republic of Latvia, the order book was oversubscribed and the Eurobond offering was allocated to more than 70 investors, mainly from Europe.

Cobalt’s team was led by Specialist Counsel Edgars Lodzins.   

Former SIA Tamro General Counsel Kristine Sakarne has joined Primus Derling in Latvia as a Senior Associate.

Sakarne spent the past four years with SIA Tamro — the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in the Baltics — where, Primus Derling reports, “she gained comprehensive experience in legal evaluation and support in development of new commercial activities, implementation of the GDPR and internal compliance management systems, [and] the planning of company acquisition transactions, as well as addressing diverse legal issues.” Before joining Tamro in 2015, Sakarne spent ten years in private practice with Kronbergs & Cukste, where she focused on real estate, commercial law, and M&A matters. 

Primus Derling has successfully helped Skoda Vagonka, the manufacturer of electric passenger trains, draft an application to challenge the decision of Latvia’s Pasazieru Vilciens public transport service provider relating to its decision to award a tender to deliver passenger trains and related equipment to another bidder.

Skoda Vagonka was challenging the results in a tend for the “Delivery of suburban electric passenger trains and equipment necessary for their maintenance and staff training,” which involved a purchase of 32 new suburban electric passenger trains. The total value of the procurement is above EUR 200 million. 

The Procurement Monitoring Bureau of Latvia set aside Pasazieru Vilciens’ decision to enter into a procurement contract with Patentes Talgo S.L., a Spanish manufacturer of passenger trains. The Bureau also obligated Pasazieru Vilciens to eliminate the methodological improprieties in its procurement procedure.

The Primus Derling team consisted of Partner Kristine Gaigule-Saveja and Associates Igors Dambrans and Edgars Pundurs.

TGS Baltic assisted Poland’s MCI.PrivateVentures Fundusz Inwestycyjny Zamknięty and sub-fund MCI.TechVentures 1.0 obtain the permission of the Latvian Competition Council for its acquisition of sole control over Morele.net.Sp. z.o.o.

According to TGS Baltic, “one of the companies of the above fund is SIA Pigu Latvia that ensures retail trade of non-food products in the online store 220.lv. Morele.net Sp. z o.o. is engaged in retail trade through online stores in Poland and wholesale of non-food products in the European Union by supplying goods to business persons in Latvia. Thus, the merger participants in Latvia operate in vertically related markets – the wholesale market of electronic goods and the non-food retail market.”

According to TGS Baltic, “after assessing the information provided by the companies … the Competition Council concluded that the structure of the wholesale market of electronic goods and the non-food retail market in the territory of Latvia would not change, competition would not decrease, and no dominant position would be established or strengthened in either of the vertically related markets as the result of the merger. Therefore, the merger transaction should be permitted.” Its formal authorization for the merger was issued on October 10, 2018.

The TGS Baltic team was led by Partner Andra Rubene and Senior Associate Mara Stabulniece, as well as supported by Legal Assistant Martins Galzons.

Primus Derling has assisted ALD Automotive, SIA with the development of a new consumer car rental product.

ALD Automotive is a Latvian fleet management and operational car leasing company of the Societe Generale group. Its companies operate in 43 countries. 

According to Primus Derling, “the complexity of the assignment consisted in creating an optimal product for the company and consumers alike while ensuring full compliance with the legal requirements governing consumer credit agreements. Consumer protection laws provide for a detailed and complex framework of the rights and obligations of providers of consumer credit along with various exemptions.”

The Primus Derling team included partner Kristine Gaigule-Saveja and Senior Associate Andis Ozolins.

Sorainen Latvia is providing legal assistance to the courthouse agency Tiesu Namu Agentura throughout an open competition for the design, construction, and supervision of a new prison complex in Liepaja, a city in western Latvia.

Sorainen’s assistance includes drafting the procurement documents and advising the procurement committee throughout the procurement procedure. On January 7, 2019, proposals were opened. The financial proposals range from EUR 113,597,002 to EUR 137,374,775, excluding VAT.

Tiesu Namu Agentura is a state-owned public limited liability company that was established in 1997 by the Republic of Latvia. The holder of its state-owned capital shares is the Ministry of Justice.

The Sorainen team consisted of Counsel Raivo Raudzeps and Senior Associate Jorens Jaunozols.

Cobalt Latvia’s Corporate practice group has assisted AS Eves Agro on its “inclusion” of SIA Palsa under a special Latvian process.

Both SIA Palsa and AS Eves Agro are primarily engaged in crop production and dairy farming.

According to Cobalt, “an inclusion is a special legal process available under Latvian Group of Companies Law that allows the parent entity to absorb its subsidiary, provided that minority shareholders of the subsidiary are adequately remunerated for their shares. However, contrary to typical merger process, the inclusion process allows the subsidiary and the parent entity to continue as separate legal entities.”

According to Cobalt, “in this assignment [the firm] assumed overall responsibility for coordinating the various steps towards the successful inclusion of SIA Palsa, includ[ing] advising the client [on] safeguarding minority shareholder rights, drafting necessary corporate documents, and registering the inclusion in the Commercial register.

The Cobalt team was led by Partner Gatis Flinters and Associate Marija Berdova.

Primus Derling has advised the Lumi Retail Property Fund on its acquisition of the shares of SIA Anninmuizas Iela, owner of the Anninmuizasa retail shopping center in Riga, from Latvian investment fund Hipo Latvijas Nekustama Ipasuma Fonds I, which was advised by Ellex Klavins.

Lumi Retail Property Fund is an Estonian fund managed by Lumi Capital that specializes in investing in neighborhood shopping centers and grocery stores in the Baltics. The total volume of the fund’s investments will amount to EUR 100 million with a time period of 20 years. Primus Derling described the acquisition as “an important milestone as it is Lumi’s first investment outside Estonia.”

Primus Derling’s team was led by Partner Kristine Gaigule-Saveja and included Senior Associate Zane Krecere-Jemeljanova and Associate Laura Skromule.

The Ellex team consisted of Partner Ivars Pommers and Senior Associate Henrijs Niedra. 

TGS Baltic has advised Expobank CZ a.s.on the financing of the acquisition by Astor Group Latvia of the shares of SIA Polar Bek Daugava, owner of the Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel, from PBR Hotel.

As previously reported by CEE Legal Matters, the Astor Group was advised by Cobalt, with Deloitte Legal reportedly involved in post-closing transactions.

The sellers were reportedly advised by Sorainen.

Due to reorganization procedures of the acquirers of Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel, a 4-star hotel in Riga, Latvia, the commercial pledges registered on August 2, 2018 were renewed and re-registered following the merger of SIA Polar Bek Daugava into SIA Lampl on December 18, 2018. SIA Lampl is now owned by two private individuals through SIA RHG Riga.

The maximum amount of the secured claim is EUR 28 million.  

The TGS Baltic team was led by Partner Inese Hazenfusa and Senior Associate Alise Eljasane, supported by Senior Associate Raivis Znotins and Associate Kaspars Treilibs.

Sorainen declined to comment.

Cobalt has advised Corum Origin on the acquisition and leaseback transaction of the ELKO Group headquarters office and warehouse in Riga for EUR 14.6 million. Ellex Klavins advised ELKO Group on the sale.

According to Cobalt, the property has a total gross-leasable area of around 9000 square meters, and the triple-net lease agreement is entered for the term of 15 years.

Corum Origin, a fund managed by Corum Asset Management, is an independent asset management company, registered in France, which invests in real estate located in Europe.

The ELKO Group is a distributor of IT products, solutions, and consumer electronics in Central and Eastern Europe. According to Cobalt, the acquisition of ELKO’s headquarters office is the first investment in Latvia for Corum, and the second investment in the Baltics.

Cobalt also advised Corum in its first transaction in the Baltics: its 2017 acquisition of the Prisma shopping center in Narva, Estonia as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 13, 2017.

Cobalt’s team included Managing Partner Dace Silava-Tomsone, Partner Toms Sulmanis, Senior Associate Elina Locmele, and Associate Juta Gulkevica.

The Ellex team consisted of Partners Ivars Pommers and Inita Jurka and Associate Zane Miglane.