Lithuania’s TVINS law firm has advised UAB Albineta on the conclusion of a franchise agreement involving permission for the other party to use Albineta’s “Thierry kepykla” trademark.
According to a TVINS press release, the firm’s attorneys “drafted all legal documents for the conclusion of the deal, represented the client in negotiations, and advised the client on general matters related to the deal.”
The firm’s team consisted of Managing Partner Tomas Talutis and Associate Tadas Lukosius.
Valiunas Ellex has advised Danske Bank on the signing of a lease for a “better and bigger IT center” in Vilnius – a new contract for rental of a 12,000 square meter office building signed with real estate company M.M.M. projects. The firm describes the contract as the largest lease transaction in Lithuania this year.
According to Valiunas Ellex, “the developer is contracted to complete the new office building according to the bank’s requirements by the end of 2017.” The business center will be erected on Saltoniskiu street in Vilnius, near the main headquarters of the bank.
Rokas Janauskas has joined CEE Attorneys in Lithuania as a Managing Associate (and, simultaneously, as an Associate Partner of the Lithuanian office in particular) in charge of the Pharma group in the Vilnius office.
Janauskas started his legal career as a Lawyer with Ferments UAB, where he worked between November 2008 and July 2010. He then took on the role of Corporate Counsel for Thermo Fisher Scientific. In November 2012, he joined Sorainen as a Lawyer in the firm’s Pharma & Life Sciences practice to become a Senior Associate and the Head of the Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences Sector Group in March 2014. He left Sorainen in May 2015 after which he worked independently for a few months.
The Lithuanian office of CEE Attorneys has advised the Audejas Group, Lithuania’s upholstery and decorative fabrics producer and furniture retailer, on what the firm calls “several interrelated complex real estate transactions with a total value of more than EUR 11 million.” According to the a statement released by CEE Attorneys, the deal “paved the way for the modernization of the Group’s production facility and a furniture center.”
In the first deal, the Audejas Group sold its upholstery and decorative fabrics plant and its furniture store in central Vilnius to the VPH group. Valiunas Ellex advised the buyer on the deal.
In the second deal, the Audejas Group acquired a shopping center from Litectus Bank — a member of the SEB Group. According to CEE Attorneys, the shopping center will be transformed into a modern furniture center in the residential area of the capital city.
CEE Attorneys Senior Partner Daina Senapediene reports that her team carried out the due diligence, represented the client in negotiations for both deals, prepared all the documents for the transactions, and oversaw the process of implementation.
Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Valiunas Ellex confirmed to CEE Legal Matters that it represented the VPH Group on its acquisition of the upholstery and decorative fabrics plant and furniture store from the Audejas Group in Vilnius. The Valiunas Ellex team consisted of Partner Tomas Milasauskas, Associate Partner Indre Jonaityte-Grice, Senior Associate Evaldas Klimas, and Associate Donata Montvydaite.
On November 2, 2015, Lithuania’s SKV Law law firm has become a member of the CEE Attorneys network of law firms already operating in the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Slovak Republic.
“Expanding our network and adding another member has an impact not only on the scope of our operation, but I see it primarily as a kind of positive feedback on a long-term and demanding process of building the international network of law firms which we have recently started,” said Zdenek Tomicek, Partner of Tomicek Legal, a founding member of the CEE Attorneys network.
Inga Kostogriz-Vaitkiene, Partner of SKV Law, commented that: “By joining CEE Attorneys we confirm our ambition to provide clients with services of the highest level in Central and Eastern Europe. Thanks to our international reach we are able to provide legal services in cross-border projects in more than 10 languages, ensuring our clients long term and indisputable competitive advantage. Together with colleagues from the CEE Attorneys network we form a team of lawyers with extensive knowledge and a wide range of expertise, who understand very well local conditions and specific needs of clients operating in Central and Eastern Europe.”
The CEE Attorneys network is growing rapidly. Just launched in spring of this year by Tomicek Legal in the Czech Republic and Fox Martens in Slovakia (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on March 2, 2015), the network expanded to three countries in June with the addition of the SPP Legal Szmigiel & Papros law firm in Warsaw (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on June 16, 2015). SKV Law is the network’s fourth member, and first in the Baltics.
Valiunas Ellex has advised Sweden’s TeliaSonera on the sale of 100% of shares in Omnitel to TeliaSonera subsidiary Teo LT, an integrated telecommunications, IT, and television company. Dominas & Partners advised Teo LT.
Gediminas Dominas, who led the Dominas & Partners team advising Teo explained the nature of the sale from parent TeliaSonera to its subsidiary: “TEO is a listed company. TeliaSonera owns a bit more than 88% of Teo shares. However, Teo is subject to the transparency, disclosure requirements, applicable to listed companies, protection of minority shareholders, etc. It has two independent board members. So, even if TS has majority control, it was still important to ensure arms length transaction, primarily to ensure minority shareholders interests and to enable the board to take the right decision. That is why not only an independent law firm was hired, but also KPMG, who issued a fairness opinion.”
According to Valiunas Ellex, “by this step Teo and Omnitel start consolidating their forces and are going to offer new joint services of broadband and mobile communications, Internet, television, and IT.”
The Valiunas Ellex team included Partners Dovile Burgiene and Marius Juonys, Associate Partner Robertas Ciocys, and Senior Associate Alina Burlakova, among others.
The Dominas & Partners team consisted of Managing Partner Gediminas Dominas and Associate Karolis Racevicius, among others.
Editorial Note: After this article was published, Sorainen announced that it had advised a syndicate of banks providing a long term loan of EUR 150 million to Teo LT to finance its acquisition, and that Valiunas Ellex — which had advised TeliaSonera on the acquisition itself — advised Teo LT on the financing. Valiunas Ellex confirmed that detail, and reported that Teo LT’s acquisition of Omnitel shares had closed on January 4, 2016 (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on January 8, 2016).
Image Source: teo.lt
Raidla Lejins & Norcous has advised the shareholders of Cgates, the second largest Lithuanian provider of television rebroadcasting and internet access services, on the sale of their shareholding in the company to the Swedish investment company East Capital. The transaction was valued at more than EUR 56 million.
Cgates has over 180,000 subscribers in Lithuania. The company provides interactive, digital cable and terrestrial television, analogue TV, fiber optic broadband and fixed network telephony services.
East Capital Group is a leading emerging and frontier market asset manager in Easter Europe and the Baltics. It is a shareholder of various Lithuanian companies, including Pieno zvaigzdes, City Service, Linas Agro, Apranga, and Siauliu bankas). The fund also owns the GO9 shopping center and the Bures office building in Vilnius.
Raidla Lejins & Norcous assisted in drafting the transaction documents, represented Cgates’ shareholders during negotiations, and advised on other transaction related matters. The team was led by Managing Partner Irmantas Norkus and Managing Associate Juozas Rimas, the head of the RLN Head of Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group.
In November Rimas also led the RLN team advising Cgates on its acquisition of 100% of the shares in RAKARAS, Ukmerges televizija, and UKMNET TV, as well as part of SATELA’s cable internet access and cable TV retail business (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 25, 2014).
Tark Grunte Sutkiene has announced that the Lithuanian office of erstwhile competitor Baltic Legal Solutions will be joining its Vilnius team.
The merger, which TGS describes as “the biggest transaction in the history of the Lithuanian legal services market,” was signed by Eugenija Sutkiene, who will continue in her role as Managing Partner of TGS Lithuania, and BLS Lithuania Managing Partner Gintautas Bartkus, who will become Chairman of the Board in the country.
TGS claims that its Lithuanian office will almost double in size as a result, with more than 90 “law professionals”, making it one of the “largest corporate law firms in the Baltic countries.”
Combined, according to a statement released by TGS, “the merging legal teams worked on M&A deals worth LTL 10 billion and advised clients on financing agreements with the value of LTL 20 billion in 2010 – 2014. Currently, they are handling over 1,000 lawsuits with the total value of LTL 7 billion.”
A number of Baltic Legal Solutions Partners have become Partners in Tark Grunte Sutkiene as a result of the merger. Among them are Valentinas Mikelenas, Gytis Kaminskas (advising on European Union and Energy law), Dainius Stasiulis (Real Estate and Construction law), Gediminas Lisauskas (M&A and TMT), Iraida Zogaite (Labor & Competition), and Robert Degesys (M&A and Tax).
According to Sutkiene, this merger was entered into pursuant to the long-term development strategies of both firms: “We strive to create a new model of provision of legal services to meet demands of the evolving market. At the same time, we continue to offer and further improve our exceptionally efficient client service.”
For his part, Bartkus claims that the union of the two well-known law firms creates new opportunities for clients, saying that, “This concentration of experienced and widely recognized law professionals in the context of dynamic economic globalization will ensure the highest quality, fast and innovative solutions for our clients in Lithuania and abroad.”
The entire process is expected to be concluded by the end of the year.
Lawin has advised the Israeli venture capital fund Entree Capital on a EUR 400,000 investment in the Lithuanian mobile payments company UAB WoraPay. The investment was made through Olerra Investments Limited, which is an affiliate company of Entree Capital and operates under the Entree Capital brand.
UAB WoraPay is a start-up company, creating and developing mobile payments infrastructure. Currently UAB WoraPay provides mobile payment solutions for more than 150 venues in the Baltics, including restaurants, petrol stations, taxis, and entertainment arenas. One of the largest users of the system is the Lukoil network of gas stations.
Entree Capital provides multi-stage financing for innovative seed, early, and growth stage companies all over the world. The company specializes in enterprise software, payment, e-commerce, and mobile communications markets. According to LAWIN, Entree Capital, “has invested in other payments services companies, including Flypay, mCash, Scan and other.”
Lawin was represented by Partner Dovile Burgiene, Associate Lina Radaviciene, and Junior Associates Arminas Banys and Arturas Grimaila.
Varul Lithuania has reported that Partner Marius Devyzis has been elected the Chairman of the Board of handball club VHC Sviesa Vilnius, which became the “Vice-Champion” of the Lithuanian Handball League 2013-2014.
Devyzis takes over the position from Edis Urbanavicus, who was appointed as General Director of Physical Education and Sports Department.
According to a Varul press release, HC Sviesa Vilnius has won the bronze medal in the Lithuanian handball championship and has participated in the European Cup tournaments and the Baltic Handball League. Also according to that press release, “Devyzis is a well regarded sports law expert and arbitrator of the EHF Court of Arbitration.”