Category: Poland

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised RGreen Invest SAS on the EUR 38 million financing provided to PAD RES for the construction of a 76-megawatt photovoltaic portfolio in Poland. Clifford Chance advised PAD RES.

The financed portfolio consists of 14 photovoltaic projects operating on a fully commercial basis.

According to Norton Rose, “founded in 2013 by Nicolas Rochon, RGreen Invest is an independent French investment management company with a mission to enable the channeling of investor capital towards financing projects that accelerate the world’s energy transition, adaptation to climate change, and mitigation of its effects.”

PAD RES is a development company that specializes in the development of renewable energy projects, infrastructure investments, and commercial real estate.

According to Clifford Chance, “the solar projects will have a total capacity of 76 megawatts ranging from 1 megawatt to 14 megawatts, will be spread across Poland, and are expected to be completed by the end of 2024, with the construction of the first sites already underway.”

The Norton Rose team included Warsaw-based Partner Tomasz Rogalski, Senior Associate Cezary Zawislak, Associates Igor Kondratowicz and Patryk Gelar, and Lawyer Jakub Chmiel.

Clifford Chance’s team included Partner Andrzej Stosio, Counsel Michal Jadwisiak, Associate Aleksandra Sierac, and Trainee Joanna Korycinska.

Clifford Chance has advised a consortium of banks on their agreement for a revolving credit facility of up to PLN 1 billion and a term loan of up to PLN 1.5 billion with Enea, granted as a sustainability-linked loan. Allen & Overy advised Enea.

The banks included PKO Bank Polski, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, Bank Pekao, Alior Bank, and Bank of China Oddzial w Polsce. Bank Pekao coordinated the process.

Enea is a Polish power industry company and electricity producer based in Poznan.

According to Clifford Chance, “the margin will depend on the achievement of indicators related to sustainable development, i.e., the carbon dioxide emission reduction indicator and an increase in the share of renewable energy sources in the production structure of the Enea capital group. The correctness of the KPI calculation will be confirmed by an independent auditor.” Enea will allocate the amount resulting from the margin reduction to non-governmental organizations, the firm announced, “on the terms set out in the facilities agreement. The funds obtained by the company will be used among other things to finance and refinance its capital expenditures related to the modernization or maintenance of its distribution grid and renewable energy sources.”

Clifford Chance’s team included Partner Andrzej Stosio, Counsel Kacper Bardan, Senior Associate Maksymilian Jarzabek, and Associate Aleksander Smakosz.

Allen & Overy’s team included Partner Tomasz Kawczynski and Senior Associate Konrad Zawistowski.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta has advised the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund on its EUR 150 million investment in R.Power. Clifford Chance advised R.Power.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

According to the firm, the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund will invest EUR 150 million in the target company in exchange for a minority stake, with an option to increase its investment further to EUR 250 million in total.

R.Power is a power producer active in solar PV and battery storage that operates in Poland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, and Romania.

The Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund is a commercial fund advised by Amber Infrastructure. It targets energy, transport, and digital infrastructure investments in CEE. The Amber Infrastructure Group is a UK-based investment manager focused on investment origination, asset management, and fund management.

The Rymarz Zdort Maruta team was led by Partner Jakub Krzemien and included Managing Partner Pawel Zdort, Partners Marek Durski and Iwona Her, Counsel Lukasz Lech, Senior Associates Adrian Augustyniak, Piotr Wawrzeniuk, Honorata Skibicka, and Tomasz Kordala, and Associates Klaudia Kasztelewicz, Weronika Iskierska, Izabela Skrzypczak, and Engjell Sokoli.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Clifford Chance announced that its team was led by Partner Wojciech Polz and included Partner Pawel Puacz, Counsel Karol Kulhawik, Of Counsel Nick Fletcher, Senior Associates Tomasz Szekalski and Marcin Markowski, and Associates Zuzanna Potoczna and Michal Besciak.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a fund managed by Sienna Private Credit on its mezzanine financing to a Polish borrower for the construction of a 35-megawatt wind farm.

PKO Bank Polski is the senior lender financing the Polish wind farm project.

According to Norton Rose, Sienna Private Credit has EUR 2.5 billion of assets under management and provides investment solutions focusing on four main themes: corporate real estate, infrastructure in the energy sector, specialized financing of industrial companies, and the public sector. “Since 2022, Sienna Private Credit is an entity of Sienna Investment Managers, the asset management company of the publicly-traded investment holding company GBL – Groupe Bruxelles Lambert,” the firm informed.

The Norton Rose team included Partner Tomasz Rogalski, Senior Associate Cezary Zawislak, Associates Karolina Majcher, Igor Kondratowicz, and Przemyslaw Piasecki, and Lawyer Jakub Chmiel.

Did You Know that, according to the Activity Rankings function of the CEELMDirect website, Rymarz Zdort Maruta and WKB Lawyers have worked on 14 reported Corporate/M&A client matters in the last 12 months – more than any other domestic Polish law firm?

Gessel, which has worked on 13 reported Corporate/M&A deals in the last 12 months, is close behind, as is Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak, which worked on 12. SSW Pragmatic Solutions and Wardynski & Partners both worked on 11 reported client matters in that time, while MFW Fialek worked on ten.

Want to see which client matters these firms reported working on, or which other firms worked on deals reported by CEELM in the past year? Visit CEELMDirect.com, the world’s only truly dynamic legal directory, and find out!

Allen & Overy has advised Solida Capital and 1 Asset Management on a new purpose-built student accommodation project in Warsaw.

According to the firm, the project “will involve building approximately 350 units of modern PBSA for students and young professionals by the start of 2025. The building will be built from scratch to meet the BREEAM standards and comply with the latest sustainability and environmental requirements. 1 Asset Management will be acting as the lead investor and asset manager in the project, while Solida Capital will act as the main developer and minority investor.”

“In terms of fundamentals, Warsaw is probably the best place in Europe to invest in student housing projects,” Solida Capital Europe Managing Director Joao Saracho commented. “The city has lived in recent years very specific phenomena that have increased the demand of micro and small units significantly higher than the development supply. One of the main focuses in Solida Capital has been to develop student housing projects of elevated quality located in key areas of the city, matching students’ expectations. Therefore we are very excited to initiate the cooperation with 1 Asset Management on this project.”

Allen & Overy’s team included Partner Michal Matera and Senior Associate Malgorzata Jastrzebska.

Allen & Overy could not provide additional information on the deal.

Former Counsels Aleksandra Dobrzynska-Grezel, Marek Kanczew, Jakub Krzemien, and Katarzyna Lukaszewicz have been promoted to Partners at Rymarz Zdort Maruta.

Dobrzynska-Grezel, a corporate law specialist, joined the team in 2011, back when it was still operating as Weil Gotshal & Manges. She stayed on through the firm’s transition to the Rymarz Zdort brand (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 28, 2019) and the more recent merger with Maruta Wachta (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 5, 2022). Before joining her current firm, she spent over two and a half years with Ecovis Milczarek & Partners.

Kanczew, Head of the firm’s Employment and Personal Taxation practice, similarly, has been with the team since 2008. He made Counsel in 2020. He previously spent over three years with KPMG as a Senior Tax Consultant.

Krzemien, a corporate and real estate law expert, joined the Weil team in 2016, moving from his Dybinski Krzemien Adwokaci firm. Before that, he spent almost two years as a Partner with Sojka Maciak Mataczynski and three and a half with Mataczynski Dybinski Krzemien. Earlier, he spent a year as an Advocate with Ruch and over four years as a Lawyer with Traple Konarski Podrecki. He began his career as a Lawyer with Smaga Lemanska in 2004, where he spent over three years.

Lukaszewicz, a corporate and regulatory specialist, started with Weil back in 2010 as an Associate. She was promoted to Senior Associate in 2019 and made Counsel in 2020.

According to Rymarz Zdort Maruta, the four promotions are all “long-standing and experienced lawyers of the law firm […] whose promotion to Partner serves as a confirmation of their strong commitment to both the firm’s development and the continued provision of outstanding advisory services to our clients.”

White & Case has advised issuer PKO Bank Hipoteczny and joint bookrunners Erste Group Bank and PKO Bank Polski on a PLN 500 million issuance of mortgage-covered bonds.

According to White & Case, “the bonds, which mature on February 9, 2026, represent the first issuance of PLN-denominated covered bonds under PKO Bank Hipoteczny’s EUR 4 billion International Covered Bond Program. They are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and will be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.”

Last year, White & Case advised joint lead managers Banco Santander, Erste Group Bank, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, PKO BP, and UniCredit Bank on PKO Bank Hipoteczny’s EUR 500 million issuance of mortgage-covered bonds (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 12, 2022).

The White & Case team included Partner Marcin Studniarek, Local Partner Bartosz Smardzewski, and Associates Michal Truszczynski and Dawid Ksiazek.

Baker McKenzie has advised companies from the Agencja Rozwoju Przemyslu group on their joint venture with GRI Renewable Industries for the construction of a wind tower production facility in Poland. Garrigues advised GRI.

“ARP, together with GRI, will cooperate on the construction of a wind tower production facility for offshore wind turbines, located on Ostrow Island in Gdansk,” Baker McKenzie informed. “The combined value of the investment is approximately EUR 200 million, and production is scheduled to commence in 2025. This state-of-the-art manufacturing plant will have a capacity of up to 200 towers per year and will employ several hundred people.”

ARP is a Polish state-owned joint-stock company providing support to Polish enterprises.

GRI Renewable Industries is a Spanish company producing wind towers and related components. The company has 18 production facilities in Spain, the US, Brazil, Argentina, China, Turkey, India, and South Africa.

The Baker McKenzie team was led by Counsel Radzym Wojcik and included Associate Pawel Jaros.

The Garrigues team was led by Senior Associate Marcin Lolik and included Senior Associate Mateusz Przygodzki and Associate Krzysztof Stepien.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Panattoni on the long-term lease and construction agreement for a built-to-suit logistics center in Radzymin to be developed for the Poczta Polska state postal service.

According to Norton Rose Fulbright, the over 50,000 square-meter BTS facility will be BREEAM certified.

Panattoni is an industrial space developer providing build-to-suit warehouse facilities.

Founded in 1558, Poczta Polska is the state postal service provider in Poland. The company additionally provides courier, banking, insurance, and logistics services.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Senior Associate Jakub Kowalczyk and included Partner Magdalena Zienkiewicz and Associate Magdalena Olechniewicz-Blocher.