Category: Poland

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Aegon Growth Capital Fund on the sale of a 44% share stake in Phinance. BAB Legal reportedly advised the buyers. GWK Legal reportedly advised the non-selling shareholders.

Aegon Growth Capital Fund is a venture fund focused on investing in financial services companies in Europe. 

Phinance is a financial brokerage firm in Poland. It has been operating since 2002 and currently operates 52 branches and over 1,200 active advisors.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team included Warsaw-based Partner Agnieszka Braciszewska, Counsel Artur Jonczyk, Senior Associate Katarzyna Berestecka, and Associates Jan Nowjalis and Damian Pawlak.

Baker McKenzie has advised Argan Capital and Polon-Alfa on the financing required for a new continuation fund for Polon-Alfa managed by Argan Capital as well as on the full refinancing of Polon-Alfa’s existing debt secured through P Capital Partners. Clifford Chance reportedly advised on the matter as well.

Argan Capital is a CEE-focused mid-market private equity firm.

Polon-Alfa is a producer of fire detection products and systems across Poland, Romania, Hungary, and beyond. According to Baker McKenzie, the financing is designed to support Polon-Alfa’s further development through a new continuation fund, while simultaneously refinancing existing debt, thus enhancing the company’s operational efficiency and strategic flexibility.

The Baker McKenzie team included Warsaw-based Partner Marcin Iwaniszyn, Senior Associates Jakub Czerka and Jan Szczurek, and Associate Oskar Lipien as well as further team members in London.

Dorota Mazurek-Zaprawa was appointed to International Legal Team Manager at Orlen.

Mazurek-Zaprawa has been with Orlen since 2011, joining the company as a Legal Counsel.

Earlier, she worked for Clifford Chance as an Associate between 2008 and 2011. Earlier still, she worked as a Junior Associate for the Bogdan Dzudzewicz Legal Office.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta has advised Erste Group Bank as the sole bookrunner and Erste Securities Polska as the Polish offering agent on the accelerated book-building process for shares in Vercom. 

Vercom is a provider of communication services employing a SaaS model, enabling customers to build relationships through channels such as SMS, email, and push notifications.

According to Rymarz Zdort Maruta, this process facilitated the sale of 2,685,500 shares listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, representing approximately 12.08% of Vercom’s share capital. The shares were sold by Lithuanian shareholders – Ignas Rubezius, Ilma Nausedaite, and Ad Hoc Technologijos, UAB – and were offered exclusively to select institutional investors or those investing at least EUR 100,000 per investor. The sale price was set at PLN 110 per share, with the total transaction value nearing PLN 300 million.

The Rymarz Zdort Maruta team included Partner Filip Lesniak, Senior Associate Maciej Kowalski, and Paralegal Bartosz Brudek.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

CMS has advised PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna on over PLN 12 billion in financing from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego under the National Recovery Plan. Deloitte Legal advised BGK.

PGE Group is the largest power production company in Poland. According to CMS, the funds will be allocated to two of PGE Group’s companies for the development and modernization of its power grids: PGE Dystrybucja and PGE Energetyka Kolejowa. PGE will allocate over PLN 9.5 billion to PGE Dystrybucja to boost its ability to integrate renewable energy sources and modernize its power grid. In addition, PGE Energetyka Kolejowa will receive over PLN 2.5 billion to strengthen security, improve energy quality, and expand the connection capacity for renewable energy sources to the distribution network that supplies the Polish railway and its ecosystem. 

The CMS team included Partner Michal Mezykowski, Senior Associate Katarzyna Mazur, and Associate Bartosz Potrykus.

The Deloitte Legal team included Partner Mariusz Banas and Senior Associate Tomasz Pawlowski.

Piotr Gogol has joined Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka as a Partner and will serve as the firm’s new head of the competition law practice.

Before joining DZP, Gogol was a Partner with EY between 2024 and 2025 as well as a Counsel between 2012 and 2024.

According to DZP, Gogol “specializes in proceedings before the President of the Competition and Consumer Protection Office, including those involving merger control, abuse of a dominant position, contractual advantage, restrictive agreements, payment backlogs and breaches of collective consumer interests.” 

CK Legal Chabasiewicz Kowalska has advised PragmaGO on PLN 50 million public bond issuance.

PragmaGO is a Poland-based non-bank financial institution. According to CK Legal, the company planned to allocate 400,000 series D3 bonds; however, due to exceptionally high investor interest, PragmaGO increased the allocation to half a million bonds during the offer period. The transaction, which marks the largest public bond offering in PragmaGO’s history, achieved a total nominal value of PLN 50 million with a proportional subscription reduction of 21.64%. PragmaGO’s strategic investor is Polish Enterprise Funds SCA, managed by Enterprise Investors, one of the largest private equity firms in Central and Eastern Europe.

The CK Legal team included Founding Partner Wojciech Chabasiewicz and Head of Capital Markets Anita Gwozdz.

Former Crido Partner Jakub Ziolek has joined EY Law as a Partner.

Before the move, Ziolek was with Crido Legal between 2013 and 2025. Earlier, he was a Partner with SSW Pragmatic Solutions between 2010 and 2013. Earlier still, he worked for Cream Property Advisors as an In-House Counsel.

“We are happy that Jakub and his team are joining our law firm,” said EY Law Managing Partner Zuzanna Zakrzewska. “Their experience and knowledge will be invaluable in the further development of our legal services and will strengthen our position in the market.”

“I am excited to join EY Law,” Ziolek added. “I believe that together with the team we will be able to provide our clients with the highest quality legal services and develop our competence in the area of transactions and real estate law. We chose EY because we believe this is the right environment to grow our business mindset – alongside wonderful people who think out of the box and act professionally at the same time.”

Dentones Partner Emeritus Tomasz Dabrowski has become the new Managing Partner of Cornerstone Investment Management.

Cornerstone Investment Management, founded in 2001, is a private equity investment management.

Specializing in Corporate/M&A, Dabrowski has been with Dentons since 1992, having originally joined its legacy firm Salans as a Lawyer. He made Partner in 2000 and in 2005 became the firm’s Poland and CEE Managing Partner as well as the Co-Head of the Europe Corporate group – a position he continued to hold at Dentons until 2014 before taking over as CEO of Dentons Europe. As of 2024, he has been a Partner Emeritus with the firm.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

Partners at Addleshaw Goddard and Linklaters have voted in favor of the transfer of Linklaters’ Warsaw office to Addleshaw Goddard.

The office transfer was announced earlier this year (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 18, 2025).

“We are delighted that our partners have approved the addition of the Warsaw office and are excited to welcome our new colleagues,” commented Addleshaw Goddard Managing Partner Andrew Johnston. “The news of our entry into Poland and the CEE region has created real excitement amongst our clients and we are already discussing how we can support them in new ways across a wide range of opportunities. We remain on course to complete the transfer of the Warsaw office to AG on  April 30, making Warsaw our 20th office with effect from May 1, 2025.”