Category: Poland

SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised the owner of Kospel S.A. on the sale of 100% shares in the company to the Viessmann Group. The transaction was recently approved by the President of Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Kospel S.A., which was founded in 1990, is a manufacturer of electric heaters, instantaneous water heaters, and hot water tanks. The company employs over 500 people in four locations in Poland. The Viessmann Group is the producer of heating, industrial and cooling systems.

SSW Pragmatic Solutions’ team consisted of Partners Sebastian Ponikowski and Jakub Jedrzejewski, Associate Marta Szymczyk, and Junior Associate Joanna Kanicka.

Kondrat & Partners has successfully represented KA sp. z o.o. in a dispute with Poland’s Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate in Warsaw regarding KA’s preparation of homeopathic medicines on commission for another pharmacy.

According to Kondrat & Partners, the case arose from a 2019 decision of the Voivodship Pharmaceutical Inspectorate declaring the activity of KA pharmacies illegal, and the withdrawal of their authorization to conduct business. According to the firm, “the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw accepted KA’s complaint against the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspectorate in its entirety and repealed previous decisions of the public administration authorities. As a result, according to Kondrat & Partners, “the homeopathic pharmacies [of] KA returned to the market, and [its] authorization to operate the pharmacies shall remain in force.”

Kondrat & Partners’s team included Partner Justyna Stefanczyk-Kaczmarzyk and Advocate Dominika Chrabanska.

Decisive Worldwide has advised the ENEL MED group on its lease of medical clinics in the Centrum Zana in Gdansk and in the React building in Lodz.

The medical clinic facility in Lodz was leased from React-Dagnall Spolka z.o.o., while the one in Gdansk was leased from Centrum Zana Spolka z.o.o..

Decisive Worldwide’s team was led by Managing Associate Bartlomiej Grabecki.

SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised Unilink S.A. on its acquisition of a majority stake in Damo Ubezpieczenia. The sellers were advised by BCGL.

SSW describes Unilink as “the largest insurance multiagency operating in Poland [and] a leading distribution partner for virtually all insurance companies in the field of motor, property, and life insurance sales.”

The SSW Pragmatic Solutions’ team included Partner Sebastian Ponikowski, Senior Associate Jakub Koziński and Associate Marta Szymczyk.

BCGL’s team was led by Partner Jacek Balicki.

CMS has advised MEAG, a German renewable industry investor, on its acquisition of a 21 MW wind farm project located in Zary, in Western Poland, from Sweden’s OX2 Wind International AB. The sellers were advised by Solivan and Studnicki, Pleszka, Cwiakalski, Gorski.

CMS’s team included Partners Piotr Ciolkowski and Blazej Zagorski, Counsels Agnieszka Skorupinska and Michal Andruszkiewicz, Senior Associates Katarzyna Grodziewicz, Rafal Burda, and Piotr Nowicki, Associates Jan Radziuk, Adam Kedziora, Wojciech Szopinski, Angelika Szufel, and Justyna Kuta, and Lawyers Pawel Ura, Ada Szon, Mikolaj Markiewicz, Mateusz Mazur, Maciej Brezden, and Patrycja Styczynska.

Solivan’s team included Partner Christian Schnell and Managing Associate Piotr Dziwniel.

SPCG’s team included Partner Lukasz Ziecina and Senior Associate Lukasz Przyborowski.

The Polish office of the multi-national CEE Attorneys alliance has left the network and now operates under a new brand: Decisive Worldwide Szmigiel Papros Gregorczyk.

The team consists of partners Andrzej Szmigiel, Krzysztof Papros, and Pawel Gregorczyk, plus another 11 lawyers, one paralegal, and two support staff members.

An announcement from the new firm explained the “Worldwide” part of its brand by pointing to a formal cooperation agreement with Endo & Co. Advocates in Tanzania. The announcement also noted: “We wish all the best to CEE Attorneys, where stay a lot of our friends, colleagues, and fantastic people.” 

Michal Martinak, Managing Partner of CEE Attorneys, commented on the departure of his former Polish colleagues: “CEE Attorneys and its Polish office have decided to continue separately after having different opinions about the future direction of CEE Attorneys. CEE Attorneys wishes Andrzej and his team success in their future business activities. CEE Attorneys will continue to build a strong international law firm in the CEE region with close cooperation with our partners in different regions of the world.”

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised the banks on financing provided to Vectra S.A. for its acquisition of Multimedia Polska S.A. Vectra was advised by Rymarz Zdort, while Multimedia Polska was advised by Allen & Overy. Multimedia Polska’s creditors were advised by Greenberg Traurig.

The syndicate included Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A., BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A., EBRD, Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen S.A., PZU Zycie S.A., PZU FIZAN BIS 1, Bank Millenium S.A., DNB Bank Polska S.A., DNB Bank ASA, Santander Bank Polska S.A., ING Bank Slaski S.A., Credit Agricole Bank Polska S.A., and mBank S.A.

According to Norton Rose Fulbright, “the financing was arranged by BNP Paribas and Bank Polska Kasa Opieki and the latter additionally acted as agent and security agent. Vectra is one of the leading cable operators in Poland, providing access to analog and digital cable television, broadband internet and mobile and landline communication services. The acquisition of Grupa Multimedia Polska will make Grupa Vectra the largest cable service provider in Poland with 1.7 million subscribers and 4.4 million households in its reach.”

Norton Rose Fulbright’s Warsaw team included Partner Grzegorz Dyczkowski, Senior Associates Jacek Smardzewski and Marta Kawecka, Associates Oskar Sula, Jan Ptaszynski, and Igor Kondratowicz, and Intern Michal Rutkowski. The firm’s team also included London-based Partner James Dunnett and Legal Consultant Ksenia Orlova.

Rymarz Zdort’s team included Partners Pawel Zdort, Jacek Zawadzki, Monika Kierepa, Marcin Iwaniszyn, and Iwona Her, Counsels Irmina Trybalska and Jakub Rachwol, Senior Associates Leszek Cyganiewicz and Jerzy Rostworowski, and Associates Aleksander Jakubisiak, Monika Michalowska, Robert Smigielski, and Weronika Szyszka.

Editor’s note: After this article was published CEE Legal Matters learned that DLA Piper had advised the shareholders of Multimedia Polska. The firm’s team was led by Partner Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz.

Subsequently, Greenberg Traurig informed CEE Legal Matters that its team advising the creditors of Multimedia Polska (including Credit Agricole Bank as the agent and the security agent), included Partner Andrzej Wysokinski and Associate Maja Gawrysiuk.

Did you know that from 1 Jan 2020 significant changes have been introduced into the waste management system in Poland?

In particular:

– every producer of waste (excluding municipal waste) who is obliged to maintain a record of waste is also obliged to register in the online waste database (pl. BDO);

– due to new regulations, in some cases waste transportation companies may refuse to collect it from entities not registered in the BDO;

– fines of up to PLN 1 million can be imposed for storing, collecting or transporting waste contrary to the new regulations (i.e. without permits);

– there are new requirements (including video monitoring) for the storage of waste by entities who are obliged to have permits for collecting, processing, and producing waste.

So make sure to check if:

– under new regulations you are a producer of waste who is obliged to maintain record of waste and be registered in the BDO;

– your current waste management system allows you to not be responsible for the waste of other entities (for example, the waste of tenants);

– your current waste management system does not expose you to the risk of being found responsible for hazardous or flammable waste produced by other entities (in particular tenants, such as hypermarkets);

– you need a permit for collecting waste (you could also be forced to apply these new requirements for storing waste (this may include video monitoring).

By Sebastian Janicki, Senior Associate, Penteris

SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised SkinWallet on its receipt of PLN 3.4 million in financing from multiple unidentified investors.

According to SSW Pragmatic Solutions, “SkinWallet is a mass-deposit website that allows players to sell CSGO skins in huge numbers in mere minutes. The platform is the highest paying website of that sort available on the market. To use SkinWallet a user needs to connect their Steam account and set their inventory to public visibility.”

SSW Pragmatic Solutions’ team included Partners Szymon Okon and Michal Badowski and Associate Dawid Brudzisz.