Category: Poland

SPCG Studnicki, Pleszka, Cwiakalski, & Gorski has advised Spanish company Invall Green Energy on the sale of its shares in Pomerania Invall sp. o.o. to Lietuvos Energija Renewables, a member of the Lietuvos Energija Group.

Pomerania Invall is a special purpose company implementing a wind farm project in the north of Poland. The project consists of 29 wind power plants producing a total of 94 megawatts.    

The SPCG team was led by Partner Lukasz Ziecina, supported by Senior Associate Lukasz Przyborowski and Associate Lukasz Koc.

SPCG did not reply to our inquiry about the deal.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Madison International Realty and Ghelamco on the sale of the Warsaw Spire A office building to Immofinanz. Magnusson advised Immofinanz on the transaction, which involved the sale by affiliates of Madison International Realty and Ghelamco of their respective 50% stakes in the building to Immofinanz through a share deal. The transaction remains subject to anti-trust approval.

The Warsaw Spire A, with 49 floors in a 220-meter tower, is currently the tallest office building in Warsaw. The Warsaw Spire retail-office complex also includes two auxiliary buildings, Warsaw Spire B and Warsaw Spire C. 

Greenberg Traurig previously advised Madison International Realty on its acquisition of 50% of the shares of the Warsaw Spire A and on its entrance into a joint venture with Ghelamco (as reported by CEELM on May 9, 2018). The financing of the building was done by a syndicate of German banks, Helaba, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, and Berlin Hyp, that were advised by Dentons (as reported on September 15, 2017).

The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Partner Radomil Charzynski and included Senior Associate Kamil Majewski and Associates Michal Niecko and Karolina Woronko-Kawa. 

The Magnusson team included Partners Agnieszka Pytlas and Dawid Demianiuk and Associates Kamil Osowski, Iga Piotrowska, Katarzyna Marczuk, Jeremiasz Kusmierz, and Paulina Kotecka.

Wolf Theiss has set up a Restructuring Practice in its Warsaw office and appointed former DWF and K&L Gates Partner Lech Gilicinski as its head.

Gilicinski will also take on the role of Coordinator for Restructuring, Insolvency and Distressed Investments in Central Europe.

Gilicinski has 27 years of professional experience, focusing on “operational and financial turnarounds, distressed asset sales and private equity.” Before joining Wolf Theiss, he was a partner in the Warsaw office of DWF (previously K&L Gates). His experience also includes work for White & Case and as principal legal adviser to Poland’s Ministry of Justice and the EBRD during the introduction of Poland’s Bankruptcy and Rehabilitation Law. Gilicinski was also the Country Partner for the World Bank in the area of insolvency and restructuring.

“I am really delighted to join this vibrant team of recognized experts at one of the most ambitious law firms in the region, to support its expansion into the high-growth area of corporate restructuring and asset sales,” Gilicinski said. 

Also joining Wolf Theiss from DWF is Counsel Joanna Gasowski, who is admitted to practice in both Poland and New York. Gasowski, who holds a restructuring advisor license in Poland, focuses on bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings, as well as on mezzanine financing for the real estate sector

“The arrival of Lech and Joanna marks another important step in the expansion of our firm in Central and Eastern Europe and helps strengthen our truly regional presence,” said Tomasz Stasiak, Co-Managing Partner at Wolf Theiss in Warsaw.

Allen & Overy has advised PKO Bank Hipoteczny on the issue of green covered bonds worth PLN 250 million.

According to Allen & Overy, this is the first issue of green covered bonds by a Polish mortgage bank. The maturity of the bond has been set for September 30, 2024.

PKO Bank Hipoteczny belongs to PKO Bank Polski and specializes in mortgage loans for individual clients. These loans are offered to retail clients through Poland’s network of branches, intermediaries, and agencies. The PKO Bank Hipoteczny key task is the issuance of covered bonds, which constitute the primary source of long-term financing of loans granted by the bank that are secured by the property.

The Allen & Overy team was led by Partner Piotr Lesinski, supported by Counsel Lukasz Walczyna.

Jara Drapala & Partners has successfully persuaded the Lodz, Poland Appellate Court to affirm the judgment of the lower court awarding firm client Mosty Lodz S.A. nearly PLN 32 million from the City of Lodz.

The case involved the construction of a railway bridge as part of a section of the so-called Upper Route in Lodz. Circumstances beyond Mosty Lodz’s control arose that prevented it from constructing the bridge by the so-called “split-half method,” as specified in the bid, which would allow for continuous rail traffic on one track. It became necessary to secure traffic on both tracks, which required demolishing the old bridge and replacing it with a new one. 

This required Mosty Lodz to design and perform additional and substitute work beyond the scope of the bid submitted in the tender procedure. The City refused to pay for this extra work, relying on the “design and build” formula and the fixed amount of the remuneration.

The JDP team included Partners Andrzej Sokolowski and Przemyslaw Drapala and Associates Jakub Majewski and Jasmina Lyczewska.

Gawronski & Piecuch has hired Jacek Liput as Counsel and Head of its Public Procurement Practice.

Liput joins from Huawei Technologies, where he worked for over two years as the company’s Senior Legal Counsel for Poland. Before that, he worked from 2008-2017 for CMS in Warsaw.

“Joining Gawronski & Piecuch seemed like an obvious move in my career,” Liput commented. “I had worked with Irek Piecuch for several years before my recent engagement with a global technology company and I am very happy that we can come back to this collaboration. My recent role as an in-house counsel allowed me to supplement my experience and made me understand the business better. I am now ready to engage in building a strong public procurement team at Gawronski & Piecuch and at the same time I am certain that the motto ‘where the law meets technology’ can also be applicable to public procurement.”

Noerr has advised Merkur Sportwetten, a member of the Gauselmann Group, on the acquisition of a majority stake in Totolotek, a member of the Intralot Group. Totolotek was advised by Dubois & Wspolnicy.

Merkur Sportwetten is a sports betting business with operations in Germany, Austria, Denmark, and Belgium. Totolotek has approximately 7.3% of the Polish betting market and over 250 distribution points. 

The Warsaw-based Noerr team was led by Associated Partner Ludomir Biedecki and included Associates Wojciech Nowosad, Tomasz Garncarek, Joanna Szacinska, and Mateusz Slodczyk.

The Dubois & Wspolnicy team included Counsel Szymon Chmielewski and Attorney at Law Kamil Rudo.

SPCG Studnicki, Pleszka, Cwiakalski, Gorski has successfully represented Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland S.A. in Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court regarding corporate income tax.

The case involved the application of transfer pricing regulations. According to SPCG, “the favorable judgment of the Voivodship Administrative Court in Krakow, which reversed the contested decision of the tax authority, was lodged with the cassation appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court by the tax authority. The Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the cassation appeal of the body, sharing in full the position of Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions Poland and the position accepted by the court of the first instance, as regards errors committed by the tax authorities in the Corporate Income Tax Act and implementing rules.”

The SPCG team was led by Partner Agnieszka Soja.

Dentons Real has advised GLL Real Estate Partners on a sale of shares in the company owning the Renaissance office building in central Warsaw to KanAm Grund Group. Linklaters advised the buyers on the deal.

The Renaissance Building is a class A mixed-use office and retail building located in the center of Warsaw near Plac Zbawiciela, with a total surface area of over 8,000 square meters. 

The Dentons team included Partner Pawel Debowski, Counsel Maciej Jodkowski, and Associate Alicja Grabowska.

The Linklaters team included Partner Janusz Dzianachowski, Senior Associates Monika Lerka and Krzysztof Gorny, and Associates Mateusz Cieslak, Jedrzej Palka, and Aleksander Krzeszowiak.

Dentons has advised Jozef Grzymala, a co-founder of Polish pharmaceutical company LEK-AM, on the sale of the company to the other co-founder, Andrzej Wyrzykowski, for an undisclosed amount. The transaction was concluded with the use of debt financing. Crido advised Andrzej Wyrzykowski.

The Dentons Warsaw team included Partners Piotr Dulewicz and Pawel Grabowski and Counsel Michal Wasiak.

The Crido team was led by Partner Artur Marszalkiewicz.