Category: Poland

Joanna Blaszczyk has been promoted to Head of Legal at the Polish Development Fund in Warsaw.

The Polish Development Fund is a State-owned financial group which offers instruments supporting the development of companies, local governments, and individuals, and invests in sustainable social development and Polish economic growth. Blaszczyk first joined the fund in January 2016 as a Deputy General Counsel. From April 2017 to January 2018 she held the role of Office Director (Legal/Investments), and from January 2018 until now she has been acting as the fund’s Department Head (Director) (Legal/Investments). She is also the Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bank Pekao since June 2017 and a Vice Chairman of PESA Bydgoszcz S.A.

Prior to her in-house career, Blaszczyk worked from 2007-2016 at CMS. Before that she was a Junior Associate with Hogan & Hartson and a trainee with Weil Gotshal & Manges.

Former Dentons Managing Counsel Agnieszka Fedor has moved to a Partner position at Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak. Fedor will lead the Labor practice of SK&S’s Warsaw office.

SK&S describes Fedor as “an experienced lawyer providing legal advice to employers from various branches and sectors of the economy in complex restructuring projects, negotiations of collective bargaining agreements and social welfare packages, as well as collective redundancies.”

Fedor graduated from the University of Sheffield and worked at Wardynski & Partners, WKB, and Dentons before joining SK&S.

APlaw has advised ComCERT S.A. on the sale of its shares to IT software developer Asseco Poland S.A.

ComCERT is a Polish IT consulting company that was established in 2012 and concentrates on cyber threats and security incidents. 

The APlaw team was led by Managing Partner Artur Piechocki.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Societe Generale on the PLN 1.83 billion sale of Euro Bank, its retail banking subsidiary in Poland, to Bank Millennium. Shearman & Sterling advised Societe Generale on French law and other matters related to the transaction.

The Greenberg Traurig team included Partners Lejb Fogelman, Stephen Horvath, Lukasz Pawlak, Marek Kozaczuk, Robert Gago, Karolina Dunin-Wilczynska, Anna Halas-Krawczyk, and Michal Bobrzynski, Counsel Adam Opalski, Senior Associates Maciej Pietrzak, Mateusz Slizewski, Magdalena Bachleda-Ksiedzularz, Maciej Kacymirow, Radoslaw Pawluk, and Ewa Tabor-Maciejewska, and Associates Magdalena Medynska, Agnieszka Stopinska, Grzegorz Socha, and Marta Kownacka.

SPCG Studnicki, Pleszka, Cwiakalski, Gorski has successfully represented Engie Zielona Energia Sp. z o.o. in a dispute involving its lease of land for a wind farm and attempt to reduce the lease due to the collapse of the renewable energy market and the dramatic fall in electricity prices and green certificates.

According to SPCG, the causes of action claimed by the electricity producer were the provisions of the Civil Code regarding the lease of land. According to the firm, “the precedential nature of the case stems from the fact that the previous jurisprudence of common courts and the Supreme Court, in principle, have questioned the applicability of the Civil Code provisions relating to lease for contracts whose subject-matter is putting the land into use through the foundation and operation of wind farms.”

The SPCG team consisted of Partners Piotr Kaminski and Pawel Wec, supported by Senior Associate Lukasz Przyborowski and Junior Associate Jakub Zielinski.

Editor’s Note: On January 24, 2022, SPCG announced that the case was finally closed, in favor of Engie Zielona. The firm represented Engie before the Court of Appeal in Szczecin and the Supreme Court. SPCG’s team consisted of the same four lawyers, with Lukasz Przyborowski and Jakub Zielinski being promoted to Counsel and Associate, respectively, in the meantime.

Act Legal Poland has advised Heli Aviation Service Sp. z o.o. on the purchase of an AW169 helicopter manufactured by Leonardo S.p.A., formerly AgustaWestland.

The AW169 is the latest-generation 4.5-tonne class twin-engine helicopter.

The Act Legal Poland team was led by Partner Marek Wojnar and included Trainee Magdalena Piotrowska.

Greenberg Traurig Poland has advised Cyfrowy Polsat on the issue of series B bonds with an aggregate nominal value of PLN 1 billion.

On April 26, 2019, Cyfrowy Polsat, within its bond issue program, issued unsecured bearer series B bonds. The bonds were issued through a public offering addressed solely to professional clients, which did not require a prospectus or an offering memorandum to be prepared. The company introduced the bonds to the Alternative Trading System operated by the Warsaw Stock Exchange within the framework of the Catalyst market on May 31, 2019.

According to Greenberg Traurig, the transaction also included the refinancing of the series A bonds issued by Cyfrowy Polsat in 2015, which was the first bond issue governed by the new Bonds Act in Poland.

Earlier Greenberg Traurig represented Cyfrowy Polsat in the acquisition of a majority stake in Netia (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 8, 2017), as well as in the acquisition of a majority stake in Poland’s Eleven Sports Network (as reported on December 8, 2017).

The Greenberg Traurig team consisted of Managing Partner Jaroslaw Grzesiak, Partners Aleksander Janiszewski and Rafal Sienski, Senior Associate Marek Kleczek, and Associates Maja Gawrysiuk, Tomasz Szekalski, Martyna Komorniczak, and Michal Baldowski.

Dentons has advised a syndicate of six banks, including the EBRD, Bank Pekao S.A., and DNB Bank Polska S.A., on a loan to Potegowo Mashav for the construction and operation of a wind farm in Northern Poland.

The project is expected to have 81 wind turbines with a total capacity of 220 MW, which will make it the biggest onshore wind power project in Poland. Completion is planned for mid-2020. Potegowo Mashav is a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Poland and majority-owned by the Israel Infrastructure Fund.

The Dentons team consisted of Partners Mateusz Toczyski and Ewa Rutkowska-Subocz, Counsels Piotr Nerwinski and Agnieszka Kulinska, Senior Associates Magdalena Kalinska and Dawid Krakowiak, and Associates Marta Borowska, Jakub Walawski, Lena Boczkaja, and Jan Dubinski.

Hogan Lovells Poland has advised the owner of Cinema 3D S.A. on the May 24, 2019 sale of its Polish portfolio to Vue International. Allen & Overy advised Vue International and its Polish subsidiary Multikino on the acquisition. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Cinema 3D is a multiplex cinema network established in 2010. The network consists of 13 sites with 59 screens (and a further two sites in development) in various retail and leisure developments across Poland.

Vue International is a global cinema operator that manages brands in Poland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, and Taiwan.

The Hogan Lovells team was led by Partner Marek Grodek and included Counsels Bartosz Clemenz and Piotr Skurzynski, Lawyer Pawel Gnas, Senior Associates Katarzyna Sulimierska, Ewa Kraszewska, and Michal Zajaczkowski, and Associates Marta Popis, Adam Nowosielski, Damian Gadomski, and Magdalena Kowara.

The A&O team was led by Partner Jaroslaw Iwanicki and Senior Associate Maciej Skoczynski.

Editor’s Note: The article has been updated to amend the composition of the Hogan Lovells team.

Subsequently, after this article was published, EY Law informed CEE Legal Matters that it had helped Vue International and Multikino obtain the consent of The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for the transaction. The firm’s team included Warsaw-based Senior Lawyer Piotr Gogol and Brussels-based Partner Kiran Desai and Executive Director Margarita Peristeraki.

BSWW Act Legal in Poland has advised Rank Progress S.A. on its sale of over eight hectares of investment land worth more than PLN 75 million to Vantage Development S.A.

According to BSWW, on May 09, 2019 Rank Progress amended the annex of its investment agreement with Vantage Development, related to Port Popowice in Wroclaw, a residential estate with complementary retail and office functions. The document specifies the principles of the joint venture’s acquisition of perpetual usufruct to land and the partners’ additional financial contributions.

According to BSWW, Port Popowice combines a former inland port with “sophisticated architecture, contemporary design, and functional spaces.” The project is expected to be completed within ten years and it involves the development of approximately 2,500 apartments, about 14,500 square meters of office space, and 17,000 square meters of commercial space.

The BSWW team was led by Managing Partner Michal Wielhorski and included Partner Malgorzata Wasowska and Senior Associate Mateusz Prokopiuk. 

BSWW legal did not reply to our inquiries about the deal.