Category: Poland

SPCG has advised the shareholders of ANT Sp. z o.o. on the sale of shares to BBS Automation GmbH.

ANT, an industrial software developer, was founded in 2006. According to SPCG, “the high-tech company delivers worldwide a complex Industry 4.0 solution, improving factory’s efficiency in wide range of industries, including FMCG, Pharmaceutics, Automotive & Aviation, Household goods or Packages & building materials.”

“Headquartered in Munich, Germany,” SPCG reports, “BBS Automation GmbH develops flexible and high-quality automation solutions for complex manufacturing and testing processes. With production sites in Germany, the US, China and Malaysia, BBS Automation supports a diverse network of blue-chip customers on a global scale. BBS Automation is currently owned by [investment firm] EQT and the founders of BBS.”

According to SPCG, “the combination of BBS Automation’s deep industrial automation expertise with ANT’s experience in software and data analytics will strengthen the ability to jointly develop integrated ‘Industry 4.0’ solutions.”

The SPCG team was led by Partners Piotr Kaminski and Wawrzyniec Rajchel.

SPCG did not reply to our request for more information about the deal or about counsel for the buyers.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published CEE Legal Matters was informed that Willkie Farr & Gallagher advised BBS on the deal.

Gide has advised Enterprise Investors on the sale of Intive group companies involved in digital product development to Mid Europa Partners. White & Case, Clifford Chance, and Dechert advised Mid Europa Partners on the deal.

Based on the agreement, Enterprise Venture Fund I (EVF) and Polish Enterprise Fund VII (PEF VII), managed by Enterprise Investors (EI), will sell Intive S.A. and its subsidiaries, a global group engaged in the development of software enabling the process of the digital transformation of enterprises for the needs of clients from various sectors of the economy.

The value of the transaction is approximately EUR 100 million. The transaction is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2019, and is contingent on the consent of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Gide’s team consisted of Partner Pawel Grzeskowiak and Associates Wojciech Czyzewski and Dawid Van Kedzierski.

The Dechert team consisted of Partner John Markland and Associate Eve Wright.

The Clifford Chance team advised Mid Europa Partners on financing of the acquisition. The team was led by Partner Andrzej Stosio, supported by Senior Associate Kacper Bardan.

Former CMS Counsel Agnieszka Ziolek has joined Deloitte Legal’s Banking & Finance team as a Partner in Warsaw.

Ziolek specializes in funding and financial restructuring, including replacement capital and bond issuance transactions, as well as restructuring processes, bankruptcies, and investments in distressed assets. She spent the past seven years at CMS, with previous experience at both White & Case (four years) and WKB Wiercinski, Kwiecinski, Baehr (one and a half years). She is a graduate of the University of Warsaw and obtained an LL.M. in 2007 from the University of Cambridge.

“We are very pleased that Agnieszka has jointed our ranks,” commented Deloitte Legal Partner Zbigniew Korba. “Her experience, great expertise, energy, and understanding of the challenges faced by financial institutions are sure to contribute to a more dynamic development of Deloitte Legal’s services in this important area.” 

“Joining Deloitte Legal will not only enable me to broaden my experience, but it will also give me a chance to operate on a larger scale and carry out many interesting projects,” Ziolek said. “It is also an opportunity to extend the scope of services through co-operation with Deloitte teams focused on financial advice and restructuring. Becoming a member of such a great team is an honor and a huge challenge for me.”

A team of four Capital Markets lawyers headed by Partner Robert Dulewicz has left Dentons to join Gide Loyrette Nouel in Warsaw.

Dulewicz will head Gide Warsaw’s Capital Markets department. According to the firm, he “has over 20 years’ experience in securities law and unique experience in capital markets transactions. He has participated in preparing documentation for Poland’s first issue of revenue bonds and for one of the first issuances of dematerialized debt securities. He has prepared documentation and participated in the negotiations of many debt securities programs on the Polish market. He has also advised banks, borrowers, and foreign and domestic investors on a number of syndicated loans and debt securities issuance programs.”

According to Gide, “Robert also specializes in infrastructure financing, with projects including airports, railways, rolling stock and wastewater management. As member of a non-treasury securities workgroup of the Polish Bank Association, he prepared proposals of amendments to the Act on Bonds and was involved in legislative works on the same act, organized by the Ministry of Finance.”

Before joining Gide, he worked in the Warsaw and London offices of Clifford Chance, and more recently at Dentons Warsaw, where he co-headed the Capital Markets department.

Coming with Dulewicz from Dentons are Counsel Michal Smiechowski, Senior Associate Agnieszka Kozikowska, and Associate Natalia Skomorowska.

“Gide has a thriving team of International Capital Markets specialists, particularly active in Europe, the United States, and on emerging markets,” said Dariusz Tokarczuk, partner in charge of Gide Warsaw. “We are certain that Robert Dulewicz and his team’s competence and extensive transactional experience will contribute to the dynamic development of this practice in the Warsaw office of Gide.”

Xavier de Kergommeaux and Stephane Puel, Gide’s Senior and Managing Partners, added in a joint statement that: “We are delighted to see the arrival of this team in Warsaw and the appointment of Robert Dulewicz as partner of our firm. Robert is one of the most highly regarded experts on the Polish market, and his in-depth knowledge of capital markets is a precious asset to help meet the various challenges our clients face. These recruitments are a perfect expression of our firm’s dynamic development and our ambition to bring together the greatest market specialists in key fields for our clients.”

Gide has advised Resource Partners on its acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Maczfit, a dietary catering home delivery company.

As a result of the acquisition, Resource Partners and Maczfit established a joint venture.

According to Gide, the fund will not only provide capital for the further development of Maczfit, but will also support the company with experience in building the value of consumer goods companies. The firm reports that the investment will enable the further intensive development of Maczfit, namely through the implementation of new technological solutions, thereby helping to expand its offer and distribution network.

Resource Partner is an independent private equity fund specializing in transactions of small and medium enterprises.

Gide’s team consisted of Partner Pawel Grzeskowiak and Associate Wojciech Czyzewski.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CEE Legal Matters was informed that the sellers of Maczfit were its founders, who were advised by the Krassowski law firm. The firm’s team was led by Partner Bartosz Krassowski and Counsel Natalia Grzedzinska.

Clifford Chance has advised private equity firm Cinven on its acquisition of a minority stake in RTB House, a Warsaw-based global provider of innovative retargeting technology. Total consideration and financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to Clifford Chance, the strong structural growth trends in the global digital advertising software market and RTB’s innovative application of AI are two key attributes that attract Cinven’s investment to build and grow the multi-award winning company’s business.”

The Clifford Chance team was led by London-based Partner Jonny Myers and Warsaw-based Partner Wojciech Polz, with support from Senior Associates Jarosław Gajda and Karol Kulhawik and Associate Konrad Rominkiewicz from Warsaw and Associate Mark Inkester in London.

The Weil transaction team was led by Warsaw Co-Managing Partner Pawel Zdort and included Associates Aleksandra Kabac, Kamil Adamski, Michal Szczepanski, and Monika Michalowska.

Gide has advised Benvic Europe SAS on the acquisition of Alfa PVC sp. z o.o., a manufacturer of granulated polyvinyl chloride blends.

Benvic Europe SAS, a portfolio company of the Investindustrial Group, manufactures and markets poly vinyl chloride (PVC) compounds in powder and granule forms. It offers PVC and pre-mix compounds for various types of extrusion and injection, as well as encapsulation and other applications. The company was founded in 1989 in France. 

The Gide team consisted of Partner Pawel Grzeskowiak and Associate Michal Faderski.

Bird & Bird has appointed financial services expert Pawel Bajno as a partner and head of the Private Equity team in its Corporate practice, based in Warsaw.

Bajno, who joins from Norton Rose Fulbright, where he was a partner and head of the Warsaw Private Equity team, advises private equity funds in M&A transactions, including public M&A, public-to-private transactions, and exit strategies. He also advises companies on corporate governance matters and Polish capital markets and securities law. According to Bird & bird, “he has extensive experience in collaborating with colleagues in other European offices and at Norton Rose was one of the key partners of the firm’s Pan-European Private Equity Group. Pawel has worked on transactions completed by private equity and venture capital funds, both in Poland and abroad.”

“The appointment of Pawel – a well-known M&A expert in the Polish market – will significantly boost our Corporate capabilities and attract complex transaction projects,” commented Slawomir Szepietowski, Managing Partner of Bird & Bird Poland. Referring to the recent arrival of former Wierzbowski Eversheds Sutherland Managing Partner Tomasz Zalewski, who joined Bird & Bird as Partner and Head of the firm’s Commercial team in Warsaw earlier in January as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 7, 2019, Szepietowski added: “Pawel and the recent arrival of Tomasz and his team will not only further enhance our presence in Warsaw but throughout Central Europe. I look forward to welcoming Pawel to Bird & Bird.”

Bajno commented that: “With the number of M&A deals expected to grow in 2019, Poland remains one of the leading destinations for private equity and venture capital investments in Central and Eastern Europe. Bird & Bird’s international scope and sector focus will allow me to continue developing my practice with inter-office and cross-border collaboration.“

Aleksander Czech has become the Managing Partner at SMM Legal.

Czech joined S&M, the predecessor of SMM Legal, in 2014, becoming a Limited Partner at SMM’s foundation, before becoming a Senior Partner in 2017. He graduated from the Faculty and Law and Administration at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan and is a licensed legal advisor enrolled with the District Chamber of Legal Advisors in Poznan.

According to SMM Legal, “Czech is an attorney specializing in corporate law and comprehensive legal advisory to businesses, especially in the field of restructuring, as well as mergers, demergers, and conversions.” In addition, the firm reports, “Mr. Czech’s legal skills are highly valued by clients. His dedication and conscientiousness are legendary, and he himself is widely respected and liked both by clients and coworkers. Younger lawyers appreciate his support and are keen on being mentored by him.”

SMM Legal has offices in both Warsaw and Poznan. According to SMM Legal, “Assuming his Managing Partner’s duties, Mr. Czech will also become responsible for the SMM Legal Warsaw office, relieving some workload from Prof. Maciej Mataczynski, current Managing Partner, who will focus on the firm’s strategic projects, especially the unprecedented merger between PKN Orlen and Lotos.”

Partners Ewa Boryczko and Marcin Kroll have joined BSJP Brockhuis Jurczak Prusak Sroka Nilsson, and Maciej Kuropatwinski has been promoted to Limited Partner by the firm.

Ewa Boryczko joins from BMSP Boryczko Malinowska & Partners Legal Advisors, where she was Managing Partner. She specializes in providing legal advisory services to entrepreneurs using the French language. She advises on issues related to the establishment of companies and their mergers, divisions, and transformations, as well as within the range of restructuring of capital groups and holdings.

With Boryczko joining the team, BSJP also announced the establishment of a new specialization a the firm, BSJP French, which will provide support to French entities operating in Poland and Polish companies doing business in France.

Marcin Kroll, who was a Partner at Act BSWW before joining BSJP, specializes in Intellectual Property law. He is also a patent attorney and a representative before the European Union Intellectual Property Office in respect to trademarks and designs. He also advises on Advertising law, E-commerce, and Commercial law. In addition to Act BSWW, he has worked at Hasik, Winski & Partners, Schoenherr, Jamka & Topolski, and Dewey & LeBoeuf. 

Maciej Kuropatwinski, advises on investment projects and transactions. He also specializes in litigation in the areas of energy, real estate, and commercial law. Before joining BSJP in 2009 he worked with Conway Advocaten & Attorney-at-Law, Allen & Overy, and Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek. Kuropatwinski also served as a legal specialist at the Human Rights Defender’s Office.