Category: Poland

The Warsaw office of Greenberg Traurig has advised Invesco Real Estate on the sale of E-Commerce Centre — a logistics center in northern Poland — to Vestas Investment Management, which was represented by BNP Paribas REIM.

According to BNP Paribas Real Estate report, this is the first acquisition of Vestas European Logistic Fund, which aims to invest an additional EUR 250 million in European logistics assets by the end of the year.

E-Commerce Centre covers an area of approximately 160 thousand square meters, making it, according to Greenberg Traurig, “one of the largest and technically advanced logistics centers in Europe.”

The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Partner Agnieszka Stankiewicz and Senior Associate Rafal Siwek, supported by Associates Karol Lewandowski and Michal Niecko.

Greenberg Traurig did not reply to an inquiry about the deal.

The Warsaw office of Greenberg Traurig has advised Fabryka PZO sp. z o.o, a subsidiary of Soho Development S.A., on the sale of a property consisting of over 10,000 square meters which was part of the former Polish Optical Industries factory in Warsaw.

According to Greenberg Traurig, “the transaction was connected with a partial repayment of bonds issued by Soho Development, which required a unique approach towards negotiations with the issuing agent over the documentation regarding the early repayment.”

Soho Development has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1997. Its strategy focuses on the sale of selected assets of the company and the implementation of the announced policy of buying back its own shares.

The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Partner Radomil Charzynski, supported by Associates Kamil Majewski and Michal Niecko.

Greenberg Traurig did not reply to our inquiries about the deal.

Hogan Lovells has advised the Gothaer Group on the sale of its Polish subsidiary, Gothaer Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen, to the Vienna Insurance Group. DeBenedetti Majewski Szczesniak advised Vienna Insurance Group on the deal.

According to Hogan Lovells, the Gothaer Group acquired Gothaer Towarzystwo Ubezpieczen (“Gothaer TU”) in 2010. Since then Gothaer TU has increased its premium volume by 30 percent. The Gothaer Group plans to focus on its core business in Germany going forward.

The Hogan Lovells team was led by Dusseldorf Partner Christoph Louven and Counsel Guido Brockhausen. The Dusseldorf-based team also included Partners Martin Sur and Marcus Schreibauer, Of Counsel Alexander Loos, Counsel Petra Malsbenden, Senior Associates Sarah-Lena Kreutzmann and Sebastian Faust, and Associates Jan Philipp Sparenberg, Kathrin Fey, and Alexander Wiese. The firm’s team in Warsaw consisted of Partners Beata Balas-Noszczyk, Andrzej Debiec, and Marek Wroniak, Counsels Tomasz Zak and Dorota Walerjan, and Senior Associate Maryla Surowiec.

The DMS team was led by Partner Bartosz Bagienski, supported by Senior Associate Magdalena Malocha and Junior Associates Anna Pszczolkowska and Krzysztof Sowinski.

SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised T-Bull, a company that produces, designs, and distributes games for mobile devices, on approval of its prospectus by Poland’s Financial Supervisory Authority. The prospectus was published on June 26, 2018.

Shares of T-Bull have been listed on Poland’s NewConnect market since October 2016. The prospectus approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority includes the public offering of up to 100,000 newly issued F series shares. On the basis of the prospectus, the company applied for admission and marketing on the regulated market of B, D, E, and F series shares and rights to F series shares.

According to SSW Pragmatic Solutions, “T-Bull has over 200 games in its portfolio and the total number of downloads of all games exceeds 321.7 million.” 

The SSW Pragmatic Solutions team included Partner Szymon Okon and Attorneys Katarzyna Jaroszynska and Dawid Brudzisz. The financial and business parts of the prospectus were developed by SSW Finance Manager Lukasz Niszczota and Financial Analyst Rafal Kmiecik.

White & Case has advised global coordinator and book-runner Bank Zachodni WBK S.A. on the issue of 286,624,204 new shares in Globalworth Poland Real Estate N.V., part of a private issue with a total value of EUR 450 million.

White & Case reports that the deal represents the largest private share issue in Poland to date in 2018.

Globalworth Poland Real Estate, previously Griffin Premium RE. N.V., a Polish office real estate platform, has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since April 2017. According to a White & Case press release, the company will use the proceeds from the private issue to purchase new real estate, repay certain loans or credits, and for general corporate purposes.

The White & Case team in Warsaw included Partner Marcin Studniarek, Local Partner Rafal Kaminski, and Associate Monika Duzynska.

White & Case has advised Goldman Sachs International and Trigon Dom Maklerski S.A. on the PLN 634 million (approximately USD 171 million) acquisition of 4.4 percent of the shares in Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. from Sensor Overseas Limited.

According to White & Case, the offer was directed to institutional investors in Poland and in other jurisdictions outside the United States under Regulation S, as well as to qualified institutional investors in the United States under Rule 144A of the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Polish satellite television service Cyfrowy Polsat is a satellite platform established in 1999 that is owned by Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. Sensor Overseas Limited was founded in 1994 and is a Cyprus-registered controlled by Heronim Ruta.

The White & Case team included Warsaw-based Partners Marcin Studniarek and Rafal Kaminski and Associate Monika Duzynska. The firm’s team also included London-based Partner Inigo Esteve and Counsel Doron Loewinger.

Former Chadbourne & Parke lawyer Paulina Karpinska-Huzior has joined CMS Poland to lead its Tax Litigation team.

Karpinska-Huzior, who joined CMS in May, became the head of the tax proceedings team within the tax practice. She is a tax advisor and an advocate with ten years’ experience representing clients in tax proceedings before administrative authorities and administrative courts, as well as in penal and fiscal proceedings before law enforcement authorities and common courts.

According to CMS, “Karpinska-Huzior has represented clients from various industries in tax, court, and administrative proceedings. Her clients included market-leading pharmaceutical companies, banks, energy companies, passenger car manufacturers, heavy industry companies, clothing manufacturers, developers and fuel companies, as well as individual entrepreneurs.”

She worked for Chadbourne & Parke from 2008-2016, then stayed with Chadbourne’s associated Polish firm Radzikowski, Szubielska & Wspolnicy, after Chadbourne’s 2016 global merger with Norton Rose Fulbright. She graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at Warsaw University and completed post-graduate studies in Accounting and Finance at Warsaw University.

Dentons has advised mBank S.A. on matters related to the establishment of its EMTN Program and preparation of the bond issue prospectus.

Under the program, which is valued at up to EUR 3 million, mBank will be allowed to directly issue debt instruments in many tranches and currencies, with various interest structures and due dates. According to Dentons, “the instruments may be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange or on any other stock exchange located in a European Union member state, including the possibility of simultaneous listings on a number of such stock exchanges.”

The Warsaw-based Dentons team was led by Partner Robert Dulewicz and included Senior Associates Agnieszka Kozikowska and Piotr Kowalik, and Counsel Michal Smiechowski. Also working on the transaction were London-based Capital Markets Partner David Cohen and Associate Moeen Qayum, as well as Partner Michael Helm from the firm’s Berlin office.

Marcin Bacal, Jolanta Okoniecka, and Weronika Papucewicz, have been promoted to the CDZ Legal Advisors partnership.

Marcin Bacal specializes in court and administrative proceedings in the field of Insolvency and Telecommunications law. He also deals with insolvency and restructuring proceedings. Bacal develops litigation strategies and represents clients before common courts, including the Supreme Court, voivodship administrative courts, the Supreme Administrative Court, as well as public administration bodies. He also represents clients in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration proceedings. In addition, he represents bankrupts, creditors, and bankruptcy trustees in all stages of insolvency and restructuring proceedings.

Jolanta Okoniecka heads the CDZ Legal Corporate and Commercial practices. According to the firm, “she has experience in corporate work, M&A, and commercial transactions. Okoniecka advises on the formation, merger, division, transformation and liquidation of companies. She develops plans and strategies for sale or acquisition, including spin-off transactions. She also deals with the restructuring and structuring of capital groups. Okoniecka advises on acquisitions and disposals of shares, general rights and obligations, as well as on cross-border transactions. [She] advises a range of international companies in connection with their business operations in Poland.”

Weronika Papucewicz specializes in individual and collective labor relations, personal data protection, and anti-discrimination law. According to CDZ Legal, “she supports international entrants to the Polish market, in particular clients from the business services sector. She advises on all stages of hiring and terminating contracts with employees. She adapts global employment policies and procedures to the requirements of Polish law. Papucewicz participates in employment restructuring, downsizing and layoffs, including negotiations with trade unions. She deals with employee aspects during M&A transactions, and represents employers in court proceedings.”

CDZ Legal Managing Partner Andrzej Chajec said: “I would like to congratulate our new partners on their promotions. They are all highly-talented lawyers who represent the quality and the broad scope of our business. We are confident that their energy, involvement and experience will continue to provide the highest client service and will make important contributions to the firm’s growth and development.”

Orrick and Kondracki & Celej have advised Poland’s Black Pearls VC on the investment of PLN 2.94 million (EUR 700,000) by its Black Pearls VC II Fund into cloud-based Insurtech Insly, part of Insly’s seed round that included investments from Concentric Ventures and London Co-Investment Fund and resulted in a total of PLN 9.2 million (EUR 2.2 million).

Solo Practitioner Steven Janes advised Insly on the seed round.

Black Pearls VC is an early stage venture capital firm, focused on supporting entrepreneurs in Poland and the Baltic Sea region who develop deep-tech and enterprise software businesses.

Insly, which was founded in London in 2015, created software supporting insurance agents and brokers in effective management of sales and customer service activities. Insly is already present in many European countries, including Britain, Lithuania, and Latvia, and it has been founded in Estonia. The company will dedicate the funds raised towards developing its platform, scaling its business, and expanding into new markets.

According to a Black Pearls VC press release, “representatives of Insly see a huge development opportunity in the digitization of the insurance sales market in Poland.”

Insly CEO Risto Rossar said, “we have proven the value of our product on several markets. It is now a matter of scaling it all up.” He continued: “The Polish insurance market is large, but very fragmented, and the need to implement IT tools is high. Thanks to the investor’s support, we will expand the list of insurance companies offering their products via our platform and we will add a number of functionalities, like intelligent optimization of commission settlements. We hope that Polish insurance agents and  brokers will be building their competitiveness with our help and with the support of Black Pearls VC, we will quickly build a strong position on the Polish market.”

“The Polish insurance market is ready to become much more digital than it is today, and Insly will certainly play an important part in that journey,” added Black Pearls VC Managing Partner Marcin Kowalik. “It will turn current players more efficient while enabling the new generation of digital agents and brokers to launch their businesses on the Insly platform at modest costs.”

The London-based Orrick team was led by Shawn Atkinson and included Managing Associate Dermot O’Riordan and Associates Joanna Oleniuk, Charles Baker, and Charlie Sheldon, Trainee Associate Heidi Wardle.

The Kondracki & Celej team was led by Partner Rafal Celej.