Category: Poland

On March 5, 2018, former Clifford Chance Counsel Marcin Bejm joined CMS Warsaw as Partner in charge of the infrastructure projects practice, bringing with him a team of lawyers.

Bejm, who has 17 years of professional experience, specializes in providing legal advice on transactions and investment projects regarding infrastructure assets in Poland and CEE. His particular focus is on project finance and public-private partnerships.  

Bejm joined Clifford Chance in 2008. Prior to joining Clifford Chance he worked with Norton Rose and Baker McKenzie.

Marcin graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw, and he also holds a diploma from Cambridge University in English and EU law. 

Clifford Chance has announced today that Agnieszka Janicka has been appointed Managing Partner of the firm’s Warsaw office, with a four year term to begin on May 1, 2018. 

Janicka succeeds Partner Grzegorz Namiotkiewicz, who has led the Warsaw office since 2008.

Janicka has been a partner at Clifford Chance since 1999 and heads the Warsaw Corporate and M&A practice. She joined the firm when it first opened its office in Poland 25 years ago. According to the firm, “she is widely acknowledged as a leading M&A advisor, with recent highlights including advising leading private equity funds on their investments in targets such as Allegro.pl, Poland’s largest online shopping site (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 20, 2016), and Hortex, an iconic Polish consumer goods brand (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 6, 2017); and representing PZU, the largest Polish insurer on its acquisition of Bank Pekao from UniCredit Group (as reported on December 13, 2016).”

Matthew Layton, Clifford Chance Global Managing Partner, commented, “I am delighted that Agnieszka will be taking on the leadership of our highly-successful office in Warsaw. We are recognized as having an excellent team that clients and the market consider to be the leading players in their fields. I know that Agnieszka and the wider team are highly motivated to build on their strong market position, to ensure that we deliver ever greater value to our clients.  I would also like to thank Grzegorz who has done a fantastic job over his time as Managing Partner. During his time in post, the office has gone from strength to strength.”

Agnieszka Janicka said, “I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead the firm in Warsaw as we celebrate our 25th anniversary. We have a phenomenally talented team, at all levels within the firm, who share a strong commitment to our clients and to further developing the legal sector in Poland. I am passionate about what we can and will achieve together.”

PwC Legal’s Katowice office has announced the appointment of Adam Jodlowski as a new Partner.

Jodlowski will be responsible for comprehensive legal advisory services for public-sector and private-sector businesses located in southern Poland. Before joining PwC Legal, Jodlowski collaborated with Deloitte Legal for seven years

Jodlowski received his law degree from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

The Warsaw Office of Greenberg Traurig has advised OTB Ventures on a seed funding transaction on the Polish market relating to Cosmose Inc., an American company specializing in new technologies. Cosmose was represented by K&L Gates. 

According to Greenberg Traurig, “Cosmose Inc. offers an innovative solution allowing for the provision of high quality marketing services to clients based on the Company’s unique OMNIcookie technology.” The company enables retailers to identify the behavior of customers physically located in a store or its vicinity based on a network of Wi-Fi transmitters as well as geolocation data. It then offers customized advertising campaigns. Cosmose Inc. provides its services to large multinational corporations. 

The Greenberg Traurig team from Warsaw was led by Managing Partner Jaroslaw Grzesiak, who was supported by Partners Aleksander Janiszewski and Rafal Sieski. Washington-based Partner Trevor Chaplick and Associate Chris Turek and Shanghai-based Partner Dawn Zhang and Associate John Gao supported the Warsaw Team.

The K&L Gates team included Partners Stan Lewandowski, Lisa Stark, and Elizabeth Crouse, with Associate Alidad Vakili and Counsels Jakub Pitera and Lech Najbauer.

Linklaters has advised Panattoni Europe, a branch of the Panattoni Development Company, on the construction of the largest parcel distribution center for the GLS Poland courier company.

According to Linklaters, the 7,000 square meter facility was built in Janki, near Warsaw, and will handle an average of 80,000 parcels a day. The project is a BTO (build-to-own) and BTS (build-to-suit) facility – it was designed to be owned by GLS Poland and fitted to the company’s requirements.

The official opening of the facility took place on March 26, 2018.

The Linklaters team was led by Managing Associate Marta Bijak-Haiduk.

CMS has advised Polski Fundusz Rozwoju on the planning for a new power unit with a capacity of 910 MW to be constructed at the Jaworzno Power Plant, owned by the Tauron Group. The Tauron Group reportedly was advised by DZP. 

The cost of the new unit is estimated at PLN 6.2 billion, making it, according to CMS, “one of the largest investments currently underway in the Polish power industry.”

Under the agreement between PFR and Tauron Polska Energia, the funds managed by PFR will acquire shares in Nowe Jaworzno Grupa Tauron sp. z o.o., a special purpose vehicle owned by Tauron Polska Energia, the company that is building the new unit. The value of PFR’s capital commitment to the SPV will be PLN 880 million.

The new coal-fired unit will generate up to 6.5 TWh of electric energy annually, which corresponds to the needs of 2.5 million households. Currently the investment is 50% complete, and its full completion is planned for November 2019. CMS reports that the unit is being built to use super-critical technology “and will be the most efficient in its class in Poland, i.e. 45.9% net.” The planned annual coal consumption – mostly from Tauron Group’s mines – is estimated at 2.8 million tonnes. 

CMS carried out a due diligence analysis of the SPV, drafted and negotiated the investment agreement and the shareholders’ agreement between the Funds and Tauron Polska Energia and the main contracts for the project, including contracts for the sale of coal and contracts for the sale of electricity, which will be concluded between the SPV and Tauron Polska Energia.

The CMS team included Partners Jakub Marcinkowski and Piotr Ciolkowski, Senior Associate Olga Czyzycka, and, from the firm’s EPC department, Partner Iga Lis, Counsel Agnieszka Skorupinska, Senior Associate Micha Andruszkiewicz, and Associate Piotr Prawda. 

DZP did not reply to our inquiries. 

Editor’s note: After this article was published, DZP confirmed its involvment in this project, saying that they advised Tauron Polska Energia S.A. in the whole process of drafting, negotiating, and signing transactional documentation, including the main project agreements between the parties. DZP’s work was managed by Partner Rafal Hajduk, their team further including Senior Associates Krzysztof Fliszkiewicz and Grzegorz Filipowicz, and Associate Mateusz Koszel. 

The Kurzynski Lyszyk Wierzbicki law firm has advised Polish start-up Szumisie sp. z o.o. and its German partner Daglo Vertriebs GmbH in a cross-border consolidation of business entities.

Szumisie is a toy producer (particularly teddy bears), which emit white noise that KKLW reports “has a soothing effect on children’s sleep.” The company’s teddy bears are known as “myHummy” abroad.

The KKLW team was led by Senior Associate Mariusz Domagala, working with the support of Partner Krzysztof Lyszyk.

Wierzbowski Eversheds Sutherland has advised the Polish Ministry of Economic Development on the establishment of the Polish Aviation Group, a joint-stock company founded with a capital of PLN 1.2 billion.

The group will be made up of the most important state-owned civil aviation companies, including LOT Polish Airlines, LOT AMS (technical servicing of aircraft), and LS Airport Services (ground services for passengers and cargo).

Wierzbowski Eversheds Sutherland was responsible for conducting due diligence of the companies intended to make up the capital group and advising on development of the operating rules of the newly created group.

The M&A team headed by Partner Ewa Szlachetka and included the work of more than ten lawyers, with key tasks performed by Counsels Renata Patoka and Krzysztof Feluch, Associate Natalia Burchardt, and lawyer Katarzyna Duda.

Jacek Kosinski Adwokaci i Radcowie Prawni has advised Bank Zachodni WBK Santander Group on financing in excess of PLN 40 million granted an unnamed joint stock company for the purchase of its own shares for the release and inflow of working capital. 

The Jacek Kosinski team included Managing Partner Jacek Kosinski, Partner Pawel Jadczak, and Senior Associate Anna Polak. The firm did not reply to an inquiry about the deal. 

Warsaw-based Counsel Marcin Schulz has been promoted to Partner at Linklaters.

Schulz, in Warsaw, is the only CEE-based lawyer of the 27 included in Linklaters’ global partnership round, spread across 11 of the firm’s offices, all of which become effective on May 1, 2018. He specializes in Corporate/M&A and Banking/Finance, and according to Linklaters, “he advises international financial institutions, private equity funds and the largest Polish corporates on their transactions in Poland and across the wider CEE region.”

“Marcin combines his corporate experience with a deep command of Polish law and commercially sound advice,” said Artur Kulawski, Managing Partner of Linklaters’ Warsaw office. “He leads teams of lawyers holding both Polish and English qualifications on major cross-border transactions for the largest investors in our region. Clients value his judgment, ability to collaborate with others as well as his knowledge of corporate regulations. Marcin is likewise a great colleague and a hard working lawyer, with an established and continuously growing reputation across the market. I am absolutely confident that his promotion to the partnership will lead to dynamic growth within both our corporate team and across the wider Warsaw practice.”

Schulz will be the Warsaw office’s eight partner and the third in the corporate practice. Recently, he led the Linklaters team advising Chariot Top Group on its sale of 12 shopping center properties to Echo Polska Properties (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 27, 2017), worked on the team advising Phoebe IVS on its acquisition of part of MFinanse from mBank S.A. (as reported on December 15, 2017), and led the team advising Grupa Ozarow on the sale of 99.19% of the shares in its Polish calcium silicate subsidiary, Grupa Silikaty Sp. z o.o., to H+H Polska Sp. z o.o. (as reported on July 25, 2017).