Category: Poland

Act BSWW has advised Nielsen in an intra-group merger between its Polish subsidiaries ACNielsen Polska Sp. z o.o. and Brandbank (Poland).

The firm’s team was led by Marta Kosiedowska, who commented that “Nielsen is our long term client to whom we are providing day-to-day assistance with respect to contractual and corporate matters for several years now. We really appreciate that we were engaged in the process of the intragroup merger and hope to provide additional value to Nielsen in other key matters.”

Kosiedowska was supported by act BSWW Associate Marlena Suchonos. 

Greenberg Traurig has represented the Innova Capital private equity fund on its acquisition of an approximately 75% stake in the Polish office furniture manufacturer Profim sp. z o.o. Gessel advised the sellers on the deal.

Greenberg Traurig describes Innova Capital as “a leading mid-market private equity firm in Central Europe,” and reports that, since its founding in 1994, “Innova has invested almost EUR 700 million, in almost 50 companies, across 10 countries in the region.” The firm describes Profim as “one of the leading manufacturers of office seating in Europe,” and claims that “Profim designs and manufactures products that meet the strictest standards in ergonomics, quality and design, setting the standards for healthy and effective office space.”

According to Gessel, “Profim is active in a number of European and global markets, to the point where the majority of its output is exported. It sells its products under its own brand, within an extensive distribution network, and cooperates with renowned designers. Its revenues for 2016 reached PLN 470 million, a 20% increase over 2015.”

The Greenberg Traurig team was supervised by Managing Partner Jaroslaw Grzesiak and led by Partner Pawel Piotrowski and Local Partner Aleksander Janiszewski. The team also included Partner Andrzej Wysokinski. They were supported by Senior Associates Mateusz Koronkiewicz, Anna Cienkus, Piotr Smolarczyk, and Associates Iga Czerniak and Agata Wisniewska.

The Gessel team was led by Advocate Karol Sokol and included Attorneyss Natalia Jodlowska and Inarda Bielinska and Trainee Attorneys Michal Osowski and Anna Ryniec. 

Acting on behalf of Deutsche Bank Polska in the Court of Appeal in Warsaw, SPCG has won a dispute with the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection concerning “the alleged infringement of the collective interests of the consumers.”

According to SPCG, in its June 8, 2017 judgment, the Court of Appeal “dismissed an appeal of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection from the judgment of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection dated April 24, 2015, which set aside in full the decision of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection accusing Deutsche Bank Polska of infringing the collective interests of consumers and imposing a fine.”

The firm reports that “The Court of Appeal has fully shared the arguments presented by the Bank and held that the allegations brought against the Bank by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection concerning the alleged infringement of the collective interests of the consumers were unfounded as they were based on the entry to the register of abusive clauses made against a different entity.”

The SPCG team representing Deutsche Bank Polska consisted of Partner Slawomir Dudzik and Associate Tomasz Praschil.

Kondracki Celej has advised Luma Ventures fund on a PLN 6 million investment in Datarino.

Kondracki Celej describes Datarino as “a leading player in the market for Big Data and solutions in the region of Central and Eastern Europe,” and describes Luma Ventures as “a venture capital fund focusing on IT projects with the broadly defined area of Big Data and Data Science.” According to the firm, “Luma Ventures is one of the few funds in the Polish market which only manages private capital.”

The Kondracki Celej team was led by Partner Rafal Celej, assisted by Counsel Wiktor Rainka and Lawyer Ewelina Macewicz.

Kochanski Zieba & Partners has the Infracapital infrastructure fund on its acquisition of 100% of the shares of gas infrastructure company Duon Dystrybucja S.A., a distributor of grid gas and LNG in Poland, from the Fortum Group. Norton Rose Fulbright advised the sellers on the transaction, which requires OCCP approval to be finalized. The final sale price was not disclosed.

According to KZP, “Infracapital is a leading European investor from the UK with more than 15 years of experience in infrastructure investments. Infracapital is the European infrastructure division of M&G Investment funds, wholly owned subsidiaries of Prudential plc. The company’s portfolio includes assets worth over GBP 2 billion including such assets as wastewater treatment plants as well as heat and water suppliers in EU countries such as Great Britain, Sweden, and Slovakia.”

KZP’s team was led by Partners Pawel Cholewinski and Kamil Osinski and included Partner Aleksander Galos.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by Partner Pawel Bajno and included Of Counsel Tomasz Rogalski, Senior Associate Jan Grochowicz, and Associate Michal Banasiak.

CMS has announced that its environmental team will be led going forward by Agnieszka Skorupinska, a Polish-qualified advocate with 10 years’ experience in Polish and European environmental protection law and natural resources law.

Skorupinska joins from Dentons, where she spent the previous six years, after spending three at WKB Wiercinski, Kwiecinski, Baehr.

According to CMS, Skorupinska advises corporate clients “on regulatory matters, development projects, environmental aspects of real estate transactions, mergers and acquisitions and financing processes. Over the years, she has successfully represented clients in environment-related administrative and judicial proceedings.” The firm reports that her experience “covers such matters as historical contamination of soil and ground water, environmental damage, baseline reports, environmental impact assessments, protection of air, including adherence to IED and BAT emission standards as well as obtaining derogations and exemptions from such standards, issues related to CO2 emissions, obtaining environmental permits, including integrated permits, REACH, waste and water management.” In addition, “she has successfully acted as an advisor to companies from the power generation, renewable energy, chemical, construction, waste management, FMCG, water and sewage, renewable energy, automotive, textile and food sectors.”

“At CMS we are committed to providing top quality legal advice and we are glad that, with Agnieszka heading the environmental practice, we will be able to give our clients the benefit of our combined experience, especially these days, when environmental law is changing rapidly,” says CMS Partner Tomasz Minkiewicz, who heads the CMS energy practice.

As a counsel at CMS, she will head the environmental practice, which is part of the Energy and Projects Department. The CMS Environmental Team advises clients on both day-to-day matters and on strategic projects shaping company policies. The team offers legal assistance in regulatory, contractual and transactional matters.

Wierzbowski Eversheds Sutherland has announced that Stanislaw Zemojtel has been promoted to Partner and Head of Dispute Resolution, taking over from current Head Henryk Romanczuk, who will retire in the fall.

Zemojtel, who been associated with Wierzbowski Eversheds since 2006, specializes in judicial, administrative, and arbitration proceedings. According to the firm, “in recent years he has conducted numerous high-profile disputes related to infrastructure projects,” and “he has particular experience advising leading companies in the telecommunications, construction and energy sectors.”

Zemojtel was involved in many of the cases led by outgoing Head of Dispute Resolution Henryk Romanczuk. “This guarantees that the affairs of our clients will be transferred smoothly into trusted hands,” said Krzysztof Wierzbowski, Wierzbowski Eversheds Sutherland managing partner.

Wierzbowski added: “Stanislaw has proved his competence as an excellent litigator. He has had spectacular successes in significant and often high-profile disputes of our key clients. I have had the pleasure of working with him many times and personally experiencing his exceptional competence. Clients value him primarily because he is a great strategist. They appreciate his creativity and innate calm.”

News of Zemojtel’s promotion follows shortly after the news that the firm had promoted lawyers Marta Gadomska-Golab and Aleksandra Kunkiel-Krynska to Partner as well (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 10, 2017). 

K&L Gates has advised Chinese construction and engineering company China Overseas Engineering Group Co., Ltd (Covec) in the resolution of a dispute with the Polish General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways related to the construction of sections of the A2 Motorway between Lodz and Warsaw, in Poland.

The A2 Motorway was intended to allow football fans to travel to EURO 2012, which Poland hosted for the first time. Covec won the tender in 2009, making it the first Chinese company to win a tender for the construction of a European motorway. According to K&L Gates, “the works were not completed, leading to a dispute between the parties with claims exceeding PLN 1 billion.”

The K&L Gates team that helped obtain what the firm describes as “the historic settlement agreement in the dispute” was led by Construction and Infrastructure partner Joanna Lagowska and included Senior Associates Dawid Rapkiewicz and Joanna Gasowski and Associates Michał Szumbarski and Lukasz Gembis.

CMS has advised Work Service S.A. on the sale of IT Kontrakt sp. z o.o. to Oaktree Capital Management (UK) LLP, a private equity fund acting together with Cornerstone Partners sp. z o.o. The value of the transaction was just under PLN 147 million and Work Service S.A. intends to use the proceeds to finance further development of its core business and strengthen its presence in CEE.

A preliminary purchase agreement was executed on March 31, but the deal required Polish antimonopoly clearance and the fulfilment of other conditions precedent. Those were met in June 2017, allowing the deal to close on June 30.

IT Kontrakt, a company dealing with the outsourcing of IT professionals, had been part of the Work Service Group – the largest provider of comprehensive HR services in CEE – since 2012. Present in 16 markets outside Poland, Work Service Group specializes in personnel consultancy services, HR restructuring, recruitment, and staff outsourcing. It is listed on the Warsaw and London Stock Exchanges.

The scope of CMS’s assignment in the transaction included advising on the sale of IT Kontrakt, the deal structure, and the fulfilment of conditions precedent. The firm’s Warsaw-based team included Partner Ireneusz Piecuch, Senior Associate Rafal Kluziak, Associates Jakub Szczygiel and Karolina Stepaniuk, and Counsel Beata Barwinska.

CMS did not reply to an inquiry about counsel for Oaktree on the deal.

Magnusson and Dubinski Fabrycki Jelenski have advised Octava Non-Public Assets Closed-End Investment Fund on its purchase of a portfolio of 11 real properties, effected by purchasing 30 companies owned by two BPH closed-end real estate investment funds. BPH TFI was advised by Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Financial details were not disclosed.

According to Magnusson, the properties in the portfolio include the Centrum Krakowska 61, Renaissance Tower, Eureka Park complex, Viking House, Rodan, Onyx office building in Cracow, Media Markt in Chorzow, and Carrefour in Boleslawiec. The total leasable area of the properties amounts to aporoximately 140,000 square meters.

Octava Non-Public Assets Closed-End Investment Fund is part of a capital group controlled by the investment funds of the Elliott and Octava groups. Octava FIZAN now owns 19 commercial assets with total leasable area of approximately 210,000 square meters. 

The Magnusson team was led by Partner Katarzyna Sawa-Rybaczek.

The Weil team consisted of Counsel Zofia Frydrychowicz, Senior Associate Filip Uzieblo, and Associates Tomasz Bakowski and Jerzy Bombczynski.