Category: Poland

Studnicki Pleszka Cwiakalski Gorski has advised the Mostostal Zabrze holding company during negotiations and execution of its settlement agreement with Bank Zachodni WBK concerning claims Mostostal Zabrze filed in the bankruptcy proceedings of Reliz.

Mostostal Zabrze’s claims related to its investment in construction of the 69,000 square meter Uni Centrum (now known as the Altus) building in Katowice. The value of Mostostal Zabrze’s claim against Reliz was at one point estimated as approximately PLN 46 million (EUR 11.7 million) plus interest, but terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Reliz was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Poland Kredyt Bank, which merged with Bank Zachodni WBK in January of 2013, creating the third largest bank in Poland by market share.

SPCG Partners Piotr Kaminski and Tomasz Spyra led the firm’s team on the matter.

Jara & Partners has brought a claim on behalf of Alpine Bau Deutschland against the Polish State Treasury – Minister of Sport and Tourism, seeking PLN 139 million in damages following construction of the National Stadium in Warsaw. 

Three companies — Alpine Bau Deutschland, Alpine Construction Polska, and the Austrian-based Alpine Bau — were the lead constructors in developing the National Stadium (the consortium also included PBG and Hydrobudowa Polska – both of which are currently in liquidation). According to a Jara & Partners statement, “the claim concerns damage which arose following the failure of the State Treasury to fulfill its investor obligations on negligent performance of its obligations.” Claims made by Alpine Blau Deutschland include “incomplete project documentation, numerous amendments in the documentation giving rise to additional costs, and commissioning of unscheduled works.” 

According to Jara & Partners, previous efforts made to to settle the dispute out of court have been unsuccessful, though the firm notes that additional efforts may be made down the road.    

Jara & Partners lawyers Przemyslaw Drapala and Andrzej Sokolowski are leading the firm’s representation in the matter. 

Wardynski & Partners attorney Zuzanna Rudzinska-Bluszcz has won a claim of wrongful detention on behalf of a client she represented pro bono.

The Plock Regional Court determined in a ruling of July 10, 2014, that Boguslaw Pyrak had been wrongly detained for over 12 months, and awarded Pyrak nearly PLN 145,000 (approximately EUR 35,000) in damages.  

Pyrak’s case dragged out over two decades. According to a Wardynski & Partners press release, “in the 1990s [Pyrak] was accused of committing offences related to his operation of an agricultural cooperative, including theft, fraud, and using forged documents. According to the courts which ordered Pyrak to be held under arrest, he obstructed the proceedings by presenting questionable medical certificates alleging that he was ill. But the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights submitted an opinion as amicus curiæ showing that the position of the courts was prejudicial to the accused, and the evidence did not demonstrate that there were grounds to hold the accused pending trial.  The criminal case ended in August 2012 with an acquittal by the Plock Regional Court. During the proceeding, the courts twice returned the indictment to the prosecutor to make up gaps in the evidence. In 2008, while the criminal case against Pyrak was still pending, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment finding that Pyrak’s detention violated numerous standards of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ECHR pointed out that the Polish court had not considered less restrictive measures, and for example had rejected a personal guarantee offered by Dr Marek Edelman, the late cardiologist and former leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and Senator Waclaw Strazewicz.”

According to Rudzinska-Bluszcz, “Boguslaw Pyrak sought moral damages for the injury he suffered, primarily in the form of violation of his personal dignity and deterioration of his health. He also sought damages for his financial loss, including lost profit in the form of the income from his farm, as well as the cost of treatment because of the health problems he suffered while being held in jail for over a year.”  

The judgment is not yet final, and Rudzinska-Bluszcz says that because the judgment did not grant all of the relief sought, she may consider filing an appeal after reviewing the court’s written decision.

Gide Loyrette Nouel has confirmed that it advised KGHM Polska Miedz on the USD 2.5 billion loan agreement reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 16, 2014.

Gide calls the agreement, which was signed on July 11, 2014, by the large Polish mining company, “one of the largest transactions of this type carried out in Europe this year.” As previously reported, the agreement was signed with a consortium of Polish and foreign banks, including Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Agricole Bank Polska, Bank Zachodni WBK, Santander Bank, Bank Pekao, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie, and Bank PKO BP. 

Gide Polish Partners Dariusz Tokarczuk and Pawel Grzeskowiak led the team, assisted by Associate Marta Karminska. Gide’s London-based Partner Dimitrios Logizidis and Associate Sarah Whitley were also involved. KGHM received financial advice from Rothschild.

Patryk Galicki has left his position as Partner at Bird & Bird to become Of Counsel in the Real Estate Practice Group of K&L Gates’ Warsaw office.  

Galicki has over 13 years of experience, primarily in Corporate, Real Estate, and Civil law. He also has experience in dispute resolution, telecommunications, and aviation matters.

He joins K&L Gates after 5 years at Bird & Bird in Warsaw, and before that was a partner at his own firm, Galicki Litwinski Chechlinska Los Radcowie Prawni Spolka Partnerska.

Greenberg Traurig has represented a group of banks in connection with a USD 2.5 billion unsecured revolving credit facility for KGHM Polska Miedz. 

The group included Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Credit Agricole Bank Polska, Bank Zachodni WBK, Santander Bank, Bank Pekao, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie, and Bank PKO BP, all acting as Global Coordinators, as well as other lenders. 

According to Greenberg Traurig, “the credit facility will be used to finance general corporate goals, including investments, of the KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Capital Group, as well as refinancing KGHM International’s indebtedness.”

The Greenberg Traurig team for the transaction included Shareholders Jaroslaw Grzesiak and Andrzej Wysokinski and Local Partner Aleksander Janiszewski from the firm’s Warsaw office, and Shareholder Emma Menzies and Associate Gary Bellingham from the firm’s London office.

The Warsaw office of Eversheds has advised the City of Warsaw on obtaining PLN 1 billion financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The financing will go towards funding projects in transport, education, healthcare, social services and public spaces.

The Eversheds team was led by Partner Krzysztof Haladyj, head of the firm’s Polish banking and finance practice, who was supported by lawyer Tomasz Balawajder. Haladyj commented, on the deal, that:  “This is the latest in a string of transactions on which we have advised that have involved financing projects for the development of urban infrastructure. We also recently advised Warsaw tram operator Tramwaje Warszawskie on obtaining loans to achieve its strategic development plans, as well as the municipal water and sewer authority Miejskie Przedsiebiorstwo Wodociagow i Kanalizacji w m. st. Warszawie S.A. on obtaining financing for construction of the Czajka wastewater treatment plant, amongst other projects.”   

Eversheds previously advised the City of Warsaw on obtaining financing from the EIB in 2013 for the expansion of the Warsaw Metro.

Gessel has advised Lux Med Diagnostyka on its PLN 52 million purchase of seven diagnostics facilities from Centrum Medyczne Enel-Med.

The transaction was structured as a purchase by Lux Med of a 100% stake in Centrum Medyczne Diagnostyka, an entity onto which the operations of the Enel-Med diagnostics centers has been transferred.

According to a Gessel press release, “the Lux Med group is a leading provider of private medical services and the largest medical entity in Poland. The present transaction derives from Lux Med’s strategic goal of increasing its presence in the image-based diagnostics and hospital sectors; consequent to its implementation, Lux Med’s diagnostics facility network has grown to 27 locations.”

Gessel Partner Marcin Macieszczak and Managing Associate Michal Boryczka counseled Lux Med throughout the the transaction, beginning with the due diligence study and proceeding through drafting of the full set of transaction documentation, current advice, and closing.

CMS supported B2Holding, a leading European specialty finance business, in its July 1, 2014 acquisition of the entire share capital of ULTIMO, a leading Polish credit management business. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Closing remains subject to antimonopoly clearance. 

The current shareholders of Untimo are Advent International and Janusz Tchorzewski, ULTIMO’s founder and minority shareholder.  B2Holding is a Norwegian-headquartered company with a strong existing presence in the Nordic and Baltic markets. According to CMS, “ULTIMO will become an integral part of B2Holding’s multi-jurisdictional operations, which range from the Nordic region to CEE. It provides a strong platform from which B2Holding can execute its CEE growth strategy, and a number of follow-on acquisitions are planned in additional new markets. B2Holding will provide ULTIMO with access to substantial capital, industry experience, and strategic partnerships.”  

CMS’s team was lead by Partner Marek Sawicki, who was supported by Of Counsel Joanna Blaszczyk.

Greenberg Traurig has advised a consortium of banks as global coordinators and joint bookrunners in a process of accelerated bookbuilding by the State Treasury and Polskie Inwestycje Rozwojowe (PIR) for the shares of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.

The process resulted in a sale of 65.4 million shares, for a total price of PLN 1.32 billion. The firm advised Deutsche Bank, London Branch, Goldman Sachs International, and UniCredit as global coordinators and joint bookrunners, and Espirito Santo Investment Bank, Bank Polski, and Societe Generale as joint bookrunners, on the deal.

The Warsaw team of Greenberg Traurig advising on the deal consisted of Partner Federico Salinas, Local Partner Pawel Piotrowski, and Senior Associate Mateusz Chmielewski. According to the firm, “the State Treasury contributed the PGE shares (sic) a capital injection to Polskie Inwestycje Rozwojowe.” It was the first transaction of this kind. The capital injection occurred immediately before the sale of the shares by PIR, according to the terms set forth in a governmental development program devised for PIR.