Category: Poland

White & Case has advised Polish mobile telecoms operator P4, which trades as Play, on its groundbreaking, inaugural EUR 870 million and PLN 130 million, dual-tranche high yield bond issue and entry into a new super senior revolving credit facility.

Play is a portfolio company co-owned by Olympia Development and London based investment firm, Novator.

White & Case Partner Jill Concannon, who advised on the bond issue, declared it to be “the largest debut high yield bond deal since 2010, the largest Central & Eastern Europe high yield deal ever, the second largest European telecoms debut ever and the first ever Polish zloty-denominated high yield bond issued on the international capital markets.”

The White & Case team advising Play was co-led by Partners Jill Concannon and Ian Bagshaw, and included Partners Ross Allardice, Jeremy Duffy, Rob Mathews, Marcin Studniarek, and Rob Irving, Local Partner Nicholas Coddington, Counsel Gregorz Jukiel, and Associates James Greene, Rafal Kaminski, and Aneta Urban.

Attorney Gerard Karp has joined the partnership at Wierzbowski Eversheds in Poland.  

Karp Co-Heads the firm’s Privacy, Information & Communication Technologies and Electronic Communications teams. He has been affiliated with the firm since 2006, and specializes in the data protection and high tech and electronic communications.

Partner Arwid Mednis, Co-Head of Wierzbowski Eversheds’ Electronic Communications and Privacy, Information & Communication Technologies teams, commented: “For several years Gerard Karp has successfully developed the firm’s data protection practice, which over time grew to include media and telecommunications issues. The practice has won recognition for years from clients, including those who work with other law firms on everyday legal matters. They often prefer to entrust their data protection and electronic communications matters to us.”

Gessel has announced that Dr. Janusz Fiszer has agreed to come on board.

Fiszer, who specializes in international tax law and in tax aspects of M&A transactions, will manage Gessel tax law practice. Fiszer worked for White & Case in Warsaw from 1998 through 2011, and for the past two years has been a Partner in the Tax & Legal Department of PricewaterhouseCoopers.  

He is a lecturer in international tax law in the postgraduate program of tax and tax law studies at the University of Warsaw and in the postgraduate international tax strategies program at the Warsaw School of Economics, and he has written over 1000 articles and commentaries on legal, tax, and financial matters for Polish professional journals and international journals. In his legal practice, Fiszer has advised on tax disputes and on a number of high-profile M&A transactions in Poland involving publicly listed as well as privately held companies.

The Warsaw office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges has expanded its Energy and Natural Resources team with the addition of a pair of lawyers moving to the firm from competitor CMS Cameron McKenna.

Marek Durski, who joins as Counsel, will head Weil’s Energy and Natural Resources practice in Warsaw after filling a similar role at CMS. Senior Associate Janusz Oglaza joined Durski in the move.

Gessel has represented Tesgas in settling a dispute with PBG Energia and Bioelektrownia Szarlej.

The three companies were involved in a series of cross and counterclaims regarding, among other things, a construction works agreement and the activation of a natural gas power generation facility worth over EUR 22 million.

Gessel Partner Piotr Schramm led the firm’s special cases team in the matter.

Citing the recently-published Mergermarket 2013 M&A Trend Report, Greenberg Traurig reports that it led all firms in Poland based on the overall value of its M&A deals in 2013.

Greenberg Traurig’s Poland office advised on USD 7.6 billion in aggregated M&A transactions in 2013. The firm advised on transactions such as the takeover of Polkomel by Cyfrowy Polsat, the takeover of BGZ by BNP Paribas, Bank PKO BP’s takeover of Nordea Bank, the takeover of the Canadian TriOil company by PKN Orlen, the sale of Wirtualna Polska portal by TP, the sale of eService by Bank PKO BP, and the takeover of Zelmer by Bosch and Siemens, among others.

Dentons has announced the appointment of Arkadiusz Krasnodebski as the new Managing Partner of the Warsaw office. He replaced Tomasz Dabrowski, who started as Dentons Europe CEO in January.

Krasnodebski heads Dentons’ Energy practice group in Poland and Europe and has been with the firm since 2001. He specializes in regulatory,  contractual and corporate advice to clients operating in the energy and utilities sector: distribution and transmission system operators and owners,  electric energy generators,  electric energy and gas traders and offtakers. 

His most notable transactions include advising on the acquisition of the Polish-Lithuanian energy link (LitPol Link), a pioneering power interconnection between UCTE and the Baltic states, as well as on the acquisition of the SwePol Link between Poland and Sweden.

Gessel has represented IBES in its sale of the RAST supermarket chain to Carrefour Poland. Through the transaction, Carrefour took over 10 supermarkets in the city of Olsztyn.

The Gessel team was led by Managing Associate Maciej Kozuchowski, who was assisted by Partner Marcin Macieszczak and Associate Maciej Boryczko. 

Gessel advised mBank on debt financing to purchase shares of Stone Master, a leading Polish manufacturer of decorative elements and facade coverings of stone on the Polish market.

Gessel’s support included the preparation and negotiation of loan documentation and collateral documents. The firm’s team was led by M&A Team Managing Associate Margaret Badowska.

The Polish Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak law firm has promoted Labor lawyer Roch Palubicki to Partner.

Palubicki joined SKS in 2000 and has been heading the firm’s Labor Law Department since 2012. He specializes in management contracts, working time, and non-competition as well as employment aspects of M&A transactions, including transfer of employees. He also regularly represents clients in Poland’s labor and social security courts.