Category: Poland

Hogan Lovells has advised Saur Polska on its full acquisition of Ekos Poznan. Sobczynscy i Partnerzy FSG Prawo advised the sellers.

The Saur Group is a service provider in the global water sector. Saur Polska is its local subsidiary.

Ekos Poznan is a Polish company active in the wastewater management market.

According to Hogan Lovells, the acquisition of Ekos Poznan will strengthen Saur’s company portfolio, reinforcing its presence in Poland.

The Hogan Lovells team included Counsel Tomasz Zak, Senior Associate Piotr Kwasiborski, and Associate Leonart Szanajca-Kossakowski.

The Sobczynscy i Partnerzy team included Managing Partner Michal Sobczynski, Partner Orest Ochocki, and Legal Trainees Mateusz Karlinski and Jakub Marmurowicz.

Greenberg Traurig has advised BNP Paribas an accelerated bookbuilding process offering of BNP Paribas Bank Polska’s shares. The value of the transactions amounted to PLN 886 million, with PKO Bank Polski Oddzial-Biuro Maklerskie as sole global coordinator and joint bookrunner.

According to Greenberg Traurig, over 8.86 million shares were offered, representing 6% of the bank’s share capital and total number of votes.

The Greenberg Traurig team included Senior Partner Lejb Fogelman, Partners Rafal Sienski, Stephen Horvath, and Lukasz Pawlak, and Senior Associate Grzegorz Socha.

Greenberg Traurig has advised KI Chemistry and Ciech on the delisting of Ciech shares from the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Frankfurter Wertpapierboerse.

According to Greenberg Traurig, Ciech was the first Polish company to be listed simultaneously on these two markets. “The delisting of Ciech from trading on the regulated markets conducted by the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Frankfurter Wertpapierboerse marks the culmination of transactions initiated by KI Chemistry’s announcement of a voluntary call to subscribe for the sale of shares in Ciech (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 3, 2023), subsequent invitations to submit offers by shareholders to sell shares in Ciech (as reported on October 20, 2023), and a compulsory buyout of shares in Ciech from minority shareholders, with a total value of almost PLN 1.4 billion.” KI Chemistry ultimately became the sole shareholder of Ciech on November 23, 2023, leading to the withdrawal of Ciech shares from the stock exchange listings.

KI Chemistry is a subsidiary of Kulczyk Investments, a private international investment house with offices in Luxembourg, London, and Warsaw, that has been supporting companies for 30 years.

Ciech is a chemical group and, according to Greenberg Traurig, “the second-largest manufacturer of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate in the European Union, the largest manufacturer of evaporated salt in Poland, the largest supplier of sodium silicates in Europe, the largest Polish manufacturer of plant protection products and a leading producer of polyurethane foams in Poland.” Its factories are located in Poland, Germany, and Romania and it employs over 3,000 people throughout the EU.

The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Partner Rafal Sienski and included Senior Associate Grzegorz Socha and Junior Associates Szymon Swierszcz and Kamil Nagawski as well as Berlin-based Partner Josef Hofschroer.

White & Case has advised window and door manufacturer Eko-Okna on a financing transaction with PKO Bank Polski, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, Bank Pekao, ING Bank Slaski, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Santander Bank Polska, and the EBRD for an undisclosed amount. Clifford Chance advised the banks.

According to White & Case, Poland’s Eko-Okna is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of energy-efficient windows and doors.

“The funds raised via the financing, the value of which has not been disclosed, will be used to finance the construction of four new production facilities and refinance existing debt, enabling Eko-Okna to expand production and strengthen its competitive position in European markets,” White & Case reported.

The White & Case team included Warsaw-based Partner Grzegorz Abram and Associates Joanna Misztal-Dzitko and Marlena Skowronska.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Warsaw-based Partner Andrzej Stosio, Counsel Michal Jadwisiak, and Senior Associate Wojciech Wator and included Counsels Kacper Bardan, Tomasz Szymura, and Aleksandra Rudzinska, Senior Associates Mateusz Chmura and Pawel Zawislak, and Associates Aleksander Smakosz, Oskar Ratajczak, Natalia Karasiewicz, Artur Gladysz, Krzysztof Burda, and Aleksandra Bialyszewska, with further lawyers in Munich, Frankfurt, Brussels, Amsterdam, Milan, and Paris.

SSK&W, working alongside BMH Braeutigam & Partner, has advised 1.Security’s co-creator CISOCON on the USD 500,000 investment into the company from Sunfish Partners. LLW Lewczuk Lyszczarek Szymczyk advised Sunfish Partners on its investment.

Launched by Adam Zaczek and Mateusz Olek, 1.Security offers a SaaS product that addresses challenges in permission management. The solution works in environments related to OneDrive and SharePoint, tackling objects like groups, files, folders, and shared drives, and managing internal and external collaborators.

Sunfish Partners is a German-Polish early-stage VC that invests in Polish deep technology startups.

CISOCON is a German cybersecurity consultancy boasting a team that “creates and executes bespoke, holistic security security programs for tech companies to move the needle on security.”

“We’re incredibly excited about closing the pre-seed funding round. It brings us closer to solving the problem of pinpointing ‘who has access to what and why’ within the Microsoft 365 complex permission access ecosystem,” Zaczek commented.

The SSK&W team was led by Partner Szymon Syp.

The LLW team included Partner Jedrzej Szymczyk, Lawyer Monika Kot, and Trainee Anna Zajaczkowska.

Wardynski & Partners has advised SUSI Partners on its financing of the decarbonization services provided by ESCOlight to Ghelamco’s Warsaw Unit skyscraper.

SUSI Partners is a private fund manager directing institutional capital towards sustainable energy infrastructure investments.

Ghelamco is a Belgian real estate developer founded in 1985.

According to Wardynski & Partners, “thanks to the combination of ESCOlight’s budget-neutral solution for the customer and the financing provided by energy transition specialist SUSI Partners to ESCOlight, Ghelamco’s flagship building Warsaw Unit has secured more than 10 megawatts of green energy from 11 off-site photovoltaic farms. As a result, Warsaw Unit became the first skyscraper in Poland entirely powered by green energy.”

The Wardynski & Partners team included Partners Igor Hanas, Lukasz Szegda, and Radoslaw Wasiak, Senior Associate Mateusz Tusznio, Associates Lukasz Bondaruk, Rafal Pytko, Jakub Steciuk, and Rafal Baranowski, and Junior Associate Paulina Adamczyk.

Wolf Theiss has advised the Toms Group on a multi-partner power purchase agreement in Poland with Better Energy and Eesti Energia Group subsidiary Enefit.

The Toms Group operates in the chocolate and confectionery industry.

Enefit produces renewable energy from wind, solar, municipal waste, and water.

Better Energy is an independent solar energy company developing, financing, building, and operating PV systems and selling green energy.

According to Wolf Theiss, “within the framework of the tripartite agreement, Enefit, a participant in the Baltic energy sector, is set to provide Toms Group’s Polish production facilities with renewable energy sourced from Better Energy’s solar park in Chelmno, Poland. This includes providing additional energy volumes required for the operation of the Group’s production facilities in Nowa Sol and Leszno, marking a significant step toward sustainable energy solutions. Concurrently, the Toms Group is investing in constructing its own 1-megawatt energy source to meet the company’s energy needs in Poland.”

The Wolf Theiss team included Partner Igor Muszynski.

CMS has advised mBank on the PLN 42 million financing for Zemportic Investments’ acquisition of Polska Grupa Bruno-Tassi. Baker McKenzie advised Zemportic Investments. Wardynski & Partners advised a consortium of banks financing Polska Grupa Bruno-Tassi. MJH Moskwa Jarmul Haladyj and Forton Legal advised Bruno-Tassi.

Zemportic Investments is a management consulting services company.

Polska Grupa Bruno-Tassi is a distributor of meat and charcuterie products in Poland.

According to CMS, “the transaction was carried out as part of the complex reorganization of Bruno Tassi Group’s existing debt and the spin-off of one of its two businesses.”

The CMS team included Partner Michal Mezykowski, Counsel Artur Bednarski, and Associate Iwona Ciszynska.

The Baker McKenzie team included Partners Tomasz Krzyzowski and Piotr Wysocki, Counsels Radzym Wojcik and Mateusz Cieslak, and Lawyers Anna Pawluczuk, Natalia Jasek, and Filip Lajkowski.

The Wardynski & Partners team included Partner Daniel Smarduch, Senior Associate Stefan Feliniak, and Associate Sylwia Boguska.

The MJH team included Partner Maciej Wroblewski, Senior Associate Wojciech Grabowski, and Associates Anna Jaskulowska-Kozliczak and Kacper Rydz.

The Forton Legal team included Managing Partner Wieslaw Latala, Partner Katarzyna Zajas-Aydogan, and Lawyer Veronika Huplik.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Axpo Polska on the power purchase agreement for the offtake of energy from six DIF Capital Partners wind farms in Poland with a total installed capacity of 171 megawatts.

Axpo Polska is part of the Axpo Group – a producer of renewable energy in Switzerland.

DIF Capital Partners is a Netherlands-based infrastructure fund manager.

According to Greenberg Traurig, “with a total installed capacity of 171 megawatts, the facilities will produce an estimated 500 gigawatt-hours of green electricity a year. The contract provides for spot market settlements, purchase of guarantees of origin, and the provision of balancing services.”

The Greenberg Traurig team was led by Partner Konrad Kosicki.

Greenberg Traurig could not provide additional information on the matter.

Dentons has advised Extreme Emotions on Polish production aspects of The Zone of Interest film.

Poland’s Extreme Emotions is a film production company and acted as co-producer on the film, which won two Oscars for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound at the 96th Academy Awards.

The Zone of Interest, a Polish-British co-production directed by Jonathan Glazer, “is a gripping historical drama loosely based on Martin Amis’s novel. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the film delves into the lives of a German family residing near the Auschwitz concentration camp. Their mundane existence takes a harrowing turn as they grapple with questions of complicity and morality. The film’s haunting portrayal of life adjacent to the Auschwitz death camp resonated deeply with audiences and critics alike,” Dentons reported.

According to the firm, The Zone of Interest was a collaborative effort, co-produced by Two Wolves Films Limited and Extreme Emotions. “It received vital support from the Polish Film Institute. The film’s captivating visuals were captured entirely in Poland by cinematographer Lukasz Zal.”

The Dentons team was led by London-based Partner Igor Ostrowski and included Warsaw-based Partner Tomasz Zwolinski, Counsel Stanislaw Dabek, and Senior Associates Lukasz Blaszczak and Katarzyna Mazur.