Category: Poland

MFW Fialek has advised Scanmed Group on its acquisition of Centrum Rehabilitacji in Chorzow. Kajda and Partners reportedly advised the sellers.

Scanmed is a medical group. The company’s activities include primary health care and outpatient specialized care in over 40 locations across Poland, treatment in cardiology wards as well as hospitals. The Scanmed Group became a portfolio company of the Abris Capital Partners fund in November 2020.

Centrum Rehabilitacji, with its seat in Chorzow, provides specialized healthcare services.

The MFW Fialek team included Partner Miroslaw Fialek, Counsel Michal Karwacki, Senior Associate Pawel Siwiec, Associates Cezary Gizinski, Michal Kret, Maksymilian Kulczycki, Wojciech Lichterowicz, Mateusz Wieckowski, and Junior Associate Natalia Grzegorzewska.

DWF Poland has announced the appointment of Radoslaw Cebelinski as a new Senior Partner, while Lukasz Gembis, Ewelina Wetrys, and Weronika Roesler made Local Partner in the firm’s recent promotion round.

Cebelinski joined the firm in 2019 and, as an International Partner, leads the Banking, Finance & Insolvency Litigation team. He made Local Partner back in 2021 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 13, 2021). Before joining DWF, he spent almost five years as an assistant to a Supreme Court Judge in Poland, almost four years with Eversheds Sutherland, and a further two years with Baker McKenzie.

Gembis is a member of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration department at DWF Poland, where he leads the Public Procurement and Contracts team. He also joined DWF in 2019, as a Senior Associate. He made Counsel in 2022. Earlier, he spent over four years with K&L Gates, as an Associate and Senior Associate, and almost a year with Wardynski & Partners as an Advocate Trainee, starting in 2014.

Wetrys is a member of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration department at DWF Poland, with over 12 years of professional experience in dispute resolution and avoidance. She also joined the team back in 2019, as a Senior Associate, and made Counsel in 2020. She previously spent six and a half years with K&L Gates between 2012 and 2019, departing as a Senior Associate, and spent one year as an Associate with Laszczuk & Wspolnicy.

Roesler is a member of the Real Estate department at DWF Poland and has over 12 years of professional experience in advising clients from the real estate sector. She joined DWF in 2020 as a Senior Associate and made Counsel in 2022. She spent her earlier career with Baker McKenzie, joining the firm in 2011 as a Legal Intern and rising through the ranks before making Senior Associate in 2019.

DZP Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has advised R.Power on executing a ten-year virtual power purchase agreement with Allegro. Raczynski Skalski & Partners advised Allegro.

R.Power is an independent producer of green energy in Poland.

Allegro describes itself as the most popular shopping platform in Poland and the largest e-commerce player of European origin.

According to DZP, “under the agreement, the parties will secure the price of more than 200 gigawatt-hours of green electricity produced by R.Power’s photovoltaic farms between 2025 and 2035. The agreement aligns with Allegro Group’s climate goals, allowing the company to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 150,000 tons.”

The DZP team included Partner Rafal Hajduk and Associate Aleksandra Dalkowska.

The Raczynski Skalski & Partners team included Partner Kacper Skalski and Senior Associate Adam Madejski.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta has advised JD Sports Fashion on its acquisition of the remaining 40% stake in Poland’s Marketing Investment Group joint-stock company.

JD Sports Fashion is a multi-channel retailer and distributor of branded and own branded sportswear and fashionwear with its registered office in the UK.

The Marketing Investment Group is a retail fashion company. 

Following the transaction, JD Sports becomes the sole shareholder of MIG.

The Rymarz Zdort Maruta team included Partners Marek Durski, Jakub Krzemien, and Marek Kanczew, Senior Associates Weronika Papucewicz, Tomasz Bakowski, and Malgorzata Banaszkiewicz, and Associates Kamila Banas and Klaudia Kasztelewicz.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

CK Legal Chabasiewicz Kowalska has advised PragmaGo on its PLN 25 million issuance of series C2 bonds.

According to the firm, PragmaGo is one of the largest non-bank financial institutions in Poland and specializes in providing online financing through factoring and loans in the SME segment. The investor of PragmaGo is the Polish Enterprise Fund, which is part of PEF VIII and managed by Enterprise Investors, a private equity firm operating in Central and Eastern Europe.

According to CK Legal, “PragmaGo has successfully placed a bond issuance with a 53.5% subscription reduction. The offering of series C2 bonds was conducted under the prospectus for PragmaGo’s fourth public bond program, approved by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. Under the prospectus, PragmaGo may issue bonds with a total nominal value of up to PLN 500 million. The bonds will be listed on the regulated Catalyst market operated by the Warsaw Stock Exchange.”

The CK Legal team included Founding Partner Wojciech Chabasiewicz and Head of Capital Markets Anita Gwozdz.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta, working with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s US office, has advised managers Wood & Company Financial Services and Ipopema Securities on an accelerated book-building transaction concerning Vigo Photonics’ PLN 63 million issuance of series F ordinary bearer shares.

Vigo Photonics is a European manufacturer of semiconducting materials and instruments for photonic and microelectronic applications.

According to the firm, the newly issued shares in Vigo Photonics were admitted to trading and listed on the regulated market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

The Rymarz Zdort Maruta team included Partners Ewa Bober and Jacek Zawadzki and Associate Aleksander Jakubisiak.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has advised Tauron Zielona Energia on purchasing a 90-megawatt photovoltaic farm project implemented on a cable pooling basis in Postomino municipality, Poland.

According to DZP, “the PV plant with a total capacity of 90 megawatts will be located in Postomino Municipality, Slawiensk District, Zachodniopomorskie Voivodship, and will be connected to the existing wind farm in Marszewo. The photovoltaic farm will consist of 135,000 photovoltaic panels, with a capacity of 665 watt-peak each, covering the electricity needs of 46,000 households.”

The DZP team included Partner Rafal Hajduk, Senior Associate Malgorzata Wezyk, and Associate Michal Pytkowski.

MFW Fialek, working with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe, has advised Cogito Capital Partners on leading the Series A investment round for UK-based Sky Engine Limited and its Sky Engine Polish subsidiary.

According to MFW Fialek, “Sky Engine AI is a simulation and deep learning platform that generates fully annotated, multimodal, synthetic data, provides advanced domain adaptation methods, and trains AI computer vision algorithms at scale. It is a tool for data scientists and machine learning/software engineers creating computer vision projects in any industry.”

Cogito Capital Partners is a venture capital firm based in Warsaw and New York.

The MFW Fialek team included Partner Miroslaw Fialek, Counsel Michal Karwacki, and Associate Mateusz Wieckowski.

MFW Fialek did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Marked by recent political shifts, impacted by global trends, and facing many legislative changes, Poland is seeing critical updates on taxation, energy, state companies’ leadership, the balance of transactions, and renewed discussions on judicial reform, according to Crido Legal Managing Partner Jakub Ziolek.

“Last year marked a new chapter in Polish politics with a new government,” Ziolek begins. “This new government’s arrival is pivotal as we’re anticipating legislative proposals that will impact the legal sphere. For example, the National System of e-Invoices – which was supposed to be a mandatory system from July 1 this year, announced by the previous government for tax advisory purposes – is likely to be postponed, as per the new minister’s suggestion,” he explains.

Ziolek reports that “Poland has been witnessing significant trends in technology and ESG, especially in the real estate sector. These trends are global, but they manifest uniquely in Poland due to our specific legal and economic landscape,” he adds. “Energy transformation is a key area – the past eight years have seen stringent regulations around onshore wind farms. The new legislation could facilitate faster energy transformations and infrastructure development, significantly impacting the legal landscape,” he explains.

Beyond legislative changes, Ziolek shares that he feels Poland to be “at a critical juncture, particularly in strategic sectors like energy and mining. The upcoming election of the management board for Polish state treasury companies suggests significant shifts,” he opines. “This will entail reorganization, restructuring, and potentially a strategic shift, leading to substantial legal work.”

In addition, he says that the real estate and M&A markets seem to be in a state of flux. “Currently, the European Central Bank’s high interest rates are impacting these markets and there’s a slowdown in core real estate and M&A transactions. However, this has led to an increase in distressed asset deals, as businesses seek opportunistic investors for refinancing,” he adds. “We’re seeing the first examples of this trend, and I expect it to continue well into 2024.” Following up on these predictions, Ziolek adds that “if the European Central Bank lowers interest rates, we may see a resurgence in core deals. This shift could revitalize the market significantly.”

Finally, he shares that there is considerable discussion about judicial reform in Poland. “This is a critical issue; to meet EU rule of law requirements, we expect changes that could unlock EU funds, especially those suspended due to concerns over judicial independence,” he says. “The new government will likely introduce legislation impacting civil and criminal procedures, which could bring about structural changes in the judiciary and affect legal practice,” Ziolek concludes.

Wardynski & Partners has advised Infinitas Learning on its acquisition of Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne. Gide advised the Central Group, the main shareholder of WSiP, on the sale.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Infinitas Learning is a European provider of products and services for learning and education. The main shareholder of Infinitas Learning is NPM Capital.

According to the firm, WSiP is the second-largest and longest-established publisher of school textbooks and teaching support materials in Poland.

The Wardynski & Partners team included Partner Adam Pawlisz, Senior Associates Dominik Kaszuba and Aleksandra Drozdz, and Associate Mateusz Prochnicki.

The Gide team included Partner Dariusz Tokarczuk, Of Counsel Marta Karminska, Counsel Dawid Van Kedzierski, and Associates Edyta Zalewska and Szymon Chwalinski.