Category: Poland

Allen & Overy announced that Dan Cocker has retired from the firm in August 2023, after spending more than 20 years with the team.

Cocker joined A&O in London in 2003. He also worked out of Frankfurt and New York before moving to the firm’s Warsaw office in 2011. He made Partner in 2013 and was a part of Allen & Overy’s Global Projects, Energy, and Infrastructure Group, covering Central and Eastern Europe from Warsaw.

A CEE Legal Matters 2017 Expat on the Market interview with Cocker, covering his move to Warsaw, his career, and his thoughts on the region is available here.

Gide has advised Investindustrial portfolio company Farmaceutici Procemsa on its acquisition of a majority stake in Poland’s Master Pharm.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Founded in Turin in 1939, Procemsa specializes in contract development, manufacturing, and packaging of vitamins, food supplements, proprietary formulations, and cosmetics-pharmaceuticals for third parties.

Master Pharm is a contract development and manufacturing company in Poland. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Lodz, Master Pharm manufactures dietary supplements.

According to Gide, “this acquisition is an important milestone for Procemsa as part of its consolidation strategy of the European Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation market and reinforces its European presence by enhancing its geographic and customer diversification in the fast-growing Eastern European market.”

The Gide team included Partner Pawel Grzeskowiak, Senior Associate Wojciech Czyzewski, and Associate Magdalena Zawislak.

Gide did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

JDP Drapala & Partners has advised Trei Real Estate Poland on its EUR 73.5 million loan from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank to finance its current activities and day-to-day operations.

According to the firm, the main asset that secures the funding is a portfolio of 61 properties with retail facilities located thereon, this being the second Deutsche Pfandbriefbank loan to Trei Real Estate after another granted in 2020.

Trei Real Estate Poland belongs to the Tengelmann group and develops retail facilities (like Vendo Park) and residential properties (Trei Residential) in Poland.

Back in January, JDP also advised Trei Real Estate on a EUR 40 million financing from the Berlin Hyp real estate and mortgage bank (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 31, 2023).

The JDP team included Partner Maciej Chrzan, Counsel Michal Urbanski, and Associates Daria Gromotka, Dominik Grzegorzewski, and Karolina Janczura-Krolasik.

JDP did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Gide has advised the Enterprise Investors Fund IX on its minority investment in Polish precision radar and anti-drone systems company Advanced Protection Systems Inc. Baker McKenzie advised APS and its shareholders.

According to Gide, APS is a “market pioneer operating in the field of high technology. The company was founded by Maciej Klemm, acting CEO, and Radoslaw Piesiewicz, COO, as a natural continuation of their academic careers. Starting the project in 2015, the founders focused on the development and production of radar technology and dedicated software.” The proprietary radar technology developed by the company has a unique market advantage – it enables faster and more precise detection and classification of many LSS (low-slow-small) objects, the firm reported.

Enterprise Investors is a private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe. It has been active since 1990 and has established ten funds, having invested EUR 2.2 billion in 155 companies.

The Gide team included Partner Pawel Grzeskowiak, Senior Associate Wojciech Czyzewski, and Associate Magdalena Zawislak.

The Baker McKenzie team was led by Counsel Magdalena Medynska and included Partner Tomasz Krzyzowski, Lawyer Natalia Jasek, and Associate Monika Michalowska.

Greenberg Traurig has advised the PCF Group on its public offering of new shares addressed to Polish and international investors. 

The People Can Fly Group, founded in 2002, is a Polish developer of games from the AAA segment. Shares of the PCF Group, which owns the People Can Fly studio, have been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since December 2020.

According to Greenberg Traurig, “the offer followed up the issuance of Series F shares finalized in June. Some of the newly issued shares were offered to Krafton, a South Korean video game developer, pursuant to the investment agreement concluded in March this year. The value of the transaction exceeded PLN 100 million.”

Earlier this year, Greenberg Traurig advised PFC on another public offering of shares (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 26, 2023) and also advised the company on the initial Krafton investment agreement (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 11, 2023).

The Greenberg Traurig team included Partner Rafal Sienski, Senior Associate Grzegorz Socha, and Junior Associates Szymon Swierszcz and Natalia Potrubacz.

DWF has advised Enter Air Group on a EUR 25 million financing from a consortium including facility agent Bank Pekao and security agent mBank. Kycia Legal advised the banks.

According to DWF, Enter Air is the largest private airline operating in Poland for the past 14 years. The group provides connections for Polish and foreign travel agencies, flying to over 30 countries and over 250 airports.

The DWF team included Managing Partner Michal Pawlowski, Partner Tomasz Kaczmarek, and Associate Joanna Sztandera.

The Kycia Legal team included Partners Anna Kycia and Grzegorz Kycia, Senior Associate Natalia Wysk-Konieczna, and Junior Associate Karol Bialkowski.

Baker McKenzie has advised Innova Capital on the facilities agreement with mBank and BNP Paribas Bank Polska to support the fund’s investment in R-GOL. CMS reportedly advised the banks.

R-GOL is a Poland-based specialized distributor of football equipment for CEE enthusiasts, professionals, and football clubs. It operates both online and physical stores and recently opened its first foreign store in Bucharest.

The Baker McKenzie team included Partner Marcin Iwaniszyn, Senior Associate Jakub Czerka, Associate Robert Smigielski, and Junior Associates Maria Slomska and Krystian Kurgan.

Former Dentons Partner – and long-time Warsaw Managing Partner – Arkadiusz Krasnodebski recently left the firm where he had spent over 20 years.

He had originally joined Dentons legacy firm Salans back in 2003 as a Partner. Staying on through the switch to Dentons, he became the firm’s Warsaw Managing Partner in 2014. He led the team until 2023, stepping down in April in favor of new Managing Partners Anna Pukszto and Bartlomiej Kordeczka (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 25, 2023).

“Having worked with Ania and Bartek for many years, I am convinced that as Co-managing Partners they will bring a fresh outlook to our business, while exemplifying the reliability and competency which our clients have come to expect from Dentons,” Krasnodebski commented at the time.

Clifford Chance, working with Lexence, has advised Waterland on the acquisition of CodiLime from its founders in a transaction that included reinvestment of the former shareholders. Bank Pekao provided acquisition financing. Ponikowski Rzepka reportedly advised the sellers. Allen & Overy reportedly advised Bank Pekao.

Waterland is a private equity company.

CodiLime is a Polish software developer.

Earlier this year, Clifford Chance advised on the acquisition of GetInData by Waterland portfolio company Xebia (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 13, 2023), and, back in 2022, on another of its portfolio companies’ transactions: the acquisition of two Cargill facilities in Poland and Hungary by United Petfood (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 9, 2022).

The Clifford Chance team included Partner Irena Floras-Goode, Counsels Kacper Bardan and Tomasz Derda, Senior Associates Aleksandra Rzegocka, Aleksandra Ulatowska, and Marta Michalek-Gervais, Associates Katarzyna Kuchta and Piotr Weclawowicz, and Lawyers Marcin Waszynski, Zuzanna Bartczak, Mateusz Leleno, Joanna Korycinska, Mariusz Wisniewski, Adam Szyndler, Grzegorz Serafin, Marta Marzysz, and Kamila Hora.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Allen & Overy confirmed their role in advising Bank Pekao. The firm’s team included Partners Anna Madra and Tomasz Kawczynski, Senior Associate Konrad Zawistowski, and Associates Maciej Szalak and Michal Jakub Rudzki.

Kochanski & Partners has advised Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciowych on the acquisition of a greenfield site of more than 17 hectares in Warsaw from Polfa Tarchomin for PLN 143 million.

PWPW is a producer of banknotes ordered by the National Bank of Poland and central banks of other countries.

Tarchominskie Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polfa in Warsaw describes itself as one of the largest generic companies operating in Poland and one of the oldest pharmaceutical producers in the world, with a history dating back to 1823 and the production of the first medicinal preparations.

According to Kochanski & Partners, “the land will be used for the construction of a state-of-the-art banknote printing and security paper facility. This is one of the largest transactions on the Polish real estate market in recent years. The investment will enable the implementation of PWPW’s long-term strategic business plan and meet the needs arising from the limitations of the company’s current headquarters.”

According to the firm, “it is also a strategic transaction for Poland, as the products manufactured at the new plant will be of key importance to the country. In return, TZF Polfa has raised the funds necessary to complete the construction of Poland’s first and most modern Oncology Drug Development and Production Centre in our region. The total value of the investment is approximately PLN 550 million.”

The Kochanski & Partners team included Partners Pawel Cholewinski and Wojciech Wrochna, Counsels Weronika Duda and Malwina Jagiello, Senior Associate Agata Tworzydlo, and Associates Dominik Grys and Paulina Majewska.

Kochanski & Partners did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.