Category: Poland

B2RLaw has advised the minority shareholders of Audioteka on the sale of their stakes representing approximately 40% of the company’s share capital to Wirtualna Polska.

Audioteka is a mobile platform for digital audiobooks. Wirtualna Polska is a group of companies operating in the media and e-commerce sectors. 

According to B2RLaw, as a result of the transaction, Wirtualna Polska Holding, through its dependent entities, will hold 100% of Audioteka’s share capital.

The initial sale of the majority stake in Audioteka to Grupa Wirtualna Polska took place six months earlier (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 12, 2022).

The B2RLaw team included Senior Partner Rafal Stroinski, Partner Edyta Zalewska, Counsels Jakub Kutyla and Malwina Niczke-Chmura, and Junior Associates Magdalena Borychowska, Danyila Zubach, Boguslaw Dlugowolski, and Krzysztof Judasz.

B2RLaw did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

JDP Drapala & Partners, working with Milbank, has advised the EQT Mid Market Europe and EQT Mid Market Asia III funds on the sale of BBS Automation to the MDAX-listed Duerr Group.

The wider deal encompassed Germany, China, the US, Malaysia, Italy, and Poland. The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

According to JDP, BBS Automation helps companies automate their production processes and reduce energy consumption, waste, and downtime, allowing customers to meet rapidly growing cost and sustainability demands.

The JDP team included Partner Marcin Chomiuk, Counsels Joanna Ostojska-Kolodziej and Barbara Kaczala, Senior Associates Magdalena Bartnik and Anna Nowodworska, Attorneys at Law Marcin Lewinski and Anna Matusiak-Wekiera, and Associates Dominik Grzegorzewski and Amelia Prawda.

JDP did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

White & Case has advised a consortium of financial institutions on their up to PLN 1.57 billion financing – including a term loan, an investment loan, and a revolving credit facility – granted to Emitel. Clifford Chance advised Emitel.

The consortium of banks and other financial institutions that provided the approximately EUR 353 million financing to Emitel included Bank Handlowy w Warszawie, PKO Bank Polski, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, Bank Pekao, DNB Bank ASA, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Credit Agricole Bank Polska, Bank Ochrony Srodowiska, Alior Bank, and the PZU Group.

Emitel is an operator of terrestrial radio and television infrastructure in Poland.

According to White & Case, the term loan will be used to repay debt under the 2020 loan agreement, while the investment and revolving loans will be used to finance the company’s operating activities as well as development investments and acquisitions.

The White & Case team in Warsaw included Partner Grzegorz Abram and Associates Magdalena Bachleda-Ksiedzularz and Marlena Skowronska.

The Clifford Chance team included Partner Andrzej Stosio, Senior Associate Maksymilian Jarzabek, Associate Bartosz Zielinski, and Junior Associates Artur Gladysz, Krzysztof Burda, and Mateusz Leleno.

DWF has advised Augusta Energy on the finalization of its sale of two wind farms with a total capacity of 50 megawatts to Iberdrola.

Augusta Energy is a joint venture between KGAL, a German asset management company, and the V-Ridium Power Group, a subsidiary of GreenVolt Energias Renovaveis.

According to DWF, “both projects are currently under construction and are part of a 15-year power purchase agreement with T-Mobile Polska. The projects are expected to be commissioned in the second half of 2023.”

This transaction was part of a broader package announced a year earlier, which also included six solar plants totaling 48 megawatts (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 8, 2022).

The DWF team included Partners Karol Lasocki and Rafal Wozniak, Counsel Agnieszka Chylinska, Associates Mateusz Bak and Patrycja Figula, and Junior Associate Daniel Szkurlat.

Strategyzer has appointed Joanna Czaplicka to Head of Legal in Warsaw.

Czaplicka first joined the company in 2021 as a Senior Legal Counsel. Before moving in-house she was an Attorney-at-Law with Dentons between 2010 and 2021. During that time she also worked as a Seconded In-House Counsel with Tristan Capital Partners between 2015 and 2020.

Czaplicka’s experience includes working in the Paris office of the Dentons legacy firm Salans between 2007 and 2008 and the Paris office of Jones Day in 2006.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

On July 26, 2023, Linklaters announced that Polish developer Develia’s EUR 100 million acquisition of 19 Polish subsidiaries from French developer Nexity (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 5, 2023) had closed.

According to the firm, with the acquisition, Develia “significantly strengthens its position among Poland’s leading residential developers, increasing the scale of its operations primarily in Warsaw and Krakow.” The final agreement concerns the acquisition of 100% of the shares in 19 Polish companies while Develia additionally takes control over ten limited partnerships conducting development activity in Poland.

As previously reported, Linklaters had advised Develia and Dentons advised Nexity.

Linklaters’ team included Counsel Monika Krzyszkowska-Dabrowska, Managing Associates Tomasz Trystula, Ewa Sinkiewicz, Wojciech Podlasin, Szymon Sieniewicz, and Lukasz Burakowski, Senior Associates Samanta Wenda-Uszynska and Barbara Wanat, Associates Marta Strykowska, Maksymilian Hau, and Joanna Roman, and Junior Associates Sandra Slowik and Jakub Korobczuk.

The Dentos team included Partners Michal Wasiak and Magdalena Szwarc-Brozyna, Managing Counsel Tomasz Krasowski, Senior Associates Natalia Lawniczak-Koziol and Damian Bugaj, Associate Magdalena Witka, and Trainee Aleksandra Redzisz.

Polish lawyer Ewa Dziuban has rejoined Swiss Life Global Solutions as its Chief Compliance Officer in Luxembourg.

Dziuban first joined Swiss Life in 2018 as a Senior Compliance Officer. In 2020, she became the company’s Depute Compliance Head Luxembourg and its Head of Compliance in May 2021. In 2022, she left the company to serve as the Chief Compliance Officer at Julius Baer.

Before Swiss Life, Dziuban was a Senior Compliance Manager with Amazon in 2017 and a Manager with Deloitte Luxembourg between 2016 and 2017 – a role for which she originally relocated to Luxembourg. Earlier still, she was a Senior Legal Manager with Liberty Mutual Insurance between 2012 and 2016 in Warsaw.

Between 2003 and 2012 she worked for Credit Suisse in Poland, holding several roles from Legal Counsel to Compliance Officer and Head of Legal.

Before moving in-house, she worked for Marcin Milczarek and Partners between 2001 and 2003.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Eko-Okna on a PLN 1.6 billion financing made available by a consortium of Polish banks for the expansion of its activities and the development of its manufacturing plants. Clifford Chance reportedly advised the lenders.

The consortium providing the approximately EUR 357 million financing included Bank Polska Kasa Opieki, Santander Bank Polska, Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, and ING Bank Slaski.

Eko-Okna is a Polish joinery manufacturer located in Kornice, Slaskie voivodship, specializing in the production of PVC and aluminum window and door joinery.

The Norton Rose team included Partner Grzegorz Dyczkowski, Counsels Krzysztof Gorzelak, Marta Kawecka, and Jacek Smardzewski, Lawyers Wiktoria Jadczak and Nina Strzelczyk, and Associates Przemyslaw Piasecki, Oskar Sula, and Daniel Ksiazek.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Clifford Chance confirmed it had advised the lenders. The firm’s team included Partner Andrzej Stosio, Senior Associate Mateusz Chmura, and Junior Associates Aleksandra Bialyszewska, Aleksander Smakosz, and Krzysztof Burda.

Greenberg Traurig has advised the InPost Group on its acquisition of a 30% equity stake in Menzies Distribution Group Limited for GBP 49.3 million. Walker Morris reportedly advised Menzies Distribution.

According to Greenberg Traurig, the agreement also includes a three-year option to acquire the remaining 70% equity stake.

The InPost Group is a European automated parcel machine service provider. It is based in Poland and listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

According to Greenberg Traurig, “the strategic partnership sees Menzies, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading time-sensitive delivery businesses, becoming InPost’s exclusive logistics provider in the UK. Menzies’ nationwide logistics capability will give InPost the ability to scale at speed in the UK to match increasing consumer demand.”

The Greenberg Traurig team included Warsaw-based Partner Rafal Baranowski and further team members in London.

MJH Moskwa, Jarmul, Haladyj i Partnerzy has advised Penta Investments on the sale of a 50% stake in Iglotex to the Wlodarczyk family, the founders of the Iglotex group.

Penta Investments is a private equity fund.

Iglotex is a Polish manufacturer and distributor of frozen foods and ice cream.

The MJH team included Partners Pawel Moskwa and Lukasz Blazejczyk, Senior Counsel Mateusz Baszczyk, and Senior Associate Agnieszka Szymczuk-Malecka.

MJH did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.