Category: Poland

  • SSW and Norton Rose Advise on Bank Pekao Financing of PV Energy Projects Photovoltaic Farms

    SSW Pragmatic Solutions has advised PV Energy Projects on receiving financing from Bank Pekao for the construction of 36 photovoltaic farms. Norton Rose Fulbright advised Bank Pekao.

    The total capacity of the photovoltaic plants is 67.7 megawatts. According to SSW Pragmatic Solutions, the photovoltaic plants are to be built in eight voivodeships in Poland. PV Energy Projects is an SPV of the Lithuanian closed-end investment company intended for informed investors UAB Atsinaujinancios Energetikos Investicijos managed by Lords LB Asset Management.

    The SSW Pragmatic Solutions team included Partner Ilona Fedurek and Dominik Strzalkowski, Senior Managing Associate Pawel Michalek, Senior Associate Julia Wysocka, and Associate Filip Grabowski.

    The Norton Rose Fulbright team in Warsaw included Partner Tomasz Rogalski, Senior Associates Daniel Popek, Cezary Zawislak, and Maciej Dubiel, Associates Karolina Majcher, Daniel Ksiazek, and Jan Nowjalis, Lawyers Bartosz Odziemkowski, Martyna Korzeniewska, and Wiktoria Jadczak, as well as further team members in Hamburg.

  • Linklaters and Clifford Chance Advises on Cornerstone Investment Management’s Acquisition of Ecowipes

    Linklaters has advised Cornerstone Investment Management on its and Kartesia’s acquisition of Ecowipes. Clifford Chance advised Ecowipes. Reportedly, Dentons advised on financing aspects of the deal.

    Cornerstone Investment Management is a private equity investment management firm. Kartesia is a European specialist financing provider. Ecowipes is a European manufacturer of biodegradable wet wipes. 

    According to Linklaters, “this acquisition is highly significant to the ESG strategy followed by both investors. Ecowipes has been one of the top European producers of innovative and fully biodegradable nonwoven products since 2011 and it has built an excellent reputation for quality, sustainability, and innovation. The company’s wide product portfolio comprises, among others, wipes, cosmetic pads, and cotton buds which are produced in a modern factory in Nowy Dwor Mazowiecki with a technologically advanced machinery park.”

    The Linklaters team included Warsaw-based Partners Marcin Schulz and Malgorzata Szwaj, Counsel Christopher Quinn, Managing Associates Klaudia Sliwka, Michal Szperzynski, Lukasz Burakowski, Wojciech Podlasin, and Szymon Sieniewicz, Senior Associates Natalia Burchardt-Mroczkowska, Lukasz Czerepak, and Barbara Wanat, Associates Justyna Tuleja, Maksymilian Hau, Aleksandra Mielniczuk, Yuliia Stepanyk, and Daria Wojciechowska, and Junior Associates Jakub Korobczuk as well as further team members in Luxembourg, Paris, and Duesseldorf.

    The Clifford Chance team included Managing Partner Agnieszka Janicka, Counsel Tomasz Derda, Senior Associates Aleksandra Wlaszczuk and Aleksandra Ulatowska, and Associates Mariusz Wisniewski, Marcelina Slugocka, Nikoletta Koziol, Agata Parys, Adam Szyndler, and Julia Piotrkowicz.

    Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Dentons confirmed it had advised Cornerstone Investment Management on the financing agreement with Kartesia. The firm’s team was led by Warsaw-based Partner Tomasz Zwolinski and Senior Associate Katarzyna Mazur and included lawyers in Paris, Luxembourg, and Amsterdam.

    Subsequently, Wardynski & Partners confirmed it had worked with Stibbe to advise Kartesia. The firm’s team included Partner Lukasz Szegda, Lawyer Mateusz Tusznio, and Junior Lawyer Sylwia Boguska.

  • WKB Advise Afcon Renewable Energy and EuroEnergy Boguszyn Solar Farms EPC Contract

    WKB has advised Afcon Renewable Energy and EuroEnergy on the EPC contract of the Boguszyn I and Boguszyn II solar farms to be built in the Wielkopolskie province.

    Boguszyn I and Boguszyn II have a total capacity of 20 megawatts.

    Afcon Renewable Energy is a subsidiary of the Afcon Group and was established in 2020. It specializes in the initiation, development, financing, establishment, management, and operation of projects in the field of electricity generation from renewable energy sources.

    EuroEnergy is a renewable energy investment company with operating assets and a development pipeline of solar PV parks and wind farms

    The WKB team included Partner Marta Midloch and Lawyer Adam Ruszkiewicz.

    WKB did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

  • Closing: LyondellBasell Industries’ Acquisition of Mepol Group Now Closed

    On July 19, 2023, Wardynski & Partners announced that LyondellBasell Industries’ acquisition of Mepol Group (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 24, 2023) has now closed.

    According to Wardynski & Partners, “the transaction closed on July 3, 2023,” following regulatory approval from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

    As previously reported, Wardynski & Partners advised multinational chemical company LyondellBasell Industries on the acquisition of the Mepol Group, including Industrial Technology Investments Poland and the Mepol and Polar companies in Italy. 

    The Wardynski & Partners team included Partners Pawel Ciecwierz, Krzysztof Libiszewski, Kinga Ziemnicka, Jakub Macek, Lena Marcinoska-Boulange, and Joanna Prokurat, Lawyers Aleksandra Drozdz, Sandra Derdon, Joanna Dudek, Marcin Kulesza, Marcin Rzysko, Rafal Baranowski, Sandra Derdon, Joanna Dudek, Mateusz Kosiorowski, Marcin Kulesza, Andrzej Madala, Weronika Nalbert, Katarzyna Sotyn, Adrianna Ogonowska, Anna Olejniczak-Michalska, Filip Rak, Karolina Romanowska, and Marcin Rzysko, and Trainee Lawyer Klaudia Czarniecka.

  • White & Case and Clifford Chance Advise on Orlen’s EUR 500 Million Bonds Issuance

    White & Case has advised Orlen on the issuance of seven-year series-B registered Eurobonds with a total nominal value of EUR 500 million. Clifford Chance advised the banks involved.

    Orlen is the largest multi-energy company in Central and Eastern Europe.

    According to White & Case, “the Eurobonds will bear fixed rate interest of 4.750% per annum and will be listed on the regulated market of Euronext Dublin and the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The bonds were issued under Orlen’s EUR 5 billion Medium Term Note program, updated in June 2023 to include the recent acquisitions of Grupa Lotos and PGNiG.”

    The White & Case team included Warsaw-based Partner Marcin Studniarek, Local Partner Bartosz Smardzewski, and Associate Dawid Ksiazek, as well as further team members in London.

    The Clifford Chance team included Partner Matt Fairclough and Grzegorz Namiotkiewicz, Counsel Aleksandra Rudzinska, Senior Associate Eric Green, and Junior Associate Zuzanna Bartczak.

  • Gessel Advises Kredyt Inkaso on PLN 18 Million Public Offering of Bonds

    Gessel has advised Kredyt Inkaso on a public offering of N1-series bonds worth PLN 18 million. 

    Kredyt Inkaso, established in 2001, is a Polish debt management company.

    According to Gessel, investment firm Michael / Strom Dom Maklerski mediated the offering and the N1 series bond distribution consortium included Dom Maklerski Banku Ochrony Srodowiska, Ipopema Securities, Noble Securities, and Dom Maklerski Banku.

    This was the second issue made under a program of issuance up to a total of PLN 100 million, based on a prospectus approved by the FSA on February 16, 2023, according to the firm. Gessel advised Kredyt Inkaso on the establishment of the PLN 100 million program as well (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 22, 2023).

    The Gessel team included Partner Krzysztof Marczuk and Senior Associate Jakub Rowicki.

    Gessel did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

  • BCGL Advises Bank Pekao on Refinancing of BHM Group Retail Park Portfolio

    BCGL has advised Bank Pekao on the refinancing of a portfolio of ten retail parks acquired by BHM Group. Reportedly, Gessel advised BHM Group.

    BHM group is a private equity firm founded and majority owned by Tomas Krsek, who is the former owner of Skoda Transportation. According to BCGL, “the retail parks division is the most recent addition to the group’s activity,” (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 23, 2022).

    The BCGL team included Partner Maciej Czekanski, Counsel Magdalena Dudziec – Kosnik, and Senior Associate Michal Wilinski.

  • DWF Advises ONDE on Acquisition of PV Projects

    DWF has advised ONDE on the acquisition of two photovoltaic projects with a total capacity of 23 megawatts, located in Lower Silesia. CMS reportedly advised the sellers.

    ONDE is the largest general contractor of wind farms in Poland.

    The DWF team included Partners Rafal Wozniak and Karol Lasocki, Local Partner Malgorzata Lesiak-Cwikowska, Counsel Agnieszka Chylinska, Senior Associate Paulina Stachura, Associates Katarzyna Stefaniak and Przemyslaw Bugnacki, and Junior Associates Joanna Szczech, Daniel Szkurlat, Andrzej Lenart, Aleksandra Dalkowska, and Michal Zaniecki.

  • DZP Advises Qair Polska on Power Purchase Agreement with Zabka Polska

    DZP has advised Qair Polska on a 15-year corporate power purchase agreement with Zabka Polska. Reportedly, CMS advised Zabka Polska.

    Qair Polska is an independent renewable energy producer belonging to the Qair Group.

    Zabka Polska is the largest chain of modern convenience stores in Poland.

    According to DZP, “the contract, which involves the financial settlement of renewable energy sales, will cover a total of nearly 1.7 Terawatt-hours of energy from a wind park and a large-scale photovoltaic farm.”

    “We want to work with real leaders who think about the energy security of their businesses and will change the country’s energy landscape together with us,” said Qair Polska CEO Krzysztof Wojtysiak. “Working with the Zabka Group is the best evidence that companies are increasingly looking for solutions to stabilize the business environment and see CPPAs as a healthy basis for growth.” 

    The DZP team included Partner Rafal Hajduk and Associate Karina Krzoska.

    Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CMS confirmed it had advised Zabka Polska. The firm’s team included Partners Michal Andruszkiewicz and Lukasz Szatkowski and Senior Associates Adam Kedziora and Kacper Stanosz.

  • Norton Rose Fulbright and Clifford Chance Advise on PLN 1.5 Billion Sustainability-linked Financing for Cargounit

    Norton Rose Fulbright has advised a consortium of lenders on a PLN 1.5 billion (EUR 338 million) sustainability-linked financing for Cargounit. Clifford Chance advised Cargounit.

    The banking consortium included Powszechna Kasa Oszczednosci Bank Polski, ING Bank Slaski, Siemens Bank, Bank Polska Kasa Opieki, ABN AMRO, Societe Generale, Erste Group Bank, La Banque Postale, and Bank Ochrony Srodowiska. Bank Polska Kasa Opieki was the facility agent and security agent. Additionally, according to Norton Rose, the financing will be granted by DWS as an institutional investor.

    Cargounit, headquartered in Poland, operates in the locomotive leasing market in Central and Eastern Europe. Its locomotives are mainly used by freight operators from the petrochemical and chemical industries, intermodal transport, and transport of aggregates and steel products.

    Norton Rose reports that “the new financing agreement consists of senior term facility for refinancing of existing debt, revolving facility, capex facility, and a PP loan to finance the company’s locomotive acquisitions until 2026, including deliveries of Vectron MS locomotives from Siemens Mobility and Gama Marathon locomotives from Pesa Bydgoszcz. The financing from the sustainability-linked loan will secure funds necessary to purchase approximately 70 environmentally friendly locomotives.”

    The Norton Rose team included Warsaw-based Partner Grzegorz Dyczkowski, Counsels Joanna Braciszewska-Szarapa, Marta Kawecka, and Krzysztof Gorzelak, Senior Associate Igor Kondratowicz, and Associate Patryk Gelar as well as London-based Partner James Dunnett.

    The Clifford Chance team included Partners Irena Floras-Goode and Andrzej Stosio, Counsel Mateusz Chrusciak Senior Associate Wojciech Wator, Associate Piotr Weclawowicz, and Junior Associates Krzysztof Burda and Mateusz Leleno.