Category: Poland

Schoenherr, working with Ashurst, has advised Aviva Investors on the acquisition of a 51% majority shareholding in Connected Infrastructure Capital.

Aviva Investors is the asset manager of Aviva plc.

Connected Infrastructure Capital is a Hamburg-based renewable energy developer specializing in wind energy projects in Central and Northern Europe.

The Schoenherr team included Partners Pawel Halwa, Grzegorz Filipowicz, and Katarzyna Sulimierska, Counsel Pawel Kulk, Senior Attorney at Law Adam Nowosielski, Attorney at Law Ewelina Adamczyk, and Associate and Karina Krzoska.

Schoenherr was unable to provide additional information on the matter.

Addleshaw Goddard has entered the Polish market via an agreement with Linklaters to transfer the former’s Warsaw office.

The office will be led by Managing Partners Janusz Dzianachowski and Marcin Schulz, who were at the helm of Linklaters Warsaw as well.

According to Addleshaw Goddard, this addition – agreed with Linklaters and its Warsaw partners –reinforces the firm’s “commitment to supporting the growing demands of its clients in Central and Eastern Europe and bolsters its presence in key global markets. The new Warsaw office will serve as a regional hub, enabling the firm to deliver enhanced legal expertise and tailored services to clients across Poland, the CEE region, and Turkey.” The transaction is anticipated to be completed on April 30, 2025, subject to both Addleshaw Goddard and Linklaters Partner votes.

“We are delighted that the Warsaw office of Linklaters has agreed to join Addleshaw Goddard,” said Addleshaw Goddard Managing Partner Andrew Johnston. “It is an important and exciting milestone in our international expansion journey. Warsaw is a vital economic and business hub in Central Europe, and this expansion allows us to better meet the needs of our clients, who are increasingly seeking support across borders in this dynamic region.”

“We are very pleased that our Warsaw team will be transferring to Addleshaw Goddard where they will have the scope to continue to develop and deliver for clients as part of a firm for which Poland is a growth opportunity,” commented Linklaters Firmwide Managing Partner Paul Lewis. “We are grateful for the team’s contribution to Linklaters over many years and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.”

Linklaters will continue to operate its Warsaw-based Linklaters Service Delivery Centre which supports the firm’s operations globally.

DLA Piper has advised the H&M Group on a long-term corporate power purchase agreement with R.Power to supply 50 gigawatt-hours of solar-generated electricity annually for H&M’s operations in Poland.

According to DLA Piper, the clean power will support H&M’s stores, distribution centers, and offices, aligning with the company’s goal to reduce absolute scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 56% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline and to source 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

The DLA Piper team included Warsaw-based Partner Oskar Waluskiewicz and Counsel Monika Leszko as well as further lawyers in London and Leeds.

DLA Piper did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Wardynski & Partners has advised Hollywood Group on the sale of all shares in HTS Rental to Lindstrom. MFW Fialek advised the buyers.

HTS Rental is a Polish textile servicing and rental industry company. Hollywood Group, backed by PE fund 21 Concordia, operates in various segments of the laundry services industry and the rental of workwear and bed linen, as well as other textile assortments.

The Wardynski & Partners team included Partner Jakub Lerner, Counsel Piotr Zabkiewicz, and Lawyer Waldemar Orynski.

The MFW Fialek team included Partner Miroslaw Fialek, Senior Associates Mariusz Domagala, Krzysztof Drzymala, Michal Kret, and Pawel Siwiec, Associates Wojciech Lichterowicz and Jakub Wilk, and Junior Associates Franciszek Furmaniak and Maximilian Gnat.

Clifford Chance, working with Trigon, has advised Total Specific Solutions on its acquisition of a minority stake of up to 25% in Asseco Poland via subsidiary Yukon Niebieski Kapital. White & Case advised Asseco. Dubinski, Jelenski, Masiarz and Partners reportedly advised the shareholders, Adam Goral Family Foundation.

According to Clifford Chance, the deal is conditional upon receiving necessary regulatory clearances, and TSS will cooperate with the Adam Goral Family Foundation under a shareholders’ agreement.

TSS, a subsidiary of Topicus.com, is a European provider of vertical market software and vertical market platforms. 

The Clifford Chance team included Managing Partner Agnieszka Janicka, Of Counsels Nick Fletcher and Marcin Bartnicki, Counsels Iwona Terlecka, Jaroslaw Lorenc, and Tomasz Szekalski, and Associates Marcin Waszynski and Kamila Hora.

The White & Case team included Partner Marcin Studniarek, Local Partners Bartosz Smardzewski and Jakub Gubanski, and Associates Damian Lubocki, Dawid Ksiazek, and Iwo Malobecki.

CK Legal Chabasiewicz Kowalska has advised Kruk on its PLN 100 million bond issuance.

Kruk operates in the debt collection industry across Poland and Central Europe. It has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2011.

According to CK Legal, “this time, the number of AP3 series bonds increased from 700,000 to 1 million, reaching a total nominal value of PLN 100 million. The bond offering was concluded with a proportional subscription reduction of 75.80%.”

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

The Export Credit Insurance Corporation (Korporacja Ubezpieczeń Kredytów Eksportowych; “KUKE”) is the only export credit agency in Poland providing export insurance for trade security in high-risk markets guaranteed by the Polish State Treasury, regulated by the Polish Act of 7 July 1994 on Insurance Guaranteed by the State Treasury.

KUKE offers a wide range of insurance guarantees, such as insurance guarantees for payment of receivables related to letters of credit, supplier credit insurance, buyer credit insurance, forfaiting and insurance guarantees issued at any stage of the export contract execution, as well as other insurance policies for entrepreneurs in politically unstable markets, small-scale entrepreneurs and others.

Recently, KUKE introduced “green guarantees” (zielone gwarancje) (the “Guarantees”) as a form of green financing, which aim to increase engagement in ESG-related activities. First, the Guarantees will help companies obtain financing for projects related to energy transitions and climate neutrality investment projects. Second, they will help banks acting as lenders limit the risk related to green investments and increase the scale at which they can operate in such transactions.

KUKE lists such projects as, among others:

• electricity production using low-carbon technologies;
• manufacture of equipment for the production and use of hydrogen;
• infrastructure supporting low-carbon transport, road transport and public transport.

KUKE has announced that in the 2024-2025 period, it will allocate PLN 10bln for the Guarantees alone, with a potential increase if demand proves considerable. It is reported that KUKE’s instruments can secure up to 80 % of the value of the financing, so that banks will assume only 20 % of the risk. As a result, the programme could increase the pool of loans for green projects in the Polish economy to PLN 50bln, marking a significant step in Poland’s green transition.

The specificity of green projects requires obtaining financial security in an extensive period, which is made possible by the Guarantees, as some of them provide for a financing security period of up to 22 years – a major change from the five- to seven-year market average.

Currently, several Polish banks have already declared their cooperation with KUKE, including Santander Bank, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Credit Agricole and PKO BP.

The Guarantees provided by KUKE show great potential for enhancing ESG investments, which could prove to be a considerable benefit not only for green companies but also banks, who can now support such endeavours with increased security, as well as the Polish environment as a whole. In addition, it provides for extended crediting capabilities, as banks now have a wider range of potential activity.

By Weronika Kapica, Partner, and Milosz Zolich, Legal Trainee, Schoenherr

Peterka Partners has opened a new office in Rzeszow, the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

According to Peterka Partners, the Rzeszow office will be helmed by Senior Associates Dagmara Klimek and Dawid Lewicki. Initially, the team will comprise approximately 6–8 lawyers. 

Klimek has been with Peterka Partners since 2022 when she joined as a Senior Associate. Earlier, she worked for JDP as an Associate between 2020 and 2021. Earlier still, she worked at Izabela Szpyt Law Office, first as a Legal Assistant between 2015 and 2016, then as a Lawyer between 2016 and 2017, and finally as a Trainee Attorney at Law between 2018 and 2020.

Lewicki has been with the firm since 2022 when he joined as a Senior Associate. Earlier, he worked for Jobs Skowronska Samsel Attorneys at Law as an Associate between 2021 and 2022. Earlier still, he was a Prosecutors Assistant between 2018 and 2021 and a Trainee Attorney at Law with Tokarczyk and Partners between 2014 and 2018.

A&O Shearman has advised LaSalle Investment Management on the sale of the Wronia 31 office building in Warsaw’s Central Business District to UNIQA Real Estate Management. Koda reportedly advised UNIQA. Schoenherr reportedly advised on the deal as well.

Situated in Warsaw’s Central Business District, the Wronia 31 office building was developed by Ghelamco and was acquired by LaSalle Investment Management in 2019.

The A&O Shearman team included Partner Michal Matera, Counsel Piotr Przybylski, Attorney at Law Natalia Stys, Associate Julia Pytko, and Paralegal Aleksander Tarasiewicz.

Act Legal has advised Victoria Dom on its bond issuance under the developer’s Third Public Bond Issue Program.

According to Act Legal, the issuance raised PLN 50 million in total nominal value, with an average oversubscription reduction rate of over 67%. The issuance was based on the base prospectus approved by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority in November 2024. 

In 2023, Act Legal advised Victoria Dom on its bond issuance program prospectus (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 31, 2023).

The Act Legal team included Managing Partners Piotr Wojnar and Piotr Smoluch, Partner Sebastian Sury, Senior Associates Katarzyna Krzykwa and Lukasz Swiatek, and Associate Hanna Szczepanska-Rowicka.