Category: Poland

Wardynski & Partners, working with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, has advised the Barnes Group on its acquisition of MB Aerospace for an enterprise value of USD 740 million. WKB Lawyers, working with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, advised Blackstone portfolio company MB Aerospace on the sale. 

According to a Barnes Group press statement, BofA Securities is providing the company with committed bridge financing for the acquisition. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approval.

According to WKB, the Barnes Group is part of Barnes Aerospace, “a global provider of complex fabricated and precision machined components and assemblies for turbine engines, nacelle, airframes, industrial gas turbines, and military OEMs. The acquisition of MB Aerospace is the largest acquisition in the history of the Barnes Group.”

MB Aerospace is a provider of precision aero-engine component manufacturing and repair services for major aerospace and defense engine manufacturers, suppliers, and maintenance, repair, and operations providers. The company is based in the UK and operates ten facilities with over 1,400 employees in the US, UK, Poland, and Taiwan.

“The acquisition of MB Aerospace, the largest in Barnes’ history, is a transformational opportunity that is a significant catalyst for our already world-class aerospace business,” Barnes President and CEO Thomas Hook commented. “MB is an exceptional strategic fit for us with highly complementary program focus, global operations, technical capabilities, and product offerings. Like Barnes Aerospace, MB possesses a history and culture of operational and technical excellence through a skilled workforce, and a global footprint that will help us drive productivity across the combined entity.”

The Wardynski & Partners team included Partners Jakub Lerner, Monika Gorska, Marcin Wujczyk, Antoni Bolecki, Michal Glinski, and Joanna Prokurat and Lawyers Piotr Zabkiewicz, Andrzej Madala, Marcin Rzysko, Anna Olejniczak-Michalska, Karolina Romanowska, and Waldemar Orynski.

The WKB team included Partner Ben Davey and Lawyer John Kedzierski.

Cytowski & Partners has advised Poland-based ElevenLabs on its USD 19 million series A financing with Andreessen Horowitz, Nat Friedman, and Daniel Gross. Gunderson Dettmer reportedly advised Andreessen Horowitz.

According to Cytowski & Partners, “in addition, the round was joined by various strategic Silicon Valley angel investors, including Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, Oculus VR co-founder Brendan Iribe, Ubiquity6 co-founder Anjney Midha, Deepmind & Inflection co-founder Mustafa Suleyman, Perplexity AI co-founder Aravind Srinivas, Vercel founder Guillermo Rauch, O’Reilly Media founder Tim O’Reilly, Creator Ventures, and SV Angel. Follow-on investors Credo Ventures and Concept Ventures also participated.”

According to the firm, ElevenLabs, a voice technology research company, “has gathered over one million registered users who have generated over ten years worth of audio content.”

“Over the last five months, we’ve seen our technology embraced by millions of creators, companies, and curious minds,” ElevenLabs CEO and co-founder Mati Staniszewski commented. ”We are right at the beginning of this journey and now with Nat, Daniel, and Andreessen Horowitz joining, we have the best partners as we continue on the ambitious path forward.”

“Since our inception in April 2022 we have focused on assembling a great team – one of the key factors for long-term success – and have built a unique team of talented, passionate, and hard-working people,”  ElevenLabs CTO and co-founder Piotr Dabkowski added. “With such a wonderful set of colleagues and partners, we are well on our way to realizing our ambition of completely breaking down language barriers with technology.”

Back in January, Cytowski & Partners also advised ElevenLabs on its USD 2 million pre-seed financing round with Credo Ventures, Concept Ventures, and angel investors (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 27, 2023). 

The Cytowski & Partners team included Partner Tytus Cytowski, Counsel Michal Fert, and Associates Eresi Uche, Kunal Kolhe, Fabiana Morales Centurion, and Heidi Fan.

White & Case has advised the STS Holding and its majority shareholders – MJ Foundation and Fundacja Zbigniew Juroszek – on the sale of the company to Entain Holdings. Clifford Chance and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer reportedly advised Entain.

The STS Holding is Poland’s largest sports betting operator. Entain CEE is a regional regulated betting and gaming company. The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

According to White & Case, “the PLN 24.80 per share sale of the shares in STS Holding to Entain CEE, via a voluntary tender offer, values the company at nearly PLN 4 billion. The Juroszek family foundations currently hold nearly 70% of STS Holding’s share capital and accepted the offer to sell their 109.6 million shares to Entain CEE.”

According to the firm, “following the successful completion of the tender offer, the Juroszek family foundations – which are controlled by Mateusz Juroszek and Zbigniew Juroszek – will reinvest a proportion of the sold shares in STS Holding in return for an economic stake in Entain CEE, a venture between the London Stock Exchange-listed Entain Group and Czech Republic investment fund EMMA Capital.”

Back in 2021, White & Case had also advised on STS Holding’s Warsaw IPO (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 17, 2021).

The White & Case team included Warsaw-based Partner Marcin Studniarek, Local Partners Bartosz Smardzewski and Jakub Gubanski, and Associates Damian Lubocki, Dawid Ksiazek, and Maciej Gac as well as London-based Partner Philip Broke.

Allen & Overy has advised Polenergia on a PLN 300 million financing provided by Santander Bank Polska and Bank Pekao. Clifford Chance advised the banks.

Polenergia is Poland’s largest private energy group.

According to Allen & Overy, the financing was provided for ”Polenergia Group’s strategic purposes in line with the group’s strategy for 2020-2024.”

The Allen & Overy team included Partner Tomasz Kawczynski and Associates Karolina Piorkowska and Rafal Roziecki.

The Clifford Chance team included Partner Andrzej Stosio and Counsel Michal Jadwisiak.

Rymarz Zdort Maruta has advised both mBank Hipoteczny and mBank on spinning off a part of mBank Hipoteczny’s business and transferring it to mBank.

According to the firm, mBank Hipoteczny transferred to mBank a portfolio of active mortgages, mainly those financing commercial real estate, and a team of top-class specialists with this being the first demerger of a mortgage bank in Poland.

Part of the mBank Group, mBank Hipoteczny is the longest-operating mortgage bank in Poland and a long-standing issuer of mortgage bonds, according to Rymarz Zdort Maruta. mBank has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1992.

The Rymarz Zdort Maruta team consisted of Partners Lukasz Gasinski and Katarzyna Lukaszewicz, Senior Associate Szymon Cieniawski, and Associates Anna Aranowska and Adam Drgas.

DZP has advised the consortium of Centrum Elektronicznych Uslug Platniczych eService, PKO Bank Polski, and TECS Telecommunication & E-Commerce Solutions on a procedure conducted by the Ministry of Finance for the implementation of a 24/7 service for handling non-cash payments made by road toll system users in Poland.

According to DZP, “representatives of the winning consortium executed a contract with the Ministry of Finance worth more than PLN 20 million, which may be increased by a further PLN 5 million. The contract covers the provision of services involving the handling of non-cash road toll payments made by users of national roads managed by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways and ensuring that the payments are correctly transferred by the toll collector – the Head of the National Revenue Administration – to the National Road Fund. The contractor is responsible for, inter alia, collecting tolls on selected sections of motorways (A2 and A4), expressways, and national roads managed by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways.”

Back in 2020, DZP advised TECS on a similar e-toll tender (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 19, 2020).

The DZP team included Partner Katarzyna Kuzma, Counsel Tomasz Michalczyk, and Senior Associate Michal Gajdek.

Former DWF Partner Rafal Morek has joined CMS’s dispute resolution team in Poland as Partner, along with Jan Markiewicz as Counsel and Andrzej Girdwoyn as Associate.

Morek, who will head the CMS Arbitration team, had been with DWF Poland since May 2019, when DWF took over K&L Gates’ office in Warsaw (reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 2, 2019).

Morek first joined K&L Gates in 2010. Before that, he was an Advocate with Hogan & Hartson between 2008 and 2010 and a Junior Lawyer with Dewey Ballantine between 2002 and 2004.

“The experience and track record which Rafal, Jan, and Andrzej contribute to the firm will strengthen our position on the market,” commented Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution practice at CMS Poland Anna Cudna-Wagner. “It will also open up new opportunities for us in arbitration and construction and infrastructural advice. We seek constantly to develop our Dispute Resolution practice, and more lawyers will be joining us soon.”

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has successfully represented PORR in two appeal proceedings before the National Appeal Chamber concerning the outcome of tenders for the expansion of Ore Quay III and Bytom Quay at the Port of Gdansk.

PORR is a European construction company.

According to DZP, “the two projects are part of the modernization of the Port of Gdansk, and bids for the reconstruction of the quays were opened in autumn 2022. Five bids were received for the Rudowe III section, while seven contractors submitted tenders for the Bytom section. The most advantageous bids in both tenders were considered to be those of Strabag. Appeals against these decisions were filed by several economic operators, including our client.”

According to the firm, “the NAC upheld PORR’s arguments that, inter alia, the other economic operators’ bids did not comply with the terms of reference and that the prices were abnormally low. In both proceedings, the NAC invalidated the selection of the most advantageous bids and ordered that they be reassessed and that the bids questioned by our client be rejected.”

Finally, DZP reported that “PORR’s bids for the two investments amounted to PLN 91.4 million for the reconstruction of Ore Quay III (for a section of approximately 250 meters) and PLN 50.79 million for the reconstruction of Bytom Quay (a section of 204 meters). Thanks to the NAC’s decision, when the bids were reassessed by the contracting authority, Zarzad Morskiego Portu Gdansk, [PORR] was given the opportunity to conclude contracts for both investments.”

The DZP team included Partner Katarzyna Kuzma, Counsel Tomasz Michalczyk, and Associate Cyprian Herl.

Clifford Chance has advised organizer and exclusive dealer Ipopema Securities on Echo Investment’s issuance of five-year unsecured bonds with a total value of PLN 140 million.

Echo Investment is a real estate market company in Poland.

According to Clifford Chance, the “interest rate was determined based on the variable WIBOR 6-month rate increased by a margin for investors. In relation to the issue, Ipopema Securities acts, among other things, as the organizer and exclusive dealer of the issue. The money obtained from the bond issue will be used to strengthen the leading position on the real estate market in Poland.”

Earlier this year, Clifford Chance advised Ipopema Securities on the establishment of Echo Investment’s bond program and a PLN 180 million issuance (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 5, 2023). Back in 2020, the firm also advised mBank on Echo Investment’s PLN 150 million bond issuance (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 13, 2020).

The Clifford Chance team included Partner Milosz Golab, Counsel Aleksandra Rudzinska, and Lawyer Zuzanna Bartczak.

Katowice-based GFKK Grzybczyk Kaminski Gawlik has advised Alicja Kubicka and Borja Martinez – of the Interplay Architects studio – on striking an agreement with the Polish Investment and Trade Agency for the design of Poland’s Pavilion at the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition in Osaka.

According to GFKK, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency “is responsible for preparing Poland’s presence at EXPO 2025. The theme of the upcoming EXPO will be ‘Designing the Future Society for Our Life.’ It will be implemented through three sub-themes: Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Life to Others. The organizers expect participants from over 150 countries and over 28 million visitors.”

GFKK’s team included Partner Michal Grzybczyk and Trainee Attorney at Law Marta Zeredzinska-Le.

GFKK did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.