Category: Russia

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Russia has advised Mistral Wine on its acquisition of 200 hectares of vineyards and a winery in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai.

Mistral Wine is a food and alcohol producer and distributor. Mistral Alko, Mistral Wine’s parent company, is Russia’s exclusive distributor of Abkhazian wines and beverages. Its portfolio includes Italian, French, Spanish, Chilean, Serbian, Uruguayan, and Romanian wines. Mistral Alko wines are on sale in more than 160 cities across Russia.

The BCLP team was led by Partner Anton Panchenkov, assisted by Partner Yuri Chernobrivtsev, Counsels Dmitry Ilyin and Anton Nefedev, Senior Associate Kseniya Shevchenko and Associate Ragima Rashkueva.

BCLP did not reply to our inquiries about the deal. 

CMS has advised Bazil-Activ LLC, a subsidiary of a Russian commercial bank, on the EUR 28.2 million sale of the 60,000 square meter MainStreet Residential Complex Construction project in Moscow to the Osnova Group.

The transaction included rights to the land plots for the construction of the MainStreet business-class apartment complex and the set of permitting documents to implement the project. 

The CMS team was led by Counsel Artashes Oganov and included Associates Elizaveta Rakova, Alexander Zhuravkov, and Ophelia Amirova. 

Lawyers in Herbert Smith Freehills’s Moscow office have worked on the firm’s cross-border team advising BidFair USA regarding the merger control aspects of its USD 3.7 billion acquisition of international auction house Sotheby’s.

Lawyers in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Brussels, London, and Moscow offices advised and represented BidFair USA in relation to the merger control filings to the European Commission and the Federal Antimonopoly Service in Russia. The team also coordinated the merger control filing to the Fair Trade Commission in Taiwan.

Clearances were secured in the European Union and in Russia, and the Fair Trade Commission in Taiwan declined jurisdiction, well ahead of the anticipated completion date, expected to occur in the last three months of this year.

HSF’s Competition, Regulation and Trade group team consisted of Partner Kyriakos Fountoukakos and Senior Associates Camille Puech-Baron and Dafni Katrana in Brussels, Partner Mark Jephcott and Senior Associate Tom Kemp in London, and Of Counsel Evgeny Yuriev and Trainee Maria Akaemova in Moscow.

Lawyers in Herbert Smith Freehills’s Moscow office have worked on the firm’s cross-border team advising BidFair USA regarding the merger control aspects of its USD 3.7 billion acquisition of international auction house Sotheby’s.

Lawyers in Herbert Smith Freehills’ Brussels, London, and Moscow offices advised and represented BidFair USA in relation to the merger control filings to the European Commission and the Federal Antimonopoly Service in Russia. The team also coordinated the merger control filing to the Fair Trade Commission in Taiwan.

Clearances were secured in the European Union and in Russia, and the Fair Trade Commission in Taiwan declined jurisdiction, well ahead of the anticipated completion date, expected to occur in the last three months of this year.

HSF’s Competition, Regulation and Trade group team consisted of Partner Kyriakos Fountoukakos and Senior Associates Camille Puech-Baron and Dafni Katrana in Brussels, Partner Mark Jephcott and Senior Associate Tom Kemp in London, and Of Counsel Evgeny Yuriev and Trainee Maria Akaemova in Moscow.

CMS Russia has advised Bazil-Activ LLC on the RUB 2 billion sale of a development project in Moscow to the Osnova Group.

The deal included rights to the land plots for the construction of the MainStreet business class apartment complex and the set of permitting documents to implement the project. 

The new 60,000 square meter residential apartment complex will be built near Kutuzovsky Avenue.

Bazil-Activ belongs to Kit-Finance Trade, a part of the Kit Finance Investment Bank, which in 2014 merged with Absolut Bank, a Russian bank founded in 1993.

The CMS team was led by Counsel Artashes Oganov, supported by Associates Elizaveta Rakova, Alexander Zhuravkov, and Ophelia Amirova.

Clifford Chance Moscow has advised Societe Generale on a bilateral sustainability-linked credit facility of up to USD 75 million for Polymetal, a top-20 global gold producer and top-5 global silver producer with assets in Russia and Kazakhstan.

The facility incorporates an adjustment mechanism which links the pricing of the loan to five of Polymetal’s key environmental and social indicators: implementing a comprehensive climate management system, ensuring tailings storage safety, reducing fresh water use, maintaining occupational health and safety, and supporting and engaging local communities.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Partner Vladimir Barbolin, supported by Counsel Igor Bichenkov and Associate Arina Skrebkova.

Clifford Chance has advised GTLK Global Business, Russia’s largest leasing company, in connection with the ten-year lease of two coastal passenger vessels to Havila Kystruten AS, a Norwegian cruise operator.

The two vessels, 122.7 meters in length and 22 meters wide, are to be built by the Turkey’s Tersan Tersanecilik San. Ve Tic A.S. shipyard based on a design prepared by Norway’s Havyard Design & Solution. The vessels will be delivered on lease to Havila at the end of 2020 and enter operation in January 2021. They will use liquefied natural gas and battery hybrid propulsion and will operate on the Norwegian coastal route between Bergen and Kirkenes under a concession granted by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications. GTLK has committed to invest EUR 171.1 million in these vessels. 

The Clifford Chance team was led by London-based Partner Oliver Hipperson and Moscow-based Partner Victoria Bortkevicha, supported by London Associate Tom Capel and Moscow Senior Associate Vadim Turtsev.

Clifford Chance did not reply to our request for more information.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner Russia has advised Joom SIA on its acquisition of a 10% stake in on-line shopping platform iGooods.

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner describes Joom as “an international mobile market place available in more than a hundred countries and with offices in Latvia (HQ), Russia, Hong-Kong, and the USA. It was co-founded by Iliya Shirokov, ex-CEO at Odnoklassniki and founder of MoiKrug, the first social network in Russia. Its global audience reaches some 25 million active users a month. Joom users have access to deliveries from Asian markets and local vendors and brands, including globally renowned ones. They can also subscribe to news and offers from brands and updates and reviews from bloggers/influencers, as well as enjoying personalized product offerings and discounts.”

According to Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, “iGooods is a home and grocery delivery service from the largest hypermarkets: Metro, Lenta, Karusel, Prisma, Globus, Selgros, VkusVill, & Magnit. Delivery is carried out [within] 90 minutes on the day of order! Currently iGooods operates in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Belgorod, Orenburg, and Surgut.”

The Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner team was led by Partner Ekaterina Dedova and Associate Ragima Rashkueva and included Counsels Nikolay Kholshev and Anton Nefedev and Junior Associates Mikhail Erokhin and Gleb Liubochko. 

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner did not reply to our inquiry about counsel for IGooods.

Clifford Chance has advised the Baikal Mining Company on an agreement with Renaissance Heavy Industries for the construction of the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical Plant. Baker McKenzie reportedly advised Renaissance on the deal, which is valued at approximately EUR 380 million.

Renaissance is to build an integrated plant that will include ore-dressing, leaching, and crushing facilities as well as a conveyor line. The contractor will also conduct testing and installation of technological equipment supplied by Outotec. Construction is expected to be completed in 2022.

Clifford Chance describes Udokan (in the Zabaikalye region of Russia) as “the largest undeveloped copper deposit in Russia and one of the largest in the world.” According to the firm, “the project is being financed under a syndicated loan of up to USD 1.79 billion provided by VEB.RF, Gazprombank, and Sberbank. It is expected to result in the creation of 2,400 jobs on the project itself and as many as 20,000 jobs in related industries.”

The Clifford Chance team was led by London-based Partner Sandy Hall and Moscow-based Counsel Ella Omelchenko, supported by London-based Senior Associate Irina Steinberg and Moscow-based Associate Nikolay Nesterov.

The St. Petersburg office of Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners has successfully deflected a claim submitted by the bankruptcy trustee in the Transaero bankruptcy case, which the firm describes as “one of the biggest bankruptcy cases in modern Russian history.”

According to EPAM, the firm, representing the airline’s founders, “secured a full dismissal of the bankruptcy trustee’s demand for the return of more than RUB 80 million in dividends paid out to the founders, as well as over RUB 24 million in interest, when the case was heard at the North-Western District Arbitrazh Court.”

The EPAM team was led by St. Petersburg Managing Partner Ivan Smirnov and included Counsel Evgeny Gurchenko, Senior Associate Artem Magunov, and Associates Alexander Svashenko, Ays Lidzhanova, and Yulia Sevostyanova.

^{Image source: www.businessdestinations.com}