Category: Deals and Cases

TGS Baltic has advised the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund on the agreement to fully acquire the Galinta Group. Lewben advised Galinta.

Closing is expected in early 2024, pending regulatory approval.

According to the firm, the Galinta Group is one of the largest producers of buckwheat in Europe and one of the leading producers and traders of flakes, rice, and other groats in the Baltic region.

The INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund is a private equity fund operating in the Baltics. Galinta is the ninth portfolio investment for the INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund.

“We believe that the plant-based food sector has strong potential for growth and Lithuania demonstrates a competitive advantage in the field of food processing, especially in the grain segment,” INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund Managing Partner Deimante Korsakaite commented. “Sustainability is gaining more and more leverage in society today. Therefore, post-acquisition we will not only target product development but also strengthen sustainability-related initiatives in the company’s day-to-day activities.”

The TGS Baltic team included Lithuania-based Partner Dalia Tamasauskaite-Ziliene and Senior Associates Indre Vickaite-Liatuke, Jonas Salna, Simas Paukstys, and Vytautas Bradauskas; and Latvia-based Senior Associate Mara Stabulniece and Associate Eliza Silina.

Kinstellar, working with Veil Jourde, has advised Jacquet Metals on its acquisition of several distribution companies from the Swiss Steel Group. Niederer Kraft Frey and Roedl & Partner reportedly advised the Swiss Steel Group.

Jacquet Metals is a European company operating in the customization and distribution of specialty metals.

The Swiss Steel Group operates in the production of specialty long steel. 

The Kinstellar team included Prague-based Partner Jan Juroska and Senior Associate Matej Vecera, Bratislava-based Associates Livia Miklencicova and Richard Remenik, and Budapest-based Partner Gabor Gelencser and Senior Associate Judit Sos.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CEE Legal Matters learned that Lextal had advised Jacquet Metals as well. The firm’s team included Estonia-based Partner Kristi Sild and Attorney at Law Martin Nikolajev; Lithuania-based Partners Dziuginta Balciune and Lina Siksniute-Vaitiekuniene and Associate Jolanta Borko; and Latvia-based Partner Liene Pommere and Lawyer Anna Losane.

Zepos & Yannopoulos has advised DEPA Commercial on its joint venture with GEK Terna and Gener 2 for the development of a thermal electricity production unit in Albania.

According to Zepos & Yannopoulos, “DEPA Commercial will hold a 35% stake in Fier Thermoelectric SHA’s equity capital. The latter was founded in September 2022 by GEK Terna and Albania-based Gener 2 to construct and operate the natural gas-fired unit, with a capacity of 174 megawatts, at the Relievi Roskovec site. DEPA’s investment in this JV marks the expansion of DEPA’s activities in a new market through a strategic partnership aiming to contribute to the energy stability of the region.”

The Zepos & Yannopoulos team included Partners Stefanos Charaktiniotis, Stamatis Drakakakis, and Anastasia Makri, Senior Associates Marilisa Myrat and Smaragda Spyrou, and Associates Ellie Gavriilidou and Gina Goudoulia.

Zepos & Yannopoulos did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Herbst Kinsky and WKB Lawyers have advised TX Logistik in the merger control proceedings before the Austrian and Polish competition authorities for its acquisition of Exploris Deutschland Holding, with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe reportedly advising on the proceedings in Germany.

TX Logistik, with its headquarters in Troisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, is a rail transport company with connections in eleven European countries, having subsidiaries in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, and Sweden. It is wholly owned by Mercitalia Logistics, a subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Italy’s national state-owned railway holding company.

Exploris, part of the Hamburg-headquartered Exploris Group, is a European rail freight transportation company active in the logistics and railway sector with subsidiaries in Germany, Poland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. Group companies of Exploris include, amongst others, Via Cargo, HSL Logistik, and Delta Rail.

The Herbst Kinsky team included Attorney at Law Valerie Mayer and Associate Valerie Krischke.

The WKB team included Counsel Wojciech Kulczyk and Associates Weronika Wojcik and Filip Rybak.

Ellex, working alongside Baker McKenzie, has advised Culligan International on its acquisition of Primo Water Corporation’s European business in an all-cash transaction valued at up to USD 575 million.

According to Ellex, the transaction excludes the Aimia Foods, United Kingdom, Portugal, and Israel businesses of Primo Water Corporation.

Culligan International is a portfolio company of BDT Capital Partners. Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, it is a global water treatment company.

Primo Water Corporation is a sustainable drinking water service provider

The Ellex team included Lithuania-based Partner Jaunius Gumbis and Senior Associate Nerijus Patlabys, Latvia-based Senior Partner Filips Klavins, Associate Partners Irina Rozensteina and Anete Puce-Dimitrovska, and Senior Associate Ints Skaldis, and Estonia-based Partner Gerli Kivisoo and Senior Associate Hanna Pahk.

Ellex was unable to provide additional information on the deal.

Eversheds Sutherland member Tsvetkova Bebov and Partners, working alongside White & Case, has advised Energo-Pro on an issue of USD 300 million bonds due 2028. Reportedly, BLC Law Office and GKC Partners advised on the issuance as well while Allen & Overy, Boyanov & Co, and Gedik Eraksoy advised the banks involved.

Earlier, White & Case, TBP, and Spasov & Bratanov advised Energo-Pro on a EUR 300 million bond issuance (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 2, 2023).

The Eversheds Sutherland team included Managing Partner Nikolay Bebov, Partner Damyan Leshev, and Principal Associate Yassen Spassov.

Koutalidis has advised Alpha Bank on its partnership with UniCredit in Greece and Romania.

According to Koutalidis, the partnership entails the “Merger of Romanian subsidiaries and creation of third largest bank in Romania by total assets, with Alpha Bank retaining a 9.9% stake; establishment of a commercial partnership framework in Greece to distribute UniCredit’s asset management and unit-linked products to Alpha Bank’s 3.5 million clients and creation of a joint venture in pension-saving products with UniCredit becoming a 51% shareholder in AlphaLife; and the acquisition by UniCredit from the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund of all the shares that HFSF held in Alpha Services and Holdings, namely a stake of 8,9781%.”

The Koutalidis team included Partners Nikos Salakas and Effie Papoutsi.

Koutalidis did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Kyriakides Georgopoulos announced it had advised the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund on the disposal of its 8,9781% stake in Alpha Services and Holdings SA to UniCredit. The firm’s team included Partners Konstantinos Vouterakos, Ioanna Antonopoulou, and Apostolos Georgantas and Associates Marianna Katsifi and Athanasios Misirlis.

Dimitrov, Petrov & Co has advised TPXImpact Holdings on the sale of its subsidiaries Questers Resourcing and Questers Bulgaria to Estonia-based software developer Nortal. Reportedly, Charles Russell Speechly and Konecna & Zacha advised Nortal.

TPXImpact Holdings is an IT service management company.

According to DPC, “founded in 2007 by Bulgarian and British entrepreneurs, the target of the EUR 8.7 million transaction is a software development company that designs, builds, and manages specialized teams across a range of technologies and industries.”

The DPC team included Managing Partner Zoya Todorova, Partner Boyana Milcheva, Senior Associate Radina Tomanova, and Associate Ivan Alexander Manev.

Radovanovic, Stojanovic & Partners, working with Gianni & Origoni and Schindler Attorneys, has advised the shareholders of SKS365 Group on the sale of SKS365, including its Serbian subsidiaries, to the Italian Lottomatica Group. Sidley advised the Lottomatica Group.

According to RSP, “the acquisition, valued at an Enterprise Value of EUR 639 million, is subject to competition and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in H1 2024.”

SKS365 Group is an omnichannel operator in the Italian online and sports betting market. It currently has approximately 600,000 registered online customers, valuable brands – including Planetwin365 and PlanetPay365 – and a network of about 1,000 retail sports betting outlets.

The RSP team included Partners Sasa Stojanovic, Anja Tasic, and Nikola Cincovic, Attorneys at Law Djordje Vicic, Zivko Kovacevic, Luka Radojevic, and Isidora Grabez, and Associate Irina Petrovic.

The Schindler Attorneys team included Partners Clemens Schindler and Martin Abram, Senior Associate Daniel Kropf, and Associate Stephan Bartmann.

The Sidley team was led by Partner Ramy Wahbeh.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Wolf Theiss announced it had advised the Lottomatica Group as well. The firm’s team included Partners Markus Bruckmueller, Miroslav Stojanovic, and Aleksandar Ristic, Counsels Marijana Zejakovic, Marko Tesanovic, Vidak Kovacevic, and Harald Strahberger, Senior Associates Lukas Ploesch, Milan Novakov, Jovan Micovic, Katarina Randjelovic, Magdalena Ziembicka, Philipp Wrabetz, Pascal Gstoettner, and Katarina Mikulova, and Associates Vjera Vlahovic and Katarina Kracun.

BDK Advokati, Dentons, and Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen have advised Invenio Partners on the segmentation – together with Accession Capital Partners – of the vocational education division of the Link Group. The Antonic law firm in cooperation with Deloitte advised the Link Group and its two shareholders on the sale. Gladei & Partners reportedly advised Invenio as well. Schoenherr and Norton Rose Fulbright reportedly advised ACP.

Invenio describes the Link Group as a leading professional education business in Southeast Europe. “Link’s vocational division has been providing successful education for over two decades and enjoys a market-leading position in the B2C segment in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Moldova. The company educates over 6,000 students annually, online and in classrooms, across numerous countries through its IT Academy, Internet Academy, and Business Academy.”

“Invenio and ACP will support Link’s leadership team to expand the company’s geographic footprint. Alongside this, the company’s product offering will be further developed to serve the constantly growing need for upskilling of young professionals while introducing new programs to meet the dynamic requirements of the B2B segment,” the investors reported.

The BDK Advokati team included Senior Partner Vladimir Dasic, Partner Dragoljub Sretenovic, and Junior Associate Andjela Susljik.

The Dentons team included Istanbul-based Partner Tamsyn Mileham and Budapest-based Partner Rob Irving and Senior Associate Sebastian Ishiguro.

The Deloitte Legal team included Belgrade-based Local Legal Partner Stefan Antonic and Attorneys At Law Mirjana Mladenovic, Srdjan Sijakinjic, and Veljko Nesic.

The NNDKP team included Partner Gabriela Cacerea and Senior Associate Mihai Fifoiu.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Gladei & Partners confirmed it had advised Invenio. The firm’s team included Managing Partner Roger Gladei, Senior Associate Dan Nicoara, Associate Pavel Spatari, and Junior Associate Catalina Stavila.