Category: Deals and Cases

Boyanov & Co has advised BioIVT on its acquisition of Fidelis Research. Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka, BDK Advokati, Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen, and Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli have advised BioIVT on Croatian, Serbian, Romanian, and Turkish law-related matters, respectively. Hristov & Partners advised Integrity Capital Investments on the sale. Penkov Markov & Partners advised the other sellers.

BioIVT provides biospecimens, research models, and drug and diagnostic development services. The company specializes in control and disease-state biospecimens including human and animal tissues, cell products, blood, and other biofluids.

Fidelis Research is a Sofia-headquartered clinical biospecimen collection network in Southeastern Europe.

“This transaction further increases the scale and depth of BioIVT’s global operations by adding new clinical collection sites, which are predominantly hospital-based, focused on oncology, heme-oncology, and autoimmune cases. We now have an exemplary global footprint for the collection and provision of high-quality, fully annotated, disease-state biospecimens in Europe, Asia, and the US,” BioIVT CEO Richard Haigh commented. “Through Fidelis Research, we deepen our presence in Europe and can provide our clients with a broad array of fresh, clinically collected, disease-state tissues and biofluids, and expanded cell products globally.”

The Boyanov & Co team was led by Partner Yordan Naydenov and included Senior Counsel Svetlina Kortenska, Counsel Mihail Vishanin, and Senior Associate Nedyalka Novakova.

The DTB team included Managing Partner Emir Bahtijarevic and Attorneys-at-Law Dina Salapic and Dominik Glavina.

BDK Advokati’s team consisted of Senior Partner Vladimir Dasic, Senior Associates Jelena Zelenbaba and Marija Gligorevic, and Associate Bozidar Simovic.

The NNDKP team included Partners Gabriela Cacerea and Anca Pascu, Counsel Madalina Panca, Senior Associate Mihai Fifoiu, and Associate Oana Popescu.

The Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli team included Managing Partner Umut Kolcuoglu, Partner Bihter Bozbay Inan, Managing Associate Alp Ercetin, Associates Tugce Ecem Evin, Berkay Unel, and Duygu Yurtal, and Trainee Associate Serra Nur Kahvecioglu.

The Hristov & Partners team included Partner Pavel Hristov and Senior Associate Dragomir Stefanov.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Penkov Markov & Partners announced that its team was led by Managing Partner Nikolay Cvetanov and included Partner Roman Stoyanov and Senior Associate Boris Lazarov.

Zivkovic Samardzic has advised the Arriva Group on the divestment of its Arriva Litas business in Serbia to Mutares. 

The deal also included the divestment of Arriva’s Danish business and that of Arriva Bus Transport Polska, its bus business in Poland. The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

UK-based Arriva Group, a European passenger transport service provider, is part of the German Deutsche Bahn, a passenger and logistics company.

Munich-based Mutares is an international financial investor. According to Zivkovic Samardzic, Mutares “acquires medium-sized companies and parts of groups with headquarters in Europe, that are being sold in the course of a repositioning process of their owners and show a clear potential for operational improvement.”

According to Zivkovic Samardzic, “the sale covers the entire Danish business, including the bus, water bus, and rail businesses, its franchise in the car-sharing company Share Now and UCplus, a nationwide education center; the entire Serbian business, which is the second largest private bus operator in Serbia; and the Polish bus business, which operates city-based public transport contracts and regional services.”

The Zivkovic Samardzic team included Partners Igor Zivkovski and Sava Pavlovic.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CMS announced that it advised Mutares on the deal. The firm’s team included Germany-based Partner Michael Wangemann, Counsel Navid Anderson, and Senior Associate Florian Kamienke, Poland-based Partners Blazej Zagorski, Senior Associates Joanna Bialoskorska and Magdalena Czenko, Associate Kinga Mogilnicka, and Lawyer Aleksandra Dalecka, and Serbia-based Partner Radivoje Petrikic and Lawyers Tamara Samardzija, Milica Tomic, and Mila Drljevic.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Rymarz Zdort, and Filip & Company have advised One Equity Partners on its acquisition of Muehlhan’s European and US businesses. Reportedly, Eversheds Sutherland member firm Tsvetkova, Bebov & Partners advised the buyer in Bulgaria, while Bech-Bruun, Georgiades & Pelides, and CLP advised the buyer in Denmark, Cyprus, and Norway.

Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approval.

One Equity Partners is a New York-headquartered private equity investment firm, focusing on the industrial, healthcare, and technology sectors in North America and Europe.

Muehlhan is a Hamburg-headquartered surface protection solutions provider catering to the marine, infrastructure, and offshore wind energy industries.

“We believe that OEP will accelerate our growth strategy of providing industrial services to the three core industries: wind energy, marine, and infrastructure, extending our geographic reach and broadening our service portfolio,” Muehlhan CEO Stefan Muller-Arends commented. “OEP has a long track record of driving their investments forward, especially through strategic add-on acquisitions.”

The Freshfields team included Vienna-based Associate Daniel Metz, as well as lawyers from the firm’s Frankfurt, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris, and New York offices.

The Rymarz Zdort team included Partner Monika Kierepa, Counsel Marek Kanczew, Senior Associate Honorata Skibicka, and Associates Kamila Banas, Filip Goledzinowski, Michal Lulka, Szymon Marciniak, and Marta Szczepkowska.

The Filip & Company team was led by Partner Alexandru Birsan and included Associate Larisa Jurca.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Zepos & Yannopoulos announced that it had advised One Equity Partners on tax matters, working alongside Germany-based Flick Gocke Schaumburg. The firm’s team was led by Partner Maria Zoupa.

Dentons and Dimitrijevic & Partners have advised coordinator, bookrunner, and mandated lead arranger UniCredit on a EUR 90 million term loan facility for Mtel Banja Luka. Solo practitioner Loren Richards reportedly advised the borrower.

The club of banks providing the facility comprised international and domestic banks, including Erste, NLB, Raiffeisen Bank International, UniCredit, and their local subsidiaries, Dentons informed. “This transaction represents the first time a loan to a corporate borrower in Bosnia and Herzegovina has combined both international and domestic liquidity via a dual currency euro/convertible mark structure to comply with local regulations.”

Mtel is a telecom operator based in Banja Luka, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina providing fixed and mobile telecommunications and internet. It is a subsidiary of Serbia’s state-owned Telekom Srbija.

The Dentons team was led by Warsaw-based Partner Mark Segall and included Bucharest-based Senior Associate Lawrence Florescu.

The Dimitrijevic & Partners team included Partner Nina Vjestica and Senior Associate Djordje Dimitrijevic.

Dentons has advised Komercni Banka and Ceska Sporitelna on the EUR 715 million refinancing of the Eurowag Group. White & Case advised Eurowag.

According to Dentons, “the multicurrency term and revolving facilities agreement was signed to refinance and expand the group’s existing credit facilities by providing facilities of up to EUR 715 million, out of which EUR 150 million is provided as an uncommitted incremental facility.”

Eurowag is a London Stock Exchange-listed European integrated payment and mobility platform that focuses on the commercial road transport industry.

“Maintaining capital discipline while pursuing strategic growth opportunities is a key priority for Eurowag,” Eurowag CFO Magdalena Bartos commented. “This refinancing gives us the scope and financial flexibility to deliver our growth strategy while retaining a strong balance sheet, and also optimizes our capital structure and liquidity position.”

The Dentons team was led by Prague-based Partner Daniel Hurych and Counsel Martin Mandulak and included Associates Ondrej Vales and Eva Klimova, Warsaw-based Partner Mark Segall, Bratislava-based Partner Patricia Gossanyiova, Counsel Miroslav Kapinaj, and Associate Richard Marcincin, as well as lawyers from the firm’s Munich, Madrid, Brussels, and Amsterdam offices.

The White & Case team included Prague-based Partner Tomas Jine and Associates Tadeas Matys and Jakub Kopacek, as well as lawyers from the firm’s Madrid, Brussels, and Luxembourg offices.

Ellex has advised Bigbank on its EUR 20 million issuance of subordinated bonds.

Bigbank is an Estonian commercial bank specializing in loans.

According to Ellex, “the base volume of the public offering of the unsecured subordinated bonds of Bigbank that ended on September 16, 2022, was oversubscribed by more than twice, and its total volume will be EUR 20 million. Trading with the bonds on the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange commenced on September 22, 2022. A total of 1,610 investors participated in the offering, subscribing subordinated bonds in the total amount of approximately EUR 22.8 million. Bigbank used the option to increase the volume of the offering by up to 10,000 bonds, as a result of which the total volume of the offering increased from EUR 10 million to EUR 20 million.”

According to the firm, “the offering was part of the first series of the unsecured subordinated bond program newly created by Bigbank. During the public offering, Bigbank offered up to 10,000 unsecured subordinated bonds … with the nominal value of EUR 1,000 each, the maturity date September 21, 2032, and a fixed interest rate of 8% per annum, payable quarterly (the first interest payment will be made on March 21, 2023). The public offering was carried out in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.”

“I am happy that in addition to offering loans and deposits to Estonian people and companies, we were now also able to contribute to the development of the local capital market and creation of an additional investment opportunity for investors,” Bigbank Chairman of the Management Board Martin Lants commented. “EUR 20 million of additional capital will help realize our growth plans both in the field of home loans as well providing financing to companies. We wish to give strong competition in these sectors to large universal banks in the Baltics and, through that, profitably grow our business volumes and market share.”

Ellex’s team included Partner Gerli Kivisoo, Senior Associate Kadi Sink, and Associate Kevin Gerretz.

PRK Partners Advises Ceska Sporitelna, Komercni Banka, and UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia in the sale of bonds issued by EPH Financing.

According to PRK Partners, the bonds are secured by a financial guarantee provided by Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding. “The maximum volume of the bond issue is CZK 2.5 billion. The securities have been admitted to trading on the Prague Stock Exchange and offered publicly in the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” the firm informed. 

EPH is a Central European energy group operating assets in the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the UK, France, and Switzerland.

PRK’s team was led by Senior Attorney Jan Ditrych.

PRK Partners did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Penteris, HKV, and Oppenheim have advised Immofinanz on the acquisition of a retail property portfolio from the CPI Property Group for EUR 324.2 million. Reportedly, BPV Braun Partners advised Immofinanz as well.

According to Penteris, “as part of its new strategy, Immofinanz is acquiring 53 retail properties across the CEE region – in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary – from its majority shareholder CPI Property Group. The properties acquired in the transaction have approximately 217,000 square meters of space and are fully leased. They will provide Immofinanz with a stable rental income of approximately EUR 25 million per year.”

Penteris’ team included Managing Partner Agnieszka Pytlas and Associate Ewa Olszewska.

HKV’s team included Partner Roman Hamala, Senior Associates Martin Hricko and Peter Makys, and Junior Associates Klaudia Popelyova and Laura Bugajova.

Oppenheim’s team included Partner Mark Pinter, Counsel Janos Fodor, and Associates Mark Ratkay and Eszter Horvath.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, BPV Braun Partners confirmed it had advised Immofinanz. The firm’s team included Partners Miroslav Dudek and Gabriela Porupkova, Attorneys Pavlina Tejralova and Filip Balousek, and Junior Associate Pavel Brezina.

Sorainen has advised Estonia’s Fontes Palgakonsultatsioonid on its acquisition of the remuneration system development and remuneration survey business in Latvia and Lithuania from Fontes Vadibas Konsultacijas.

Fontes is an Estonian-headquartered company that recruits and develops talent and carries out research on human capital.

Sorainen’s team included Managing Partner Eva Berlaus and Senior Associate Natalija Sestakova.

Sorainen did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Clifford Chance has advised Actis on the launch of its portfolio business Rezolv Energy and on Rezolv’s acquisition of the Romanian Vis Viva onshore wind project from Low Carbon.

“Rezolv has partnered with Low Carbon to complete the acquisition of a 51% interest in the 450-megawatt Vis Viva onshore wind project in Buzau County, Romania,” Clifford Chance informed. “Once operational, Vis Viva will be one of the largest onshore wind farms anywhere in Europe, with the capacity to generate sufficient clean energy to power more than 272,000 homes and avoid approximately 180,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year. It will play a major role in accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels in Romania, whilst providing long-term, stably priced electricity to commercial and industrial consumers across the region.”

According to Clifford Chance, “Rezolv aims to build a multi-gigawatt portfolio of wind, solar, and energy storage projects. This will help companies and countries across the region meet their energy needs in response to energy security challenges and climate policies. It will take renewable energy projects from late-stage development through construction and into long-term operation.”

Rezolv Energy is a power producer in Central and South Eastern Europe. Low Carbon is a UK-based investment company.

The Clifford Chance team included Bucharest-based Partner Nadia Badea, Counsel Loredana Ralea, Senior Associates Alexandra Voicu, Lavinia Dinoci, Ecaterina Burlacu, and Andrei Caloian, and Lawyer Carmen Buzenche, Prague-based Counsel Michal Jasek and Associate Tomas Prochazka, as well as lawyers from the firm’s London office.

Clifford Chance did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.