Category: Deals and Cases

Walless has advised Tadas Bulotas on the sale of Lithuania’s BBaltics sports agency to the Wasserman sports agency.

As part of the deal, Bulotas, who founded BBaltics, becomes Wasserman’s Vice President, International Basketball.

According to Walless, “Wasserman has a clientele of more international NBA players than any other basketball agency in the world. Tadas Bulotas has more than ten years of experience in representing professional basketball players.”

Walless’ team consisted of Partners Aiste Medeliene and Mindaugas Lukas and Senior Associate Arturas Grimaila.

Dmitry Churin, Head of the Corporate practice at Capital Legal Services, has been promoted to Partner at the firm.

Churin has over 20 years of experience. According to Capital Legal Services, he ”provides legal support to clients in such areas as energy, oil & gas, financial services, industrial production, and trade.” The firm reports that “he consults on issues of entering the Russian market, implementing investment projects, acquiring property complexes and enterprises, as well as on business restructuring.”

Churin holds a specialist degree in law from the St. Petersburg University. He spent four years in-house with Orlovsky Steel-Rolling Plant, four years as a Senior Associate with Capital Legal Services, almost three years in the same position with Pavia e Ansaldo, and over a year with Castren & Snellman, before re-joining Capital Legal Services in 2012.

Ellex Valiunas has advised Edenred SA on its acquisition of a 60% stake in Lithuania’s EBV Finance. The acquisition also included EBV Finance subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Spain and Estonia. Penkov Markov & Partners advised Edenred in Bulgaria, as did Wardynski & Partners in Poland, Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen in Romania, and Uria Menendez in Spain.

Ellex Valiunas describes EBV Finance as “one of the leading players in the Northern and Eastern European market for tax refunds for European transport companies.”

Ellex Valiunas’s team consisted of Partner Paulius Gruodis, Associate Partner Ruta Armone, Associate Aleksandras Asovskij, Experts Ilona Janciauskaite and Gintaras Balcius, Lawyers Augustinas Macionis and Diana Cerkeviciute, and Junior Associate Tomas Balcytis, and Ellex Raidla Associate Reet Saks.

The Wardynski & Partners team consisted of Partner Krzysztof Libiszewski and Associate Michal Gintowt.

The NNDKP team included Partner Corina Dumitru and Associate Claudia Lazar.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published Penkov Markov & Partners informed CEE Legal Matters that its team consisted of Managing Partner Nikolay Cvetanov and Attorney at Law Vyara Tomova.

Sorainen has advised Credit Suisse on matters of Latvian and Lithuanian law related to its EUR 27 million loan to Amber Beverage Group, an international producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages.

According to Sorainen, “the financing will improve the effectiveness of [Amber Beverage Group’s] operations and is the first step towards further ABG expansion.”

Sorainen’s team included Latvia Partner Rudolfs Engelis and Latvia Senior Associate Santa Rubina, as well as Lithuania Senior Associate Agne Sovaite and Associate Liutauras Vasiliauskas.

Schoenherr has advised Kommunalkredit Austria AG, the arranger and original lender, on Czech and Slovak acquisition financing provided to Enery Development for the acquisition of six 21 MW solar power plants in the Czech Republic and two 4 MW solar power plants in the Slovak Republic from Czech fund Green Horizon Renewables. CMS reportedly advised Enery and Badokh reportedly advised Green Horizon Renewables.

Kommunalkredit focuses on energy & environment, social infrastructure, communications & digitalization, natural resources, and transport on the infrastructure market. As a specialized bank it advises, structures, and funds senior debt and mezzanine structures.

Enery Development is an Austrian company investing in renewable energy that is jointly owned by its founders, Richard Koenig and Lukas Nemec, and Austrian renewables company RP Global.

Schoenherr’s team in Prague included Partner Vladimir Cizek, Attorneys Ondrej Havlicek and Jiri Marek, and Associate Tomas Jansa. Its team in Bratislava included Partner Sona Hekelova and Attorney Alexandra Adamcikova, and its team in Vienna was led by Partner Martin Ebner.

Editor’s note: After this article was published CEE Legal Matters learned that CMS’ team in Prague included Partners Lukas Janicek and Pavla Kreckova, Ana Radnev, Counsel Patrik Przyhoda, Associates Lukas Vymola, Stepan Havranek, Lukas Reichmann, Lenka Kucerova, and Barbora Sevcikova, and Lawyer Hana Ricankova, and its team in Bratislava included Partner Michal Hutan, Senior Associate Zuzana Nikodemova and Dusan Predny, and Associate Martin Balaz.

CEE Legal Matters also learned that Badokh’s team included Partner Ondrej Hampl and Advocates Tomas Zagar, Ondrej Reiser, and Julia Kasandova.

Schoenherr, in cooperation with BonelliErede, advised Covivio on the acquisition of eight luxury hotels in Europe from Varde Partners, a global alternative investment firm, for EUR 573 million. Varde was reportedly advised by Italian firms Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli and Partners and Ludovici Piccone and Partners.

Covivio is a European real estate operator, and its business is focused on offices, real estate, hotels, and residential properties. According to Schoenherr, “concentrated in the heart of major European cities, its portfolio comprises offices, hotels and housing valued at EUR 24 billion (end of 2019). With this acquisition, eight hotels, mostly five-star, are being added to the Covivio portfolio: Palazzo Naiadi in Rome; Plaza Nice in Nice; New York Palace and New York Residence in Budapest; Carlo IV in Prague; Palazzo Gaddi in Florence; and Grand Hotel Dei Dogi and Hotel Bellini in Venice.”

Schoenherr’s Austrian team included Partner Michael Lagler and Counsel Clemens Rainer. Its Czech team included Partner Martin Kubanek and Attorney Viktor Pakosta, and its Hungarian team included Partner Kinga Hetenyi, Attorneys Laszlo Krupl and Daniel Varga, and Associate Adrian Menczelesz.

Editor’s Note: On September 14, 2020, Schoenherr announced that the deal had closed.

Subsequently, CEE Legal Matters learned that Lakatos, Koves & Partners had advised Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, the lender on the financing of the deal. The firm’s team was led by Partner John Fenemore and included lawyers Balazs Rokob and Viktoria Tamas.

Finally, CEE Legal Matters learned that Kinstellar advised Varde Partners on the deal. The firm’s team was led by Budapest-based Partner Gabor Gelencser and included, among others, Budapest-based Senior Associate Zsuzsa Andreko and Associates Daniel Peter and Laszlo Palocz, and Prague-based Partner Jan Juroska, Counsel Martina Brezinova, Senior Associate Michal Kniz, and Junior Associates Denisa Simanska and Alice Radvanovska.

The Prague and Bratislava offices of Dentons have advised GeoPost / DPDgroup on the acquisition of Czech and Slovak parcel delivery operations of Germany’s Geis logistics group. The Geis group was advised by Rodl & Partner.

Dentons’s team included, in Prague, Partners Jan Prochazka, Tomas Bilek, and Petr Zakoucky, and in Bratislava, Partner Zuzana Simekova, Counsels Petr Slach, Jana Matiskova and Jana Malkova Zelechovska, and Associates Adam Prerovsky, Vojtech Novak, Filip Spina, Andrea Hamorska, Bohuslav Hrdy, Petr Muller, Jan Dulovic, Alen Gondek, Jan Tyls, Aneta Kubinova and David Sutko.

Dentons did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.