Cobalt has assisted Viessmann with the restructuring of its refrigeration systems business in Latvia.
According to Cobalt, the firm as “assisted Viessmann’s Estonian entity open a new branch that will be engaged in the provision of services relating to refrigeration systems.”
Cobalt’s team included Associates Marija Berdova and Ivo Maskalans.
Cobalt has advised SEB life insurance entities in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania on a cross-border merger in the Baltics.
According to Cobalt, “as a result of the merger, SEB established a single company headquartered in Latvia with branches in Estonia and Lithuania – SEB Life and Pension Baltic SE.”
Cobalt’s team was led by Latvia-based Partner Sandija Novicka, and its team included, in Latvia, Partners Gatis Flinters and Toms Sulmanis, Senior Associate Kristine Parmalniece, and Associate Diana Zepa; in Estonia, Partner Kristel Raidla-Talur, Managing Associate Monika Koolmeister, Senior Associates Mart Blondal and Heili Haabu, and Associate Peep Vahl; and in Lithuania, Partner Eva Suduiko and Senior Associate Jovita Valatkaite.
Schoenherr and Hugh Owen of Go2Law have advised UNIQA on its acquisition of AXA subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia for a purchase price of around EUR 1 billion. Clifford Chance advised AXA on the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals.
According to Schoenherr, “through this transaction, UNIQA Insurance Group, one of the leading insurance groups in its core markets of Austria and CEE, has acquired life and non-life insurance companies, investment firms, pension funds, and service companies from the AXA Group, a world-leading insurance and asset management group. UNIQA gains five million customers, 2,100 employees, and EUR 800 million in premiums across the three countries, which makes UNIQA the fifth-largest insurance group in CEE.”
Schoenherr’s team included, in Vienna, Partners Alexander Popp, Volker Weiss, Hanno Wollmann, and Peter Feyl, Associate Alexander Gruber, and Attorney Gregor Petric; in Prague, Partner Vladimir Cizek and Attorney Jitka Kadlcikova; in Bratislava, Partner Sona Hekelova; and in Warsaw, Partner Pawl Halwa and Counsel Krzysztof Pawlak.
Clifford Chance’s team included, in Poland, Partners Marcin Bartnicki and Andrzej Stosio, Counsels Tomasz Derda, Nick Fletcher, Marta Bieniada, Krzysztof Hajdamowicz, Tomasz Szymura, and Iwona Terlecka, and Senior Associates Lukasz Maminski and Marta Matynia; in the Czech Republic, Senior Associates Stanislav Holec and Vladimir Rylich; in France, Partner Mathieu Remy and Counsel Pierre-Benoit Pabot du Chatelard; in Belgium, Partner Anastasios Tomtsis and Senior Associate Katharine Missenden; and in the UK Partner Nicholas Mace and Senior Associate Robert Sharpe.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to reflect the full team composition of Clifford Chance’s team.
Lawyers from CMS in Ukraine and Poland have joined the firm’s multi-national team advising the EBRD on the acquisition of a stake in Uzbek food retailer Korzinka. Uzbek law firm Leges reportedly advised the EBRD as well, while Dentons advised the sellers.
According to CMS, “as a result of the EBRD’s investment, Korzinka intends to triple its number of stores and double its staff headcount to approximately 10,000 by 2023. EBRD’s USD 40 million investment represents the bank’s first equity investment in Uzbekistan for more than a decade and the first since Uzbekistan opened itself up to foreign investment following a raft of reforms introduced by the government.”
Korzinka branded stores are operated by FE Anglesey Food LLC, which is owned by Singapore-incorporated Anglesey Investments PTE. LTD.
CMS’ international team included Ukraine Managing Partner Graham Conlon and Warsaw-based Associate Jakub Rykowski, and Singapore Managing Partner Toby Grainger, Senior Associate Sam Ng, and Associate Eric Lai.
Dentons’ team was led by Prague, Moscow, and London-based Partner Louis Skyner and London-based Partner Richard Barham.
Dentons and Kirkland & Ellis have represented GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, on the acquisition of the Maximus logistics real estate portfolio from funds managed by Apollo Global Management, a US-based private equity firm. Noerr advised the sellers on the transaction, which was signed in December 2019 and closed on January 31, 2020, and which was valued at approximately EUR 950 million.
The one million square meter portfolio includes 28 assets in logistics hubs across Europe, including Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria. Through the acquisition, GIC plans to expand its European logistics platform, P3 Logistic Parks. Dentons describes the deal as “one of the largest real estate investment deals signed in Europe in 2019 and the largest in Germany.”
Dentons’ team was led by Prague-based Partner Evan Lazar and included Prague-based Partner Stewart Middleman and Bucharest-based Partner Perry Zizzi, as well as Counsels Sona Taghiyeva and Gary Maguire, and Senior Associate Lawrence Florescu, as well as, among others, Partner David Zafra Carollo, Counsel David Lange, Senior Associate Alexander Muhleisen, and Associates Arndt Dobroschke and Michael Bayliss in Germany; Partner Dirk-Jan Gondrie and Associate Stephanie Proost in Amsterdam; Managing Counsel Martin Mendel and Associates Tatiana Mergesova and Sona Kurillova in Bratislava; Partner Piotr Staniszewski, Counsel Michal Siwek, Aenior Associate Joanna Misztal-Dzitko, and Associates Krzysztof Mielech, Karolina Bandzul, and Kamil Igielski in Warsaw.
Noerr’s team included Warsaw Associated Partner Pawel Zelich and Bratislava-based lawyers Adam Pichler and Martin Tupek, along with, in various German offices, lawyers Holger Alfes, Christoph Brenzinger, Carmen Bohn, Janina Diesem, Henrik Dornscheidt, Michaela Engel, Florian-Felix Marquardt, Ariane Neubauer, Bartosz Ostrowski, Ulrike Sommer, Martin Tupek, and Aleksandra Vujinovic.
Dentons and Kirkland & Ellis have represented GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, on the acquisition of the Maximus logistics real estate portfolio from funds managed by Apollo Global Management, a US-based private equity firm. The value of the transaction was approximately EUR 950 million. The deal, which was signed in December 2019 and closed on January 31, 2020.
The 1 million square meter portfolio includes 28 assets in logistics hubs across Europe, including Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Netherlands, Belgium, and Austria. Through the acquisition, GIC plans to expand its European logistics platform, P3 Logistic Parks.
Dentons describes the deal as “one of the largest real estate investment deals signed in Europe in 2019 and the largest in Germany.” The firm’s cross-border team was led by Partner Evan Lazar and included Partners Stewart Middleman and Perry Zizzi, Counsels Sona Taghiyeva and Gary Maguire, and Senior Associate Lawrence Florescu, as well as, among others, Partner David Zafra Carollo, Counsel David Lange, Senior Associate Alexander Muhleisen, and Associates Arndt Dobroschke and Michael Bayliss in Germany; Partner Dirk-Jan Gondrie and Associate Stephanie Proost in Amsterdam; Managing Counsel Martin Mendel and Associates Tatiana Mergesova and Sona Kurillova in Bratislava; Partner Piotr Staniszewski, Counsel Michal Siwek, Aenior Associate Joanna Misztal-Dzitko, and Associates Krzysztof Mielech, Karolina Bandzul, and Kamil Igielski in Warsaw.
Noerr’s team included Warsaw Associated Partner Pawel Zelich and Bratislava-based lawyers Adam Pichler and Martin Tupek, along with, in various German offices, lawyers Holger Alfes, Christoph Brenzinger, Carmen Bohn, Janina Diesem, Henrik Dornscheidt, Michaela Engel, Florian-Felix Marquardt, Ariane Neubauer, Bartosz Ostrowski, Ulrike Sommer, Martin Tupek, and Aleksandra Vujinovic.
Noerr and Penkov, Markov & Partners have advised private equity firm Aurelius Equity Opportunities SE & Co. KGaA on the acquisition of the Renewable Power Systems and Protection Relays businesses from NASDAQ-listed Woodward, Inc.
The combined businesses, which have more than 400 employees, generated sales of approximately USD 80 million in financial year 2019.
Renewable Power Systems produces frequency convertors and other key components used in wind turbines at its production sites in Kempen (Germany) and Krakow. The Protection Relays business develops and markets mainly medium and high-voltage protection relays for industrial applications. Aurelius will separate the two businesses from the structures of Woodward and set them up as independent businesses.
Closing is expected to occur within the next few months.
Noerr’s team was jointly led by Germany-based Partners Laurenz Tholen and Christian Pleister and included Partners Sebastian Wundisch and Michael Reiling and Associated Partners Torsten Kraul and Stefan Schwab, as well as Poland-based Associated Partner Ludomir Biedecki, Associate Mateusz Slodczyk, and lawyer Marta Duchlinska. Also involved were German Associates Anna Olbrys-Sobieszuk, Stefanie Heinemann, Robert Marx, Diana Richter, Christoph Ickenroth, Dorian Legel, Natalie Oei, and Katja Schmitt.
The Penkov, Markov & Partners team included Senior Partner Vladimir Penkov, Managing Partner Nikolay Cvetanov, and Attorneys at Law Boris Lazarov and Radost Georgieva.
Filip & Company, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Vernon David & Associates have advised Banca Transilvania on the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Microinvest. Osborne Clarke and Turcan Cazac advised the sellers on the transaction, which remains contingent on regulatory approval.
Microinvest specializes in financing microenterprises in Moldova.
The Filip & Company team included Partners Cristina Filip and Alina Stancu Birsan and Associate Alina Stoica.
The Vernon David & Associates team included Partner Diana Neagu and Senior Associate Roman Ivanov.
The Turcan Cazac team included Partners Octavian Cazac and Ana Galus and Junior Associate Mihai Gutu.
The Lithuanian office of Deloitte Legal has participated in a multi-jurisdictional team advising Enva, a provider of recycling and specialist resource recovery solutions in the UK and Ireland, on its acquisition of SAR Recycling Ltd.
SAR Recycling, based in England, is a provider of battery collection and recycling services.
“SAR’s capability is a logical extension for our specialist waste recovery business, particularly in the automotive and workshop sector,” said Enva Managing Director Simon Dick. “We are delighted with the acquisition and are looking forward to working closely with the SAR team to grow and develop the business especially as emerging battery chemistries become more prevalent.”
Arvydas Pocevicius, General Manager of SAR Recycling, also commented, “I and the rest of the SAR team are excited to join Enva. We are looking forward to continuing to provide high-quality, consistent service and to supporting the Enva ethos of further developing our recovery processes and end markets.”
Deloitte Legal’s team in the UK consisted of Director Joanna Jowitt and Consultant Rachael McGurgan, while its team in Lithuania included Managing Associate Tomas Mieliauskas and Associate Andrej Jemeljanov.
Sorainen and Allen & Overy have advised Sage, a UK based company specializing in integrated accounting, payroll, and payment systems, on its acquisition of CakeHR, a Latvian startup that offers a native cloud solution that for HR tasks for small businesses.
The Sorainen team was led by Estonia Managing Partner Toomas Prangli and included Estonian Senior Associate Juulika Aavik and Latvian Senior Associate Janis Bite.
Sorainen did not reply to our inquiries on the matter.