Category: News

Dvorak Hager & Partners has represented Granotrading in its purchase of polyethyline films manufacturer Slovpack Bratislava. 

According to Beatow Partners, the selling shareholders consisted of three financial investors and six members of the company’s management.

The Dvorak Hager & Partners team was led by Partner Lukas Zahradka, supported by Managing Attorney Tomas Richter Urban and Attorney Petra Strbova Markova.

Avellum, working alongside global advisor White & Case, has provided Ukrainian legal advice to Coast2Coast, a South-African investment company, on its acquisition of Poland-based Stella Pack by Coast2Coast portfolio company Bounty Brands. 

Coast2Coast announced its acquisition of Stella Pack — a major manufacturer and distributor of household products — in September 2017. 

The Avellum team involved in the transaction was led by Managing Partner Mykola Stetsenko, supported by Associate Andrii Gumenchuk.

Romania’s Popovici, Nitu, Stoica & Asociatii and Poland’s Kurzynski Kosinski Lyszyk Wierzbicki have advised the Romanian and Polish subsidiaries of the Etanco Group on their acquisition of of the subsidiaries of Gunnebo Fastening in those two countries. NNDKP, working along lead counsel Fidel, advised Gunnebo Fastening on the Romanian side of the transaction, with DZP reportedly advising Gunnebo Fastening on the sale of its Polish subsidiary.

Etanco Romania President Ronan Lebraut described the deal as “a milestone in the development of the Group Etanco in Europe,” and explained that “with a plant of 15,000 square meters, we strengthen our industrial system and we increase our production capacity to better meet the growing demand of the construction industry on our core market (France, Italy, Benelux). The acquisition of Gunnebo Fastening Poland also allows us to install a platform to develop our sales on the Eastern Europe, in order to take advantage of the dynamism of the construction markets in these regions.”

The PNSA team was coordinated by Managing Associate Ramona Iancu and included Associate Silvana Zecheru.

The NNDKP team was led by Partner Ruxandra Bologa and included Senior Associate Ioana Vieru and Associate Raluca Gabor.

The KKLW team in Poland consisted of Partner Michal Kurzynski and Senior Associate  Mariusz Domagala.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published DZP confirmed that it had advised GBO Fastening Systems AB on the sale of its Polish subsidiary to Ateliers LR Etanco SAS. The firm’s team consisted of Senior Associate Marcin Kulinski and lawyer Marianna Trumpus.

Ellex Raidla and Cobalt have worked alongside Taaleri Capital in advising the management of Oriola Baltic in their August 14, 2017 buyout of the company’s five Baltic subsidiaries, the reorganizing of the subsidiaries in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania under a new Latvian parent company, SIA Oribalt Group, and the transaction financing.

According to Ellex Raidla, the new Oribalt Group “will be one of the top 100 Latvian companies by turnover” and “employs 160 people in three countries in the field of pharmaceutical pre-wholesale, wholesale, and Internet pharmacy.” The net sales of the Baltic businesses in 2016 was EUR 54 million, with an adjusted EBIT of EUR 1.2 million. Oriola will focus going forward on developing its businesses in the Nordic countries.

The Estonian part of the transaction was advised by Ellex Raidla including Partner Martin Kaerdi and Counsel Antti Perli.

The Cobalt team in Latvia consisted of Managing Partner Lauris Liepa and Specialist Counsel Edgars Lodzins.

Kinstellar has advised Genesis Private Equity Fund III in connection with its investment in the combination of DATART and HP TRONIC on the Czech and Slovak market.

According to Kinstellar, “the owners of the respective companies have agreed to combine DATART, one of the biggest retail entities in the Czech Republic, with HP TRONIC, the operator of the Euronics retail chain and owner of the Kasa.cz and Hej.sk e-shops. The newly created structure will represent both companies, which have been operating separately to date, on the retail market. The structure will receive a capital contribution from Genesis Private Equity Fund III, which will gain a material minority share.”

The new structure, according to Kinstellar, has “annual revenues of more than CZK 15 billion (approximately EUR 600 million) and a network of approximately 130 specialized electronics shops that are visited by more than 22 million customers annually.”

The Kinstellar team was led by Partner Jan Juroska and included Senior Associate Michal Kniz and Junior Associate Kristyna Del Maschio.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised the Agrofert Group on the October 31, 2017 acquisition by group member DEZA a.s. of Polish chemical company Petrochemia-Blachownia S. A. from BorsodChem Zrt after two years of negotiations. Szecskay Attorneys at Law advised DEZA on Hungarian matters, Wardynski & Partners advised on Polish matters, and Bouchon & Partner advised on German matters. Baker McKenzie advised BorsodChem Zrt. 

KSB reports that its team provided “full-service advice” to DEZA, “including negotiations on the acquisition terms and conditions, as well as drafting, executing, and implementing contracts and other documentation with BorsodChem Zrt.”

The KSB team was led by Partners Christian Blatchford and Pavel Dejl, Advocate Martin Vrab, and lawyer Melanie Phamova.

The Wardynski & Partners team consisted of Partners Weronika Pelc, Pawel Ciecwierz, and Dominik Walkowski, Senior Associate Marek Dolatowski, and lawyer Radoslaw Wasiak.

The Baker McKenzie team advising BorsodChem was led by Partners Tomasz Krzyzowski and Associate Radzym Wojcik. 

Editor’s Note: After this article was published Szecskay Attorneys at Law announced that it had carried out “full scope due diligence review of the target’s contracts having a Hungarian connection or governed by Hungarian law” and that the firm had been “mandated to review and opine upon whether a merger control clearance in Hungary is necessary and … prepared the merger notification to the Hungarian Competition Authority, which issued its certificate in which it did not oppose the transaction on October 30, 2017.”

The firm’s team consisted of Partners Judit Budai and Aniko Keller and Associates Bence Molnar and Robert Dezso.

Avellum has successfully represented Ceska Exportni Banka, a.s in a number of litigations against a Ukrainian corporate borrower in connection with the borrower’s attempts to transfer mortgaged real estate assets securing a USD 37 million loan and a separate sale of the relevant loan and security claims.

CEB is a specialized state-owned banking institution that is the lending vehicle of the Czech Republic government’s pro-export policy system.

According to Avellum, in the course of the proceedings the firm assisted CEB in “challenging unlawful decisions of state registrars and local authorities, as well as resisting counter-claims brought by the borrower. The effective defense of CEB’s interests in Ukrainian courts allowed CEB to preserve the mortgaged real estate assets securing CEB’s loan. The positive outcome of the court proceedings ultimately enabled CEB to sell the relevant loan and security claims under the loan on favorable terms.”

The Avellum team responsible for the litigation was led by Partner Dmytro Marchukov with support from Senior Associate Serhii Uvarov and Associates Andriy Fortunenko and Anna Vlasenko. The firm’s team responsible for the sale of the loan claims was led by Senior Partner Glib Bondar and Counsel Igor Lozenko with support from Associate Tetiana Mykhailenko.

CEE Attorneys in Romania has provided legal assistance to EshopWedrop Group, the B2C service of Xpediator Plc., a provider of freight management services across the UK and Europe, in its awarding of franchises in Cyprus and Albania to Kronos Express and Albanian Courier SHPK, respectively.

According to CEE Attorneys, “the franchises shall enable consumers in these countries to make online purchases in the UK, Poland, Italy, France, and Germany, and to have their goods delivered quickly and at an acceptable price. EshopWedrop was established in 2015 in Lithuania and has since expanded into Latvia, Estonia, and Romania. The B2C offering of Xpediator Plc. Group (to be operating also under franchise) overlays existing B2B groupage service lines run by the Xpediator Plc. Group’s freight forwarding division, Delamode.”

CEE Attorneys – Boanta, Gidei si Asociatii SCPA was involved, the firm reports, “in the preparation of all legal documentation necessary for the structuring of the franchise, as well as in all stages of the contract negotiation process successfully leading to the award of Cyprus and Albania franchises, supporting the EshopWedrop’s objective of establishing a pan-European network.”

The firm’s team was coordinated by Partner Sergiu Gidei and Managing Associate Krisztina Voicu.