Category: News

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.

White & Case has advised EP Equity Investment III on a lock-up agreement relating to Casino Group’s financial restructuring, alongside Fimalac and Attestor, with the Casino Group and some of its main creditors.

EP Equity Investment III is controlled by Czech businessman Daniel Kretinsky.

Established almost 125 years ago, the Casino Group is a food retailer with more than 11,500 stores across France and Latin America.

According to White & Case, “the signing of the lock-up agreement is a continuation of the agreement in principle reached on July 27, 2023, by the EP Group, Fimalac, and Attestor (the consortium) with the Casino Group and certain secured creditors. The financial restructuring provides for an equity injection of EUR 1.2 billion, comprising EUR 925 million subscribed by the consortium, as well as a reduction of the Casino Group’s financial indebtedness by EUR 6.1 billion. Upon completion of the planned restructuring, the Consortium will control the Casino Group via a special purpose vehicle controlled by EP Equity Investment III.”

The White & Case team was led by Paris-based Partner Saam Golshani and included Paris-based Partners Franck De Vita, Denise Diallo, Jean Paszkudzki, Severin Robillard, Estelle Philippi, Alexandre Jaurett, and Orion Berg, London-based Partners Monica Barton and James Greene, and Brussels-based Partner Thomas Glauden as well as further lawyers in Paris, London, Luxembourg, Brussels, and Dubai.

White & Case did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

WKB Lawyers, working alongside Norway-based Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm, has advised Orkla on the sale of a 40% stake in Orkla Food Ingredients to Rhone. Norway’s Thommessen reportedly advised Rhone.

Orkla is an industrial sector company operating in areas such as paints and coatings, food, sweets, and snacks. Orkla Food Ingredients is a capital group operating in the production and distribution of a wide range of semi-finished food products.

Rhone is a private equity firm focusing on investments in global enterprises.

According to WKB, Rhone acquired 40% of shares in “Orkla Food Ingredients based on the valuation of Orkla Food Ingredients at approximately NOK 15.5 billion (approximately PLN 5.8 billion).”

The WKB team included Partner Jakub Jedrzejak, Counsels Wojciech Kulczyk, Agata Mietek, and Piotr Gajek, Attorneys at Law Sebastian Wozniak, Piotr Popielarski, Marta Czarnecka, and Tomasz Feliszewski, and Lawyers Ryszard Rutkowski, Mateusz Malinowski, Marcin Lorenc, Aleksander Zielinski, Klaudia Radwanska, Malgorzata Skorska, Paulina Wolszczak, Marika Olczykowska, Maciej Gniewosz, Joanna Staroszczyk, Katarzyna Wojcikowska, Martyna Jarosik, and Magdalena Zielinska.

Editor’s Note: On November 23, 2023, Wolf Theiss announced it had advised Orkla on the transaction as well. The firm’s team included Slovakia-based Partner Bruno Stefanik, Counsel Zuzana Hodonova, Senior Associate Vladimir Simkovic, and Associates Jozef Vircik, Kristina Semanska, Miroslav Michler, Peter Dibala; and Viktoria Achbergerova; Hungary-based Partner Janos Toth, Senior Associate Peter Ihasz, and Associate Dorottya Mercsek; and Czech Republic-based Counsel Tereza Naucova, Senior Associate Michal Matous, and Associate Kamila Webb.

DLA Piper has advised Romanian grain and oilseed trader East Grain on the sale of a majority stake in the company and its Hungarian subsidiary to the Czech Republic’s Agrofert group. Schoenherr advised the buyer.

According to DLA Piper, the deal was undertaken through a capital increase and “ranks as one of the most important foreign investments for the Romanian agribusiness ecosystem in recent years. The deal will also allow East Grain, already active in Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, to explore new opportunities, increase its capacities, and enlarge its market footprint.”

With this transaction, Agrofert entered the Romanian agribusiness market, expanding its footprint in the country, where it was already active in the fertilizers distribution sector, Schoenherr reported.

Agrofert is a Czech conglomerate holding company headquartered in Prague. It operates agriculture, food, chemical, construction, logistics, forestry, energy, and mass media companies. It has over 250 subsidiary companies and focuses primarily on Central Europe.

East Grain was founded in Romania in 2007 and expanded to Hungary in 2017. It operates in grain and oilseeds trading, logistics, grain storage, and feed and inputs production. In 2021, the group traded 500,000 tons of grain and oilseeds, supplied inputs for 40,000 hectares of land, transported 20,000 truckloads of goods, and stored 60,000 tons of grains.

The DLA Piper team included Country Managing Partner Marian Dinu, Senior Associate Sandra Cahu, and Associate Noemi Popa.

The East Grain in-house team was led by Corporate Legal Counsel Zsuzsa Nagy.

The Schoenherr team was led by Partner Madalina Neagu and included Bucharest-based Partner Georgiana Badescu, Local Partner Madalina Mitan, Senior Attorney at Law Mihaela Popescu, and Attorney at Law Alexandra Smahon, and Budapest-based Local Partner Kinga Hetenyi and Attorney at Law Adrian Menczelesz.

TGS Baltic, working with Oppenhoff, has advised Hawesko on its partnership with the Dunker Group through the acquisition of 50% of Dunker Group’s shares. Triniti advised Arkastro OU, the holding company of Dunker Group founder Arvo Kask, who sold his stake to Hawesko.

Hawesko is a wine trading group. The Dunker Group is a wine and spirits wholesale trading group in the Baltics.

According to TGS Baltic, “until now, Dunker has been managed in partnership by the shareholders Andres Villomann and Arvo Kask (50% each). The latter is selling his shares to the Hawesko Group and leaving the management. The Hawesko Group is thus expanding its international activities and tapping into the Baltic market.”

The TGS Baltic team included Lithuania-based Partners Dalia Tamasauskaite-Ziliene and Marijus Krisciunas, Of Counsel Aleksandra Fedotova, and Senior Associates Jonas Salna and Ruta Tikuisyte; Estonia-based Partners Kadri Kallas and Helmut Pikmets, Associate Partner Triinu Jarviste, Senior Associates Mirko Kikkamagi, Mari Anne Rohtla, Sergei Jegorov, and Mari-Liis Orav, Associate Eva Arumets, and Lawyers Stina-Maria Lusti and Melmariin Salumae; and Latvia-based Partner Andra Rubene, Senior Associate Rudolfs Vilsons, and Associate Evija Abele.

The Triniti team included Partners Siim Maripuu and Ergo Blumfeldt, Attorney at Law Mikk Pold, and Lawyers Janel Jan-Marcus Lohvart and Peeter Paju.

BPV Braun Partners and Komarevski Dimitrov & Partners have advised Witte Automotive on its acquisition of a majority stake in Ruse-based Forez BG from FH Holding. PwC Legal advised FH Holding on the deal.

According to KDP, “Witte Automotive is among the technological leaders in the field of mechatronic locking systems. Forez BG is one of its main suppliers of plastic components in Bulgaria.”

The BPV Braun Partners team included Partner Arthur Braun.

The Komarevski Dimitrov & Partners team included Partner Venelin Dimitrov and Senior Associate Iva Georgieva.

The PwC Legal team included Czech Republic-based Attorneys at Law Vendelin Balog and Martina Sedlackova and Bulgaria-based Attorney at Law Krassimir Stephanov.