Walless has advised Merito Partners on raising EUR 4 million via bond issuances arranged by Signet Bank to fund new self-storage facilities in Tallinn and Vilnius.
Merito Partners is a self-storage operator.
The Walless team included Partner Joana Baublyte-Kulviete and Associate Partner Enrika Tamasauskaite.
Mamic Peric Reberski Rimac, BDK Advokati, and Gorjup Law Office have advised Bosqar Invest on its acquisition of a 50.1% indirect stake in the Mlinar Group from MidEuropa Partners. Karanovic & Partners and Ilej & Partners in cooperation with Karanovic & Partners, working with Dechert, advised MidEuropa Partners. Gospic, Plazina, Stojs advised Mr. Skojo, the former owner of Mlinar and a current shareholder of SEE Bakery, the sole shareholder of Mlinar. Janezic & Jarkovic, and Van Campen Liem reportedly advised Bosqar as well. Gospic Plaznina Stojs reportedly also advised the sellers.
According to BDK Advokati, Bosqar Invest acquired the stake as part of a wider EUR 100 million acquisition of a 67% stake in Mlinar Group that it participated in with partners. “MidEuropa Partners will reinvest its remaining stake and continue supporting the newly formed group in its expansion.”
The Mamic Peric Reberski Rimac team included Partner Vladimir Mamic, Junior Partner Nikola Kokot, and Attorney at Law Erblina Morina.
The BDK Advokati team included Senior Partner Vladimir Dasic and Associate Milan Popovic.
The Gorjup team included Lawyer Jure Blazic.
The Ilej & Partners team included Senior Partner Goran Ilej and Senior Associate Antun Skansi.
The Karanovic & Partners team included Senior Partner Milos Jakovljevic and Senior Associate Sava Draca.
The Gospic, Plazina, Stojs team included Partners Matea Gospic Plazina and Lana Stojs.
White & Case has advised the Wirtualna Polska group on the acquisition of the Invia Group from European Bridge Travel for more than PLN 1 billion (EUR 239.7 million) with existing shareholders Rockaway Group and CITIC Europe Holdings acting as guarantors of European Bridge Travel’s obligations resulting from the sale. Clifford Chance advised European Bridge Travel and its shareholders.
The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.
The Invia Group operates package holiday booking platforms in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. In Poland, the Invia Group operates as Travelplanet.pl.
The White & Case team included Warsaw-based Partner Rafal Kaminski, Local Partner Jakub Gubanski, Associates Damian Lubocki, Karolina Kalucka, Iwo Malobecki, and Dominika Czarniak, Prague-based Local Partners Jana Chwaszcz and Karel Petrzela, Counsel Vladimir Ivanco, and Associates Kamila Dankova, Barbora Smekalova, and Barbora Vaculova, as well as further team members in Berlin, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Shanghai.
The Clifford Chance team included Partner Alex Cook, Counsels Michal Jasek and Iwona Terlecka, Senior Associate Tomas Prochazka, and Associates Matej Pavlik, Natalie Kurkova, and Marcin Waszynski.
Gessel and Kambourov & Partners have advised MS Galleon on its acquisition of Corab. TGS Baltic reportedly advised MS Galleon as well.
According to Gessel, the transaction’s completion required clearance from multiple competition authorities, including those in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, and Bulgaria.
In 2021, Gessel advised the Black Forest Fund on an investment in Corab (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 13, 2021).
The Gessel team included Partners Christian Schmidt and Bernadeta Kasztelan-Swietlik, Senior Associate Natalia Lesna, and Attorney at Law Agnieszka Kolenda-Kuchcicka.
The Kambourov & Partners team included Managing Partner Stefan Tzakov and Senior Associates Plamen Yotov and Ivan Raykov.
Editor’s Note: After this article was published, TGS Baltic confirmed its involvement on behalf of MS Galleon. The firm’s team included Estonia-based Associate Partner Triinu Jarviste and Senior Associate Mari Anne Rohtla and Lithuania-based Senior Associate Jonas Salna.
Hillmont Partners and Astraea have advised on a settlement between the Stati Parties and the Republic of Kazakhstan in a dispute concerning a 2013 USD 500 million SCC Award, bringing all related litigation to an end.
The Stati Case commenced in 2010 when the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce initially considered a claim filed by a consortium of companies owned by Moldovan businessman Anatol Stati and his son Gabriel against the Kazakh government for the unlawful seizure of their business interests. In December 2013, the arbitration tribunal issued a ruling in favor of the Stati parties, demanding that Kazakhstan pay USD 500 million in damages, along with associated legal expenses. However, the Kazakh government declined to honor this ruling.
According to Astraea, the agreement concludes a three-year enforcement battle with litigation linked to the case now terminated.
The Hillmont Partners team included Managing Partner James Hart.
White & Case has advised TPG Real Estate on the EUR 470 million sale of CT Real Estate to funds managed by Blackstone. Schoenherr, working with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, advised Blackstone. Talers reportedly advised TPG Real Estate as well.
Blackstone is an alternative asset manager with more than USD 1.1 trillion in assets under management.
Established in 1992, TPG is an alternative asset manager with USD 239 billion in assets under management.
CTRE is a portfolio of ten logistics parks located in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. According to White & Case, CTRE’s portfolio, which initially began in 2019 with a EUR 90 million investment in partnership with local landlord Contera, has since quadrupled to approximately 500,000 square meters of strategically located logistics facilities.
The White & Case team included Partners Petr Panek, Vaclav Kubr, and Jan Linda, Local Partner Karel Petrzela, Counsels Magda Olysarova and Vladimir Ivanco, and Associates Barbora Vaculova and Katerina Hudeckova.
The Schoenherr team included Partners Vladimir Cizek, Sona Hekelova, and Michal Lucivjansky, Counsels Otakar Fiala, Zuzana Hnatova, and Peter Devinsky, Senior Attorneys at Law Jiri Marek, Petr Koral, and Jan Kupcik, Attorneys at Law Sebastian Speta, Kristyna Zmatlikova, Pavel Bederka, Katerina Leheckova, Natalie Dubska, Karolina Hlavinkova, Ales Prochazka, Jan Farbiak, and Tomas Silhanek, and Associates Marek Fuchs, Matus Vajci, Tatana Adamova, and Maria Gabriella Manzone.
Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Ments informed CEE Legal Matters that it advised Contera, who had a partnership with TPG and, following the transaction, has one with Blackstone. The Ments team included Partner Lukas Michalik, Cousel Martin Kosa, and Associate Simon Hora.
Moreover, Talers confirmed its participation on behalf of Contera as well. The firm’s team included Partner Jiri Cerny, Attorneys at Law Helena Jurka and Jan Vozar, and Tax Advisor Lenka Rigo.
Montenegro-based Jovovic, Mugosa & Vukovic and Serbia-based Zivkovic Samardzic have joined the South East Europe Legal Group.
As described by SEE Legal, “Jovovic, Mugosa & Vukovic is one of the largest and most established independent law firms in Montenegro. With over 40 years of distinguished practice and a dedicated team of more than 20 lawyers based in Podgorica, the firm has been advising both domestic and foreign clients across a diverse range of practice areas.”
Moreover, SEE Legal describes Zivkovic Samardzic as “one of the oldest and largest full-service corporate law firms on the Serbian market. With a team of 37 legal professionals, the firm offers a comprehensive range of legal services, including corporate, banking, financial services, commercial, employment, regulatory, real estate, litigation, intellectual property, competition, and tax.”
The addition of these two firms follows the departure of BDK Advokati (which just announced it is expanding into North Macedonia and its presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina) from SEE Legal, as of January 1, 2025.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jovovic, Mugosa & Vukovic and Zivkovic Samardzic to SEE Legal,” said the Honorary Chair and Co-Chair of SEE Legal Borislav Boyanov, the Managing Partner of Boyanov & Co. “The new members’ expertise will not only strengthen our network’s regional capabilities but also enhance the overall quality of the services we provide. We are also grateful to our colleagues at BDK Advokati for their many years of outstanding collaboration, professionalism, and camaraderie, and we wish them the very best in their future endeavors.”
BDK Advokati has entered North Macedonia via a cooperation agreement with a local qualified independent Attorney at Law Josif Filipovski. Moreover, the firm has expanded its presence in Bosnia & Herzegovina with the addition of Melika Basic.
Before joining forces with BDK Advokati, Filipovski spent almost nine years at the helm of his eponymous Law Office Filipovski, since 2016.
According to BDK Advokati, this move will allow the firm to “extend to yet another jurisdiction the offering of our expertise and the quality of service our clients are used to. Josif is a corporate and commercial lawyer based in Skopje, with eight years of experience in advising clients on a wide range of issues of relevance to their business operations in North Macedonia. Apart from his native Macedonian, he is fluent in English, Serbian, and Slovenian.”
Additionally, BDK Advokati has entered into a cooperation with Melica Basic, an independent Attorney at Law established in Sarajevo. According to the firm, “Melika is a corporate and commercial lawyer who started her career in the legal department of a Big 4 accountancy firm in Sarajevo, where she quickly became the youngest manager and first female in that role.”
Before teaming up with BDK Advokati, Basic was with KPMG between 2021 and 2024, where she has been a Manager between 2023 and 2024.
With the expansion, the firm also announced it will no longer be a member of the SEE Legal network, with the firm announcement concluding: “We also thank our SEE Legal partners for an incredible 15 years. Even if we will be no longer a member, we remain committed to outstanding professional cooperation and the valuable personal friendships we have built together.”
Ellex has advised HOF Ehf on the sale of Baltic IKEA stores to Inter IKEA Group. Walless advised FE Corporation, the sellers of the Lithuanian store operator. Sorainen reportedly advised Inter IKEA Group.
The transaction’s financial terms have not been disclosed.
According to Ellex, the deal covers three large IKEA stores in the Baltic capitals, five smaller customer service locations, as well as e-commerce and IT business lines. Under the new arrangement, IKEA will continue operating in the Baltic states under a franchise model, with Inter Ikea Systems as the franchisor.
The Ellex team included Latvia-based Partner Ilga Gudrenika-Krebs, Senior Counsel Eduards Dzintars, Senior Associates Anna Misneva, Inese Freivalde, and Kaspars Oisevskis and Estonia-based Partner Martin Kaerdi and Senior Associates Karin Tartu, Liisbeth Eero, Alla Kuznetsova.
The Walless team included Partner Gediminas Reciunas.
On December 12, 2024, Wolf Theiss announced that Standard Motor Products’ acquisition of Nissens Automotive (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 23, 2024) has closed.
As originally reported, Wolf Theiss, working with Hughes Hubbard & Reed and Plesner Advokatpartnerselskab, has advised Standard Motor Products on its acquisition of AX V Nissens III APS for approximately USD 388 million in cash from Nordic private equity firm Axcel and the Nissen family.
Standard Motor Products is an automotive parts manufacturer and distributor.
According to Wolf Theiss, “the transaction values Nissens at approximately USD 388 million, representing approximately 7.5x adjusted EBITDA after factoring in estimated run-rate cost synergies at the mid-point of USD 10 million.”
The Wolf Theiss team included Poland-based Partners Izabela Zielinska-Barlozek and Maciej Szewczyk, Counsel Marcin Rudnik, Senior Associate Dariusz Kielb, and Associate Michal Pypka, Hungary-based Partner Janos Toth and Senior Associate Peter Ihasz, Slovakia-based Partner Bruno Stefanik, and Ukraine-based Partner Taras Dumych, Senior Associate Sergii Zheka, and Associate Olga Ivlyeva.