Category: News

Porobija & Spoljaric and Lalicic & Boskoski Law Office have advised the founders of the City Connect Group on their sale of the company to Sweden’s Transcom. LK Shields and Tragardh Law Firm reportedly advised the sellers in Ireland and Sweden, respectively. Bradvica Maric Wahl Cesarec, Clark Hill Law, and Mannheimer Swartling reportedly advised the buyer in Croatia, Ireland, and Sweden, respectively.

According to Porobija & Spoljaric, Transcom, which entered the Croatian market 14 years ago, aims to position itself as the “leading BPO service provider in the Adriatic region.”

City Connect is a Croatian provider of omnichannel customer experience, sales, and marketing services.

Porobija & Spoljaric’s team included Managing Partner Marko Porobija, Senior Partner Marko Bencic, Junior Partner Luka Porobija, and Junior Associate Dora Stazic.

The Lalicic & Boskoski team consisted of Partners Martin Boskoski and Vedran Lalicic.

White & Case and Ellex Raidla have advised Legrand on its acquisition of Ensto Building Systems from Finnish electrical solution provider Ensto. Procope & Hornborg advised the seller.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

According to White & Case, Legrand’s primary areas of focus are electrical and digital building infrastructures. The company is active in nearly 90 countries and it employs more than 36,700 people as of 2020.

White & Case’s team included Warsaw-based Local Partner Marek Sawicki; Prague-based Local Partner Jan Jakoubek; London-based Partners Alan Burke, Nicholas Greenacre, Peita Menon, Will Smith, and Helen Joseph, and Counsel Paul Harrington; Helsinki-based Partner Timo Airisto and Associates Asta Tukiainen and Samuel Salmivirta; Madrid-based Partner Juan Manuel de Remedios and Local Partner Carlos Daroca; Paris-based Partners Hugues Mathez, Clara Hainsdorf, and Alexandre Jaurett; New York-based Partner Henrik Patel; Brussels-based Partner Axel Schulz; and Stockholm-based Partner Martin Jarvengren.

Ellex Raidla’s team consisted of Partner Risto Vahimets, Advocates Julia Kisseljova and Hanna Pahk, Tax Advisor Dmitri Rozenblat, and Lawyers Karin Tartu and Eliis Mets.

Procope & Hornborg’s team consisted of Partners Petri Kyllonen, Pia Tanskanen, Ismo Hentula, Asta Siponen, and Lotta Uusitalo, Counsel Tomi Haapman, Associates Sonja Heinonen, Sampsa Perttunen, Nora Hietanen, Katariina Rontu, and Helena Wist, and Trainees Hilma Laamanen, Leo Varttala, and Sari Oravainen.

Gessel has advised the Avallon Fund on the sale of its majority stake in EBS to the Sevenways Group holding. Legal Kraft and Motieka & Audzevicius advised the buyer in Poland and Lithuania, respectively.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

EBS is a developer of security systems, particularly in the field of GSM / GPRS and RFID technology.

According to Gessel, the Sevenways Group is a Lithuanian investment company focused on real estate and the energy industry, among other sectors, while Avallon is a Polish private equity fund manager.

Gessel previously advised the Avallon Fund on its acquisition of a majority stake in Clovin in 2020 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 24, 2020).

Gessel’s team consisted of Partner Maciej Kozuchowski, Managing Associate Bartlomiej Wozniak, and Attorney-at-Law Diana Strzalkowska.

Motieka & Audzevicius’ team was led by Associate Aivaras Grigas.

Legal Kraft’s team included Partner Tomasz Rysiak and Junior Associate Marta Tomczak.

DWF has successfully represented the interests of Multikino S.A. in proceedings over lease agreements.

Multikino, which belongs to the Vue International Group was the first operator to open a multiplex in Poland in 1998. 

According to DWF, the proceedings “concern the formation of lease agreements in connection with the extraordinary change in economic relations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

DWF’s team included Local Partner Maciej Antoniak, Senior Associate Maria Kierska, and Associate Dominika Sarek.

Sayenko Kharenko and Turcan Cazac advised joint bookrunners Citigroup, ING, and Renaissance Capital on the tap issue of USD 50 million 8.45% secured notes due 2026 by Trans-Oil Group. Baker McKenzie and Gladei & Partners advised Trans-Oil Group. 

Trans-Oil Group is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding with operating facilities in Moldova, Ukraine, Romania, and Serbia. According to Sayenko Kharenko, the additional notes will be consolidated with the existing USD 400 million notes that were issued by Trans-Oil Group earlier this year (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 25, 2021).

Sayenko Kharenko has previously advised Trans-Oil Group on a USD 300 Million Eurobond Issue in 2019 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 31, 2019).

Sayenko Kharenko’s team was led by Partner Igor Lozenko and included Associates Oles Trachuk, Vladyslava Mitsai, and Sofiia-Mariia Kuzminska, and Junior Associate Oleksandr Motin.

Gladei & Partners’ team included Partner Roger Gladei, Senior Associate Dan Nicoara, Associate Vlad Roibu, and Junior Associate Vlad Bercu.

Baker McKenzie’s team included London-based Partners Roy Pearce and Megan Schellinger and Associate Maxim Khrapov, Moscow-based Partner Dmitry Dembich and Associates Adil Guseynov and Polina Govkelevich, and Kyiv-based Managing Partner Serhiy Chorny, Associates Hanna Smyrnova, and Junior Associate Masha Gorokh.

Turcan Cazac’s team included Partner Vadim Taigorba and Junior Associate Vasile Gavrilita.

Baker McKenzie has advised Lesjofors on its acquisition of the Alcomex Group from Nordian Capital. Dutch law firm Corp. reportedly advised the seller.

Lesjofors is a Swedish manufacturer of springs, wire parts, and stampings. According to Baker McKenzie, through the acquisition “Lesjofors gains access to new geographies and a new product area (door springs).”

Alcomex is a Dutch manufacturer of door and industrial springs. According to Baker McKenzie, the company operates production facilities in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, and India.

The Baker McKenzie team consisted of Prague-based Partner Tomas Skoumal, Senior Associates Tereza Stefunkova and Dusan Hlavaty, Associates Vlastimil Kreysa and Marek Disman, and Junior Associate Katerina Kucerova; Warsaw-based Partner Tomasz Krzyzowski, Associates Michal Pakosz, Pawel Jakub Jaros, and Junior Associates Jakub Zebrowski, Malgorzata Piwowar, Patrycja Cierlak, and Hanna Wiejowska; and Amsterdam-based Partners Mo Almarini and Koen Bos, and Associates Max Nederlof, Willem Jan Treuren, Charlotte van Rhee, among others.

Sorainen has advised Finnish Technopolis UMA Holding on the sale of its Estonian and Lithuanian UMA Workspace business to Workland. Cobalt advised Workland on the deal.

According to Sorainen, “Technopolis UMA Holding sold two UMA Workspace coworking spaces to the Estonian coworking network Workland – a space of 2,100 square meters in the G9 shopping center in Vilnius and a space of 1,800 square meters on Maakri Street in Tallinn. The acquired coworking spaces will be renamed and will operate under the Workland brand.”

Sorainen’s team in Lithuania included Partner Kestutis Adamonis and Senior Associate Lina Barniskiene and, in Estonia, Partner Paul Kunnap and Assistant Lawyers Joosep Kuusk and Anu Liinsoo.

Cobalt’s team included Partner Simona Oliskeviciute-Ciceniene, Specialist Counsel Ott Aava, Managing Associate Ausrys Sliavas, Senior Associate Madis Reppo, and Assistant Lawyer Elis Toim.

Kocian Solc Balastik has advised the Arete Group on securing a EUR 30 million loan from Raiffeisenbank. The Prague office of Clifford Chance advised the lender. Wilsons Slovakia advised Arete on Slovak aspects of the deal.

According to KSB, Arete Industrial Sicav, established in 2019 as the third real estate investment product of the Arete Group, will use the funds to grow its portfolio through selected acquisitions and new construction of industrial real estate projects.

KSB previously advised Arete on the sale of its portfolio of 11 logistics and industrial parks in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Australia-based fund Cromwell (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 23, 2020). KSB also advised Arete on the refinancing of its CEE II sub-fund (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on June 15, 2020).

KSB’s team included Partner Martin Krejci and Junior Lawyer Tomas Travnicek.

Clifford Chance’s team consisted of Partner Milos Felgr, Senior Associates Dominik Vojta and Stanislav Holec, and Junior Lawyers Matej Ridky and Andrej Havko.

The Wilsons team included Partner Robert Danis and Junior Lawyer Peter Kacer.

Karanovic & Partners has advised Founders Jasmina Knezevic and Milan Knezevic on the sale of a 70% share in Bel Medic to Acibadem Healthcare Group. Prica & Partners and Esin Attorney Partnership advised Acibadem on the deal.

Bel Medic, founded in 1995 is a private healthcare provider in Serbia, operating in Belgrade.

Acibadem Healthcare Group is a Turkish healthcare institution and member of IHH Healthcare Berhad, the world’s second-largest healthcare network.

Karanovic & Partners’ team was led by Senior Partner Dragan Karanovic, Partner Milos Jakovljevic, and Senior Associate Sava Draca.

Prica & Partners’ team included Partners Danica Gligorijevic, Darija Ognjenovic, and Ana Calic Turudija, Senior Associates Veljko Nesic and Jelena Zivanovic, and Associates Jovana Obradovic and Ana Krstic.

Esin Attorney Partnership’s team was led by Partner Caner Elmas and included Senior Associate Orcun Solak.

Cerha Hempel and Wardynski & Partners have advised Worthington Industries International on the sale of its shareholding in Poland’s Stako to Westport Fuel Systems Italia. Bird & Bird advised Westport on Polish law with Dorda reportedly acting as the buyer’s Austrian advisor.

The transaction was preceded by an internal restructuring of Stako, demerging its compressed natural gas business into Worthington Poland. Financial details were not disclosed. 

Worthington Industries is a US-based diversified industrial metal manufacturing group. Stako is a supplier of liquefied petroleum gas storage tanks for automotive applications. Westport Fuel Systems is a clean transportation technology company.

Cerha Hempel’s team consisted of Partner Albert Birkner and Senior Associates Nadine Leitner and Martin Eichinger.

Wardynski & Partners’ team consisted of Partner Anna Dabrowska, Counsel Radoslaw Wasiak, Attorney Joanna Krakowiak, Senior Associates Katarzyna Jaroszynska, Andrzej Madala, Joanna Prokurat, and Katarzyna Zukowska, and Associate Daria Goliszewska.

The Bird & Bird team was led by Partner Pawel Bajno and Senior Associate Michal Blaszkiewicz and included lawyers in the firm’s Real Estate, Employment, and Commercial groups.

Editor’s note: After this article was published, CEE Legal Matters received confirmation that Dorda advised Westport. The firm’s team was led by Managing Partner Martin Brodey and included Attorney Patricia Backhausen and Associates Katharina Binder and Mike Schaunig.