Divjak, Topic, Bahtijarevic & Krka, working alongside Allen & Overy, has advised J&T Bank, the arranger on a public offering of senior secured bonds.
According to DTB, “the issuer has established bond offering program in the total principle amount of up to EUR 80 million based on which it may continuously or repeatedly issue senior secured bonds under the laws of the Slovak Republic.”
DTB’s team was led by Partner Martina Kalamiza Grozdek.
Cobalt has advised sports-betting and gaming group Entain on its public offer to acquire all of the shares in Enlabs AB.
According to Cobalt, the shares are valued at SEK 40 each. The total value of the offer amounts to approximately SEK 2.8 billion (approximately EUR 276 million).
Enlabs is a provider of i-gaming services, with offices in Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Malta, Marbella, Minsk, and Stockholm.
Cobalt’s team consisted of, in Latvia, Partner Guntars Zile and Senior Associate Elina Locmele; in Estonia, Partner Martin Simovart and Specialist Counsel Jesse Kivisaari; in Lithuania, Senior Associates Renata Vasiliauskiene and Julija Aleska; and in Belarus, Managing Associate Anastasia Bykowskaya.
Cobalt could not provide additional information about the deal.
Kinstellar has advised Austria’s KA Finanz on the sale of a Greek municipal loan portfolio to Piraeus Bank.
KA Finanz is the wind-up entity of Kommunalkredit Austria AG, a bank focused on infrastructure and energy, which was nationalized and re-privatized during the past decade and which originated the loans.
According to Kinstellar, “the transaction involved English, Austrian, and Greek law, and due to legal and other considerations, physically took place across multiple jurisdictions, including Greece, Austria, Serbia, the UK, and the US.”
Kinstellar’s multi-office team was led by Special Counsel Denise Hamer and included Managing Partner Branislav Maric and Senior Associate Tijana Arsenijevic from the firm’s Belgrade office.
Kinstellar could not provide any further information about the deal.
Arabella Eichinger, Andreas Natterer, and Michael Woller have been promoted to Equity Partner, Marcin Aslanowicz, Bojan Brezan, Vid Kobe, and Maximilian Lang have been promoted to Contract Partner, and Marko Frantar has been promoted to Local Partner as part of Schoenherr’s recent promotion round.
Austrian lawyer Arabella Eichinger, who joined the firm in 2013, specializes in real estate and construction law. She was promoted to Contract Partner at the beginning of 2019 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 15, 2019). She has a Magister’s degree in law from the University of Vienna. Prior to joining Schoenherr, she spent two years with Hohne & In der Maur, five years with Saxinger Chalupsky Weber and Partners, three years with UBM, and five years with Asamer Holding AG.
Schoenherr describes Andreas Natterer, who joined the firm in 1993, as “one of Austria’s leading experts in health care and life science matters, especially in food and pharma law.” According to the firm, “he [also] brings more than 25 years of experience in several areas of litigation, representing Austrian and international corporates both in and out of court.” He Natterer has a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna.
Austrian lawyer Michael Woller co-heads Schoenherr’s IP & Tech practice. According to the firm, he has a strong CEE focus and handles large international trademark portfolios as well as complex cross-border IP-projects.” He has an LL.M. and an MBA from the Donau-Universitat Krems and a Ph.D. from the University of Vienna. Before joining Schoenherr in 2008, he spent almost six years with IBM.
Marcin Aslanowicz is the Head of Schoenherr’s Dispute Resolution practice in Poland. According to the firm, “he specializes in arbitration, as well as in civil law, commercial law and company law, representing clients in various disputes pending before Polish state courts, as well as Polish and international arbitration courts.” He has an LL.M. from the University of Warsaw and a J.D. from the Polska Akademia Nauk. Prior to joining Schoenherr in 2019 from Wolf Theiss (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 19, 2019), he spent three and a half years with that firm, and over nine years with Clifford Chance.
Bojan Brezan manages Schoenherr’s Slovenia office and, according to the firm, “specializes in corporate/m&a and real estate acquisitions and is widely recognized as a top litigator.” He is a graduate of Heidelberg University and the University of Ljubljana. Prior to joining Schoenherr in 2012, he spent two and a half years with Kozinc and Partners.
Vid Kobe, who joined Schonherr Slovenia in 2007, is a transaction lawyer who, according to the firm “played a central role in establishing the Slovenian office’s highly regarded corporate finance practice.” According to the firm, “he is recognized for his high-profile M&A and financing track record as well as his expertise in restructurings and distressed situations.” He has an LL.B. from the University of Ljubljana and an LL.M. from LSE.
Austrian lawyer Maximilian Lang specializes in Corporate/M&A. He joined Schoenherr in 2013 after two and a half years with Binder Groesswang, and has a Magister’s degree in Law from the University of Vienna and an LL.M. from Georgetown.
According to Schoenherr, Slovenian lawyer Marko Frantar has “built-up a strong transactional practice specializing in real estate, and has accumulated extensive experience advising on non-transactional matters restructuring, regulatory, [and] dispute resolution.” He has an LL.B. from the University of Ljubljana and an LL.M. from NYU. Prior to joining Schoenherr in 2013, he spent two years with the Court of Appeals of Ljubljana.
“Each one of these outstanding lawyers has played an important role in positioning Schoenherr as the go-to legal advisor for complex commercial matters in Austria and CEE,” said Schoenherr Managing Partner Michael Lagler. “The promotion of this exceptional group of lawyers also proves that we have remained strong and adaptable in the face of the particularly demanding circumstances that the past year brought. I am proud of welcoming them into their new positions.”
Giedre Aukstuoliene at Ellex Valiunas in Lithuania and Martin Maesalu at Ellex Raidla in Estonia have made Partner, and Olga Petroseviciene has joined Ellex Valiunas as a Partner.
Giedre Aukstuoliene, who co-heads the Dispute Resolution practice of the firm’s Vilnius office with Partner Ramunas Petravicius, joined Ellex in 2011, after working for a year and a half with Smaliukas, Juodka, Beniusis & Parnets and two and a half years with Varul Vilgerts Smaliukas. She received her Master’s degree in Law from Vilnius University in 2008.
Olga Petroseviciene joins Ellex Valiunas from Wint, where she spent the previous two years. She began her career in a previous iteration of Ellex Valiunas – Lawin – where she worked from 2007-2010. In 2010 she left Lawin to join Raidla, Lejins & Norcous, and in July of 2013 she moved to Sorainen. In 2014 she left to open her own firm, and five years later joined Wint. At Ellex Valiunas she will co-head the Real Estate and Environmental practice with Audrius Petkevicius.
New Partner Martin Maesalu will take charge of Ellex Raidla’s Competition Law and State Aid practice. He joined Ellex legacy firm Raidla, Lejins & Norcous in 2011. He obtained his first Master’s in Law from the University of Tartu in 2010, then obtained additional Master’s in Law degrees from WHU – Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management and the Bucerius Law School.
“I am glad that the young generation of lawyers is taking an increasingly active lead in the law firm,” commented Rolandas Valiunas, Managing Partner of Ellex Valiunas in Lithuania.
Lithuanian lawyer Asta Augutyte-Rapkeviciene and Estonian lawyer Norman Aas have been promoted to partner at at Sorainen.
Asta Augutyte-Rapkeviciene specializes in real estate, construction, and environmental matters. Before joining Sorainen in 2013, she spent three years with Raidla, Lejins & Norcous (now Cobalt). She obtained her master’s degree at the University in Vilnius in 2011.
According to Tomas Kontautas, Sorainen’s Country Managing Partner in Lithuania, “Asta is one of the nation’s leading experts in her fields, and she has in recent years worked on the largest transactions carried out in Lithuania, such as the sale of SBA Group logistic centre to EfTEN, the IPO of Ignitis, and the acquisition of Quadrum offices by Deka Immobilien.”
“My aim is to focus on creating the strongest Real Estate practice group in the market,” Augutyte-Rapkeviciene commented, “with an eye on new areas such as renewable energy development projects and growing interest in the logistics, warehousing and industrial sector.”
Norman Aas began his career in law in 2005 with the Prosecutor’s Office of Estonia. In 2014 he moved to the Ministry of Justice, before joining Sorainen in 2017. He received his master’s degree from the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald in 2001. According to Sorainen, “Aas has helped numerous large international companies conduct internal investigations, identify crimes involving dishonest management, and help restore normal business.”
“Norman did not take long to prove that dedicated work in the public sector is a great foundation to build on in a law firm, to take our corporate crime investigations and defense practice to the top of the country,” stated Toomas Prangli, Sorainen’s Country Managing Partner in Estonia.
My main goal is to help businesses become transparent and fraud-free,” stated Aas, “and I can do that by helping clients address these topics as well as by personally keeping them in the spotlight.”
Triniti has advised Estonian national airline Nordica on the acquisition of the remaining 49% of Regional Jet OU (Xfly), a joint venture between it and Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT.
According to Triniti, “Poland’s national carrier LOT acquired a 49% share in Nordica’s subsidiary Xfly in November 2016. The two airlines then started working together at a variety of levels, including sharing a ticket sales platform and operating flights, first between Tallinn and Warsaw and later on other routes. The Estonian and Polish carriers outsourced flight operation services from Xfly, which has since become the biggest Estonian airline.” According to the firm, “both Nordica and LOT had big plans for Xfly, but the global pandemic saw the airlines’ operations all but grind to a halt overnight and they were forced to focus instead on simply staying alive. While LOT and Nordica are continuing to cooperate commercially, the decision was taken to place Xfly in majority ownership to ensure the subsidiary’s long-term future.”
“Although the negotiations went on for a very long time, I’m really happy with the agreement we’ve reached,” commented Chairman of Nordica’s Management Board, Erki Urva. “It’s also important that in the ‘breaking-up’, as it were, we’ve managed to stay friends, which ensures that our commercial cooperation will continue. All this means that Estonia’s national airline is now the 100% owner of Xfly, which operates as a capacity provider, giving us the freedom to make quick decisions ourselves if we need to – which is vital considering how much the coronavirus crisis has shaken up the aviation market.”
Triniti’s team included Partner Tonis Tamme and Senior Associate Ain Kalme.
Lawyers from Baker McKenzie’s Prague and Warsaw office formed part of the firm’s multi-office team advising Swiss building component supplier Arbonia on the sale of its windows business to Denmark’s Dovista Group.
The five companies relating to the windows business that Arbonia sold are Dobroplast, EgoKiefer, Slovaktual, Webcom and Wertbau. With this acquisition, Baker McKenzie reports, the Dovista Group will gain access to the Central European markets of Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and Slovakia, where the Windows Division holds strong market positions.
According to Baker McKenzie, “in 2015, Arbonia initiated a comprehensive restructuring and relocation process in the Windows Division. It invested around CHF 100 million net in new production capacities, including the purchase of the German Wertbau in 2015, and in the modernization and automation of its machinery. As a result, the four autonomously operating companies became an integrated group with three highly automated production competence centers for wood, wood/aluminum, vinyl, and vinyl/aluminum windows with a high degree of vertical integration, which has strong positions in the domestic markets of Switzerland, Slovakia ,and Poland.”
Lawyers from Baker McKenzie’s Zurich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Prague, and Warsaw offices advised Arbonia on the sale. The team was led by Partner Alexander Fischer and included, among many others, in Prague, Partner Tomas Skoumal, Associates Vlastimil Kreysa, Marek Disman, Michal Simcina and Samuel Bodik, and in Warsaw, Partner Tomasz Krzyzowski, Director of Tax Piotr Wysocki, Counsels Mikolaj Piaskowski and Michal Lisawa, and Associates Piotr Szczecinski andPiotr Maksymiuk, Katarzyna Lisiewska, Piotr Ciepiela, Michal Pakosz, and Kamil Matyskiewicz, Junior Associate Jakub Zebrowski, and Trainee Piotr Pawlowski.
DLA Piper has advised Photon Energy in connection with the admission to trading of all its shares on the regulated parallel markets of the Warsaw and Prague Stock Exchanges.
On December 14, 2020, the Netherlands Authority of the Financial Markets approved the Photon’s prospectus. The listings does not involve any issuance of new shares.
DLA Piper reported that its role in the transaction included advising Photon “in connection with the prospectus approval by the Netherlands AFM, its notification to the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority and the Czech National Bank for passporting and also included the change of the markets on which the shares were listed (i.e. NewConnect in Poland and Free Market in the Czech Republic).”
DLA Piper’s team was led by Warsaw-based Partner Jakub Domalik-Plakwicz and Associate Karolina Stepaniuk with support from Counsel Wojciech Kalinowski and Associate Michal Kuratowski. Partners Henk Arnold Sijnja and Sander Wiggers, supported by Associates Jacklynn Everduim, Gijs Kikkert, and Jafar Alhashime, from DLA Piper’s Amsterdam office, advised on Dutch law aspects of the transaction. Partner Miroslav Dubovsky supported by Associate Marcel Janicek led the team advising on Czech law aspects of the transaction.
Clifford Chance’s Prague office has helped the Sazka Group obtain a EUR 640 million senior secured loan. Allen & Overy advised the unidentified lenders on the deal, along with, reportedly, the Bernitsas Law Firm in Greece, Georgiades & Pelides in Cyprus, and CMS Reich Rohrwig Hainz in Austria.
The Sazka Group is an organizer of national lottery games, instant lotteries, and online lotteries, as well as digital gaming and sports betting. The company operates in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and the Czech Republic.
According to Allen & Overy, “the proceeds of the financing will refinance several bilateral and syndicated facilities of the company and its subsidiaries.” According to the firm, “the deal is the first of its kind in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in that it brings the local bondholders (in the Czech Republic and Slovakia), international bondholders (under New-York-law-governed notes) and bank lenders under a common inter-creditor structure governed by English law.”
Clifford Chance’s team included Prague-based Partner Milos Felgr and Senior Associate Vladimir Rylich.
Allen & Overy’s team consisted of, in London, Partners Jeanette Cruz and Matthias Baudisch, Counsel Jan Skuhravy, Senior Associate George Chrysospathis, and Associate Jonathan Roberts; in Prague, Partner Petr Vybiral and Associates Pavel Prihoda and Tomas Kirner; in Bratislava, Counsels Peter Jedinak and Matus Kudlak; and in Milan, Associate Martina Gullino.
Editor’s note: After this article was published, Bernitsas Law announced that it’s team included Partner Nikos Papachristopoulos and Senior Associate Dionysis Flambouras.