Category: News

Cobalt has advised Silberauto on the sale of its enterprises in Estonia and Lithuania to Scandinavian vehicle dealer Veho. Ellex advised Veho on the deal.

Silberauto, launched in 1990 in Estonia, represents brands within the Daimler group, Jeep, Mitsubishi, and Maserati. Since 2002, the company has also been operating in the Lithuanian market.

Veho was established in Finland in 1939, and it also operates in Sweden and the Baltic countries.

The Cobalt team in Estonia consisted of Partners Peeter Kutman and Aivar Taro, Specialist Counsel Jesse Kivisaari, Senior Associates Heleri Tammiste, Tonu Kolts and Mart Blondal, and Associate Helen Sool. Cobalt Partner Juozas Rimas and Assistant Lawyer Milda Vaznelyte supported the team from Lithuania.

The Ellex Raidla team in Estonia consisted of Partner Risto Vahimets and Senior Associate Karl-Erich Trisberg. Ellex Valiunas Partner Paulius Gruodis, Senior Associate Mantas Juska, and Associate Arvydas Gruseckas worked on the deal from Lithuania.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published, CEE Legal Matters reported that Finland’s Castren & Snellman and Sorainen advised the OP Corporate Bank on its provision of financing to the Veho Group for Veho’s acquisition of Silberauto from entrepreneur Vaino Kaldoja. Finland’s Dittmar Law Firm and Ellex’s three offices in the Baltic advised Veho on the financing, as they had on the acquisition itself.

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JPM is assisting Serbia’s Institute for Molecular Genetics and Genetics Engineering with its implementation of the Balkan Genome Project.

JPM describes IMGGE as “one of the leading Serbian institutions in the field of genetics research,” and explains that “the Project is aimed at sequencing of the whole genome (DNA) of at least 1000 individuals whose ancestors are from different regions of the Balkan Peninsula.” According to the firm, “the data obtained by DNA sequencing will be combined and deposited in publicly available data basis and will be used by researches in other scientific and health institutions and companies.”

According to JPM, “the goal of the Project is the creation of detailed and complete catalogue of genetics variants for the Balkan Peninsula. As the changes in DNA sequence may lead to diseases, data obtained by sequencing may contribute to determination of a connection between genetics variants and diseases, such as malign diseases, schizophrenia and heart diseases. The results of the  Project will be of significant importance for researches worldwide in many other fields of research such as pharmacogenomics (these will enable further developments, i.e. how and why different persons react on different medicines, which further may help health practitioners in the future to determine dosage of some medicines without necessity for comprehensive testing) medical genetics, population genetics, history of human populations, evolutions, anthropology and forensics.”

The JPM team is led by Partner Ivan Milosevic, working with Senior Associate Andrea Cvetanovic.

BDK Advokati has advised the United Kingdom’s Convex Holding on the sale of 51% of its shares in Trizma d.o.o. to Croatia’s Meritus Upravljanje d.o.o. MPRR reportedly advised the buyers on the deal.

Trizma is a call center provider located in Serbia. According to BDK, “Meritus Upravljanje is the owner of M+ Group, a regional player in the area of contact center services and direct marketing, specializing in the telecommunications, TV, energy, banks, insurance, and FMCG industries.”

The BDK team consisted of Senior Partner Vladimir Dasic and Associate Jelena Zelenbaba.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published MPRR confirmed that it had advised Meritus Upravljanje d.o.o. on its acquisition of 51% of the shares of Trizma d.o.o. The firm’s team was led by Senior Partner Vladimir Mamic and included Junior Partner Nikola Kokot and Attorney-at-Law Marko Milosevic.

DLA Piper Poland, Oppenheim, and PRK Partners have advised Metro Properties on the more-than-EUR 250 million sale and lease-back of 11 Cash & Carry stores in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to FLE GmbH, an Austrian subsidiary of French LFPI Group, investing on behalf of the AIF regulated fund. Allen & Overy, Novalia, and DLA Piper Hungary advised FLE on the transaction, which was finalized in August 2019.

The properties include five Makro Cash & Carry stores in Poland (in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, and Lublin), three Metro Cash & Carry properties in Hungary (all in Budapest), and three Makro Cash & Carry markets in the Czech Republic (all in Prague). Metro Properties retains the ownership of several adjacent plots in Poland and the Czech Republic to develop mixed-use projects. 

Metro is an international wholesale company with food and non-food assortments that specializes in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants, and caterers as well as independent traders. Metro Properties is the real estate company of Metro AG, an international wholesale and food expert, that operates in 36 countries and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. The company, which is headquartered in Germany, also has operations in Poland and Turkey.

FLE GmbH, based in Vienna, is a subsidiary of LFPI group, an international multi-asset manager. The real estate funds managed by LFPI group are owners of more than 250 real estate properties with an estimated net value of approximately EUR 3 billion.

The PRK Partners team included Partner Roman Pecenka and Associate Milan Sivy.

The DLA Piper Poland-based team included Partner Jacek Gizinski, Counsel Pawel Chodzinski, Associates Miroslaw Calka and Karolina Madrzycka, and Junior Associate Karolina Kordulska.

The Allen & Overy team included Partner Michal Matera, Senior Associates Piotr Przybylski and Anna Madra, and Associates Krystyna Fatyga and Maciej Wroniak.

Editor’s note: After this article was published Novalia informed CEE Legal Matters that its team included Partners Pavel Marc, Kamil Stanek, and Marketa Kucerova Pechova.

Schoenherr, working with lead counsel Kirkland & Ellis, has advised Apax Partners on its acquisition of a majority stake in the ADCO Group. The ADCO Group’s shareholders were advised by King Wood & Mallesons on the transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of the year.

Apax Partners is a global private equity advisory firm. The Apax Funds invest in companies in the tech & telco, services, healthcare, and consumer sectors. 

The ADCO Group, founded in Germany, operates the DIXI and TOI TOI brands providing portable toilet and sanitation equipment rental and services worldwide. 

The Schoenherr Czech Republic team was led by Partner Vladimir Cizek and included Attorneys at law Jitka Kadlcikova, Stanislav Bednar, Helena Hangler, Eva Bajakova, Claudia Bock, Jiri Marek, and Rudolf Bicek, and Associates Jachym Bem and Tomas Jansa.

The Schoenherr Poland team was led by Partner Pawel Halwa and included Counsel Krzysztof Pawlak, Attorney at law Krzysztof Lesniak, and Associate Daria Rutecka.

The Germany-based team of Kirkland & Ellis was headed by Partner Attila Oldag and included Partner Thomas Krawitz and Associates Samuel Frommelt and Angelina Seelbach.

McDermott Will & Emery has advised German automotive supplier Borges on its restructuring. Latham & Watkins acts as coordinating counsel to the bank syndicate on the restructuring, with the Prague and Warsaw offices of Clifford Chance advising the syndicate and Dentons lawyers in Frankfurt and Berlin advising Bank Ceska Sporitelna.

The deal was signed and closed in July 2019.

Borgers was founded in 1866 and produces upholstery materials that are primarily used to reduce noise in cars. Clifford Chance describes the company, which is headquartered in Bocholt, Germany and employs approximately 7,000 workers worldwide and has operations in Europe, the US and Asia, with a manufacturing presence in the Czech Republic and Poland, as “one of the world’s leading manufacturers of acoustically effective components for motor vehicles.” The group’s annual sales amounted to approximately EUR 900 million in 2018.

The McDermott Will & Emery team included Partners Matthias Kampshoff, Oliver Lieth, Dustin Schwerdtfeger, Christoph Coenen, Oliver Hahnelt, Adam Spiegel, Anh Lee, Daniel von Brevern, Nina Siewert, Darren Azman, and Marc Oberhardt, and Associates Benedikt Schulz, Ulrike Witt, Bjorn Bieh, Ravi Vohra, David Schafer, Marta Wrobel, Rosie Mist, Clare Baglin, Emma Jolley, Rosemary McSwine, Stanislas Chenu, and Michael Rostovtsev.

The Latham & Watkins team included Partners Jorn Kowalewski, Ulrich Klockenbrink, Sibylle Munch, Vik Puri, Jennifer Brenna, Etienne Gentil, Fernando Colomina, Dirk Kocher, and Tobias Klass, and Associates Jan-Philipp Prass, Anja Hornbostel, Martina Eisgruber, Kate Zhu, Christoph Rapp, Gayle Grocke, Luke Vaz, Chithra Rengamanner, Tristan Lemaire, Pablo Alarcon.

The Clifford Chance team advising the syndicate of banks on the Czech and Polish law aspects of the restructuring was led out of Prague by Partner Milos Felgr and Of Counsel Tomas Richter and included Czech Associates Pavel Bogusky and Junior Lawyer Lucie Ruzickova. The Clifford Chance Warsaw team included Partner Andrzej Stosio and Associate Piotr Weclawowicz.

The Dentons team included Berlin-based Partner Andreas Ziegenhagen and Frankfurt-based Counsel Verena Etzel.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published Dentons informed CEE Legal Matters that its team included, in Prague, Partner Jiri Tomola, Counsel Martin Fronek, and Associate Ondrej Vales, and in Frankfurt, Partner Arne Kluwer.  

The MCL law firm has advised private equity group MiddleCap Partners on its acquisition of Czech and Slovak optical component retailers Fokus Optic a.s. and Fokus Ocna Optika a.s., as well as on related acquisition financing from Slovenska Sporitelna. Urban & Hejduk assisted MiddleCap Partners on Czech elements of the deal, with Czech law firm Miks and Suk and Slovak law firm Legate advising the sellers. Dentons advised Slovenska Sporitelna.

The identity of the sellers (six private individuals for Fokus Ocna Optika in Slovakia and ten private individuals for  Fokus Optic in the Czech Republic) was not disclosed.

The MCL team in Bratislava was led by Partners Vojtech Palinkas and Martin Jurecko and included Senior Associate Kamila Turcanova, with Prague-based Head of Banking/Finance Michal Ranostaj handling both Czech and Slovak acquisition financing aspects.

The Urban & Hejduk team in Prague was led by Partners Jan Urban and Katerina Mala.

The Legate team advising the sellers included Managing Partner Peter Vrabel and Senior Associate Katarina Sivakova.

The Dentons team advising Slovenska Sporitelna on the financing including Bratislava-based Partner Peter Kubina and Associate Richard Marcincin and Prague-based Local Partner Tomas Osicka and Associate Tomas Mach.

Editor’s Note: After this article was published Miks and Suk informed CEE Legal Matters that its team consisted of attorneys Antonin Pechar and Nikola Smejdirova.

Avellum has provided Ukrainian counsel to Polish IT company Cornerstone Partners, the co-owner of IT Kontrakt, on its acquisition of CoreValue, a US-headquartered IT service provider with Ukrainian roots. Weil, Gotshal & Manges was lead counsel to Cornerstone Partners.

Cornerstone Partners is a private equity investment firm founded in 2001 that invests in private equity transactions in Poland and CEE. IT Kontrakt implements IT solutions and services for business and offers support with building IT systems. Since July 2017, IT Kontrakt has been part of Oaktree Capital Management, a global private equity fund.

CoreValue is a US-based software and technology services company with development labs across Ukraine and Poland.

The Avellum team was led by Partner Yuriy Nechayev and included Associates Dmytro Symbiryov, Yulia Chelebii-Kravchenko, and Daryna Mykhailenko.