Category: News

Schoenherr has advised BlackPeak Capital and Catalyst Romania Fund II on a EUR 10 million Series B funding for Leanpay.

Leanpay is a Slovenia-based pioneering Buy Now Pay Later and Point-of-Sale lending platform. According to Schoenherr, “this investment, led by BlackPeak Capital and co-led by Catalyst Romania Fund II, aims to support Leanpay’s plans to become the digital consumer lending champion in the Central and Eastern European region.”

BlackPeak Capital is a private equity firm focused on investing in growth equity in Southeast Europe. Currently, it manages two funds with total assets under management of EUR 150 million. Catalyst Romania is a venture capital investor in Romanian technology companies with the potential to become regional leaders or global challengers.

In 2022, Schoenherr advised Blackpeak Capital on its EUR 7.5 million equity investment into EUShipments.com and its subsidiary InOut Trade (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 12, 2022).

The Schoenherr team was led by Romania-based Partner Madalina Neagu and included Croatia-based Partner Vice Mandaric, Hungary-based Partners Gabor Pazsitka and Kinga Hetenyi and Attorney at Law Miklos Klenanc, Romania-based Managing Attorneys at Law Andrei Muresan and Mihaela Popescu, Slovenia-based Office Managing Partner Vid Kobe, Partners Peter Gorse and Marko Frantar, Attorney at Law Manja Hubman, Senior Associates Tilen Zagar and Hana Serbec, and Associates Miriam Gajsek and Borce Malijanski, and Serbia-based Partner Igor Zivkovski and Attorney at Law Bojan Rajic.

Schoenherr did not respond to CEE Legal Matters’ request for details on the matter.

Taylor Wessing, Stratulat Albulescu, and Moral Kinikoglu Pamukkale, working with PedersoliGattai, have advised Sennder Technologies on the acquisition of the European surface transportation operations of C.H. Robinson Worldwide. HVG Law reportedly advised C.H. Robinson.

According to Taylor Wessing, the transaction remains contingent on the “completion of the corporate structuring of the EST business unit to be acquired, as well as mandatory employee consultations and applicable merger control proceedings, and is expected to close in Q4 2024.”

Sennder Technologies is a European digital road freight forwarder.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide is a provider of logistics solutions with a freight volume of USD 22 billion.

The Taylor Wessing team included Poland-based Partners Olav Nemling and Krystian Stanasiuk, Counsel Katarzyna Matusiak, and Associate Michal Zabost, Hungary-based Partner Torsten Braner, Counsel Gabor Helembai, and Senior Associate Zsombor Lenner, Czech Republic-based Partner Thomas Rechberger and Senior Associate David Volek, as well as further team members in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Spain, and France.

The Stratulat Albulescu team included Managing Partner Silviu Stratulat, Counsel Raluca Gabor, Senior Associate Bogdan Florea, and Associate Adriana Ion.

The Moral Kinikoglu Pamukkale team included Managing Partner Vefa Resat Moral, Partner Serra Haviyo, Senior Associate Dilara Kaymaz, and Associate Selen Akgun.

Ellex has advised Ergo International on the acquisition of ADB Gjensidige from Gjensidige Forsikring ASA.

Ergo is one of the largest insurance groups in Europe.

According to Ellex, “ADB Gjensidige has 659 employees and provides general insurance products to both private and commercial customers in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Through this transaction, ERGO will expand its footprint across all three Baltic countries, further strengthening its local market position.”

The Ellex team included Lithuania-based Partners Ramunas Petravicius and Sarunas Keserauskas, Senior Associates Augustinas Macionis and Arvydas Gruseckas, Estonia-based Partner Sven Papp and Counsel Gerda Liik, and Latvia-based Senior Partner Filips Klavins and Associate Partner Maris Brizgo.

Ellex did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

TGS Baltic has advised AB Agathum on its EUR 2 million bond issuance and listing on the Nasdaq Vilnius Baltic First North market in Lithuania and Latvia.

AB Agathum, founded in 2012, invests in real estate objects with long-term tenants.

According to TGS Baltic, “in the future, the company will have the opportunity to increase the issue to EUR 4 million. Agathum will pay 11% annual interest on the raised funds.”

The TGS Baltic team included Partner Dalia Augaite, Associates Kotryna Visockyte and Nortautas Zenevicius, and Legal Assistant Gabija Sidlauskaite.

Kocian Solc Balastik and Hillbridges have advised J&T Banka on Discovery Group’s Centro Nitra refinancing. DLA Piper reportedly advised Discovery Group.

Centro Nitra is a shopping center in Nitra, Slovakia.

Discovery Group is engaged in real estate investment and development of commercial real estate in Central and Eastern Europe.

The KSB team included Partner Martin Krejci, Lawyers Josef Kriz and Tomas Travnicek, and Junior Lawyer Jakub Mehl.

The Hillbridges team included Partner Martin Cabak and Associates Katarina Dedinska and Alzbeta Spitova.

Taylor Wessing has advised VakifBank International on the implementation of a core banking system.

According to Taylor Wessing, VakifBank International is a subsidiary of VakifBank. VakifBank was founded in Turkey in 1954 and, with its more than 900 branches and subsidiary VakifBank International, is the second largest state-owned Turkish bank.

“The bank opted for a strategic changeover to a CBS, a software that will support the bank’s core processes and frequent transactions,” commented Taylor Wessing Vienna Partner Andreas Schuetz. “We reviewed the relevant contracts for Austria and Hungary, provided the bank with strategic support, and accompanied the preparations for any negotiations with providers/parties involved.”

The Taylor Wessing team included Schuetz, Vienna-based Counsels Carmen Redmann-Wippel and Tugce Yalcin, and Associate Tereza Gruendvaldska.

Cobalt has advised BaltCap on its investment in Fitekin and Onea software platforms of the Unifiedpost Group.

BaltCap is a private equity investor in the Baltic States.

Fitekin is a digital purchase invoice management system facilitating the management and workflow of e-invoices, PDFs, and paper invoices. Onea creates cloud-based pre-accounting solutions that provide real-time insight from financial data. Fitekin and Onea serve customers in 13 countries across Europe. UnifiedPost Group is a fintech firm headquartered in Belgium.

In 2019, Cobalt advised BaltCap on the sale of its 95% stake in Baltic-based Fitek Holding to the UnifiedPost Group (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 5, 2019).

The Cobalt team included Estonia-based Partner Peeter Kutman, Managing Associates Ott Aava and Tonu Kolts, Senior Associate Kerli Salu, Associates Elis Toim, Liis Leedo and Kristiina Kraav, and Junior Associate Kerstin Tang, Latvia-based Senior Associate Martins Tarlaps and Associate Vadims Zvicevics, and Lithuania-based Specialist Counsel Deimante Pagiriene and Associate Agne Saliamone.

Cobalt could not provide further information on the matter.

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.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

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 and Associate Michal Pypka, Hungary-based Partner Janos Toth and Senior Associate Peter Ihasz, and Slovakia-based Partner Bruno Stefanik.

Wolf Theiss did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Binder Groesswang has advised NKMS Holding on the acquisition of Austrian and Czech subsidiaries of the German-based Gienanth Group. Baker McKenzie advised Gienanth Group.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval

NMKS Holding operates several companies in the metal industry and is based in Vienna. According to Binder Groesswang, “Gienanth Steyr Guss and its subsidiaries Gienanth Steyr MBA, based in Steyr, Austria, and Gienanth Czechia, based in Kaplice, Czech Republic, are being transferred. The integration of the foundries in Steyr and the further processing in Kaplice is an excellent strategic fit with the existing foundry and manufacturing activities of NKMS Holding.”

The Gienanth Group was founded in 1795 as a hammer mill. Today, the Gienanth Group is a foundry group specializing in the production and finishing of iron castings using machine and hand molding processes. 

The Binder Groesswang team included Partners Andreas Hable, Horst Lukanec, Christian Wimpissinger, and Christine Dietz, Counsels Sabine Apfl-Trompeter and Johannes Bammer, Senior Associates Simona Chwala and Max Danzinger, and Associates Roman Zaufl and Larissa Wagner.

The Baker McKenzie team included Counsel Philipp Stanek, Senior Associates Sophie Schubert, Andrea Haiden, and Nina Lenhard, and Associates Max Felbermayr, Valentin Polla, and Filip Peric.

Wolf Theiss, working with Ropes & Gray, has advised American Industrial Partners on its investment in Austin Powder. Jones Day reportedly advised Austin Powder.

American Industrial Partners is an investment firm managing approximately USD 16 billion in assets.

Austin Powder is a provider of industrial explosives and engineered blasting solutions.

The Wolf Theiss team included Austria-based Partners Horst Ebhardt, Kurt Retter, Matthias Unterrieder, Ralf Peschek, Birgit Kraml, and Robert Wagner, Counsels Doris Buxbaum, Harald Strahberger, and Markus Taufner, Senior Associate Magdalena Ziembicka, and Associates Klemens Kendler, Sang Wha Lee, and Sarah Haubmann, Poland-based Partners Anna Dabrowska and Bartosz Kuras, Counsel Jakub Pietrasik, Senior Associate Michal Zajaczkowski, and Associates Jan Kazmierczak, Julia Dolna, and Paulina Wojtkowska, Czech Republic-based Counsels Tereza Naucova, Ondrej Benes, and Tomas Kren, Senior Associates Barbora Malimankova and Michal Matous, and Associates Anna Bilanova, Dan Schneeweiss, Maros Kandrik, and Tereza Mrazkova, Slovakia-based Partner Bruno Stefanik, Counsel Zuzana Hodonova, Senior Associate Vladimir Simkovic, and Associates Kristina Semanska and Peter Dibala, and Hungary-based Partner Janos Toth and Associate Bence Andras Kiraly.