Category: News

  • Sorainen Advises Novalpina on OEG Share Acquisition

    Sorainen Advises Novalpina on OEG Share Acquisition

    Sorainen and Brandl & Talos have advised investment company Novalpina on the public offer by its Odyssey Europe AS subsidiary to acquire all the shares in the listed Estonian gaming group Olympic Entertainment Group, following which — assuming shareholder approval — Odyssey will delist OEG from the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange, then merge the two companies.

    The two founders and major shareholders of OEG, Armin Karu and Jaan Korpusov, committed to tender their shares, which represent 64% of total OEG shares outstanding, in the voluntary takeover offer. The offer will be for EUR 1.90 in cash per share. The cash offer is expected to be published on April 4, 2018 and values OEG at some EUR 288 million.

    OEG, along with its subsidiaries, is a provider of gaming services in the Baltic States and also operates casinos in Slovakia, Italy, and Malta. As of September 2017, the group had a total of 117 casinos and 28 betting points.

    Novalpina Capital is a European private equity firm that focuses on making control equity investments in middle market companies operating throughout Europe. The firm was established in 2017 by three former senior executives of the European operations of leading global private equity investment firms.

    The Sorainen team consisted of Partner Pekka Puolakka and Senior Associate Cathriin Torop from Estonia, Senior Associate Valts Nerets from Latvia, Senior Associate Jurgita Nikita, and Associates Sidas Sokolovas and Urte Armonaite from Lithuania.

    Editor’s Note: After this article was published, Weil, Gotshal & Manges announced that it also advised financial investor Novalpina Capital in its voluntary takeover offer for Tallinn-based listed Olympic Entertainment Group AS. Ellex Raidla announced it advised Hansa Assets OU and Hendaya Invest OU on the sale of Olympic Entertainment Group AS to Odyssey Europe. And Cobalt announced it advised Morgan Stanley financing the acquisition by Odyssey Europe.

    The Weil team was led by Partner Gerhard Schmidt and included Partners Stephan Grauke, Barbara Jagersberger, and Tobias Geerling, Counsel Heiner Drueke, and Associates Manuel-Peter Fringer, Ansgar Wimber, Alexander Pfefferler, Daniel Zhu, Julian Schwanebeck, and Benjamin Rapp. The Weil team also included Frankfurt Partner Wolfram Distler, and London Partner Patrick Bright, supported by Associates Dorian Legel, Julia Schum, Nick Krendel, Antony Serban, Alastair McVeigh, Bhavesh Madia, and Feng Cai.

    The Ellex Raidla team consisted of Partners Gerli Kilusk, Ermo Kosk, and Associate Kerstin Jurgenson.

    The Cobalt team consisted of Partners Marina Kotkas and Kristel Raidla-Talur, Senior associate Kristjan Kotkas, and Associate Greete-Kristiine Kuru from the Estonian office, as well as Counsel Edgars Lodzins from the Latvian office, and Partner Akvile Bosaite from the Lithuanian office.

     

  • Allen & Overy Advises EBRD and ING Bank Romania in EUR 96 Million Financing for CTPark Bucharest

    Allen & Overy Advises EBRD and ING Bank Romania in EUR 96 Million Financing for CTPark Bucharest

    Allen & Overy’s Bucharest, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, and Luxembourg offices have advised the EBRD and ING Bank Romania on a EUR 96 million financing for CTPark Bucharest — a logistics park located on the A1 Bucharest-Pitesti motorway, owned by CTP Group.

    The EBRD will provide EUR 43.8 million while ING will contribute EUR 52.2 million to this loan.

    The 52-hectare park is operated by the Romanian unit of the CTP real estate developer, which owns a portfolio of premium business parks in Central Europe.

    Allen & Overy reports that the loans will support the operation of several resource-efficient warehouses hosting such tenants as telecommunications operator Orange, information management firm Iron Mountain, and global logistics company XPO Logistics.

    The RTPR Allen & Overy team in Bucharest consisted of Partner Alexandru Retevoescu, Counsel Cosmin Tilea, and Associates Alexandru Coras and Andrei Lupu.

    Allen & Overy’s Prague team was headed by Senior Associate Petra Mysakova, assisted by Junior Lawyer Michal Zabadal.

    The Warsaw team was led by Partner Dan Cocker and included Senior Associates Maciej Dymnicki and Miklos Kadar.

    The Luxembourg team included Partner Henri Wagner, Counsel Francois Guillaume de Liedekerke, and Associate Ruslana Hrischeva.

    The Amsterdam team was supervised by Partner Niels de Ru, assisted by Senior Associate Karin Hoenson-van den Berg and Associate Gijs Kerstjens.

     

  • Clifford Chance Appoints New Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe

    Clifford Chance Appoints New Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe

    Clifford Chance has announced the appointment of Charles Adams as new Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe, succeeding Yves Wehrli, with a four-year term to begin on April 1, 2018.

    Wehrli, who had completed the maximum number of terms he could serve representing the region, will continue in his current position as Office Managing Partner for the firm’s Paris office.

    According to Clifford Chance, Adams “is recognized as one of the leading banking and finance lawyers specializing in Italian and cross-border financings. From 2007 to 2014 Charles was the Office Managing Partner for Clifford Chance’s Italian practice, with offices in Milan and Rome, and was a Continental European partner representative on the firm’s former Management Committee from 2013 until 2014. Charles returned to Milan in January, having spent over two years based in the firm’s New York office, supporting the strategic progress of Clifford Chance’s Americas practice, particularly in Latin America. In his new role, Charles will remain co-head of the firm’s Italian Finance and Capital Markets group, and continue to be actively involved in client-facing work from Milan.”

    Clifford Chance Managing Partner Matthew Layton commented that: “Yves has done an excellent job over the past four years. While we have always had a well-respected European platform, the combined strength of our capability across offices, practices, and sectors has never been so compelling. Yves takes the credit for driving change in the region, working tirelessly with the other leaders in the region, particularly Peter Dieners, as the RMP for our German practice. Charles takes up the reins with our Continental Europe offering in excellent shape. Charles is passionate about our clients, the firm and how our Continental European team will continue to deliver a service that will make us stand out against the competition in a fast-evolving and important market for so many of our clients regionally and across the globe. I look forward to working with him.”

    Yves Wehrli commented: “It has been a real honor and a privilege to have held the RMP post. We have made huge progress over that time, especially in ensuring that our clients and our people globally understand the combined potential of our 16 market-leading offices in the region. I would particularly like to thank the partners in the region for their hard work and support. This has been absolutely fundamental to our success.”

    Finally, Charles Adams commented, “Nurturing our position in this strategically important region is a priority for the firm. That includes ensuring that we forge ever-stronger bonds with our colleagues in other regions, notably in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Europe’s future is intertwined with that of the wider global economy, and we are better placed than any other law firm to help clients capitalize successfully on the opportunities that brings. It is an exciting time to take on this role and I look forward to working with our teams globally to reinforce our position as market-leaders.”

     

  • DGKV Obtains Bulgarian Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Award

    DGKV Obtains Bulgarian Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Award

    Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov has succeeded in having a foreign arbitral award delivered by a panel on behalf of Sandvik Bulgaria in proceedings under the auspices of the Vienna International Arbitral Center recognized and enforced in Bulgaria. 

    Sandvik Bulgaria is part of Sandvik Mining and Construction Materials Handling GmbH & Co KG, an Austrian distributor of equipment for excavation and transport of minerals and other bulk materials. The award was obtained in arbitration against Bulgarian state-owned company Montagi EAD arising from a contract for erection of coal and lime stone storage and handling systems at Bulgaria’s Maritza East 1 power station.

    The arbitration panel rendered its award in Sandvik’s favour, but the company did not receive any payments from Montagi and thus took steps to enforce the award in Bulgaria. In its decision of April 11, 2017, the Sofia Appellate Court confirmed the first instance court decision, which recognized the Vienna International Arbitral Center’s Arbitral Award and called for its enforcement in Bulgaria. The court rejected Montagi’s arguments involving an alleged invalidity of the arbitration agreement and purported breach of public policy as justifying rejecting the award under the New York convention.

    On March 6, 2018 the Supreme Court of Cassation rejected the cassation appeal of Montagi and refused to consider the case on the merits.

    The DKGV team consisted of Partner Angel Ganev and Senior Associate Vlada Tsenova.

     

  • Zoltan Sarkany Becomes Head of Legal Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary at Arval BNP Paribas

    Zoltan Sarkany Becomes Head of Legal Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary at Arval BNP Paribas

    Slovak lawyer Zoltan Sarkany has become Head of Legal Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary at the Arval BNP Paribas Group in Prague.

    Sarkany reports that the position is new with Arval BNP Paribas, and that previously there was no in-house team in the three Vysehrad countries. He explains that “I am managing all legal issues and outside counsels and working step by step to build a legal team. The role is very dynamic and challenging. I am excited about the new role and delighted to be a member of the Arval family.”

    Sarkany founded the Milton & Dawis consulting company in 2009, and from 2011 to 2017 he also served as Of Counsel for the Dr. Juhas Law Firm in Bratislava.

     

  • Wolf Theiss Advises TF Silesia on Purchase of Majority Stake in Sefako

    Wolf Theiss Advises TF Silesia on Purchase of Majority Stake in Sefako

    Wolf Theiss has advised Polish state-owned company Towarzystwo Finansowe Silesia sp. z o.o. on the acquisition of a majority stake in Fabryka Kotlow Sefako S.A., a Polish manufacturer of boilers for the power industry, from the state fund MARS Fundusz Inwestycyjny Zamkniety.

    TF Silesia invests in Polish industrial companies in the steel, power, and manufacturing sectors. Fabryka Kotlow Sefako is based in Sedziszow, in Southern Poland.

    The transaction closed on March 15, 2018 after obtaining competition clearance from the Polish antimonopoly office.  

    The Wolf Theiss team included Counsel Dariusz Harbaty and Associates Joanna Wajdzik, Anna Nowodworska, and Monika Gaczkowska.

     

  • LW, Schoenherr, W&C, K&N, BDK, Boyanov, DGKV, and Allen & Overy Advise on Telenor Sale and Financing

    LW, Schoenherr, W&C, K&N, BDK, Boyanov, DGKV, and Allen & Overy Advise on Telenor Sale and Financing

    Latham & Watkins and Schoenherr have advised Telenor on its agreement to sell its assets in Central and Eastern Europe to the PPF Group for EUR 2.8 billion on an enterprise value basis. White and Case (as lead counsel) and Karanovic & Nikolic advised PPF Group on the deal. Allen & Overy, BDK Advokati, and Boyanov & Co. advised Societe Generale, as agent, and a syndicate of banks on a EUR 3.05 billion credit facility provided to PPF Group for the acquisition, which is expected to close in Q3 2018 and is subject to the relevant merger control and regulatory approvals. 

    Telenor sells its business in Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro, where it services more than nine million customers and generates nine percent of the group’s total revenue and eight percent of group’s total profit. The deal also includes technology service provider Telenor Common Operation. The exit from Eastern Europe follows Telenor’s commitment to focus on Scandinavian and the fast-growing Asian markets where the company is already present in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand and Malaysia.

    According to White & Case, this is the largest M&A transaction ever in the CEE telecom sector, and the largest loan syndication in the region since 2011. 

    The PPF Group — one of the largest investment funds in CEE — previously acquired O2’s mobile business in Slovakia and the Czech telecoms infrastructure business Cetin.

    Latham & Watkins’s team was led by London Partner Robbie McLaren with Associates Katie Peek, Jennifer Cadet, and Laura Connolly. 

    Schoenherr’s team was led by Belgrade Partner Luka Lopicic, working with Belgrade Attorney at Law Bojan Rajic, Sofia Partner Alexandra Doytchinova and Associate Stela Pavlova, and Budapest Partner Zita Albert and Attorney at Law Marton Gervai. 

    The White & Case team advising on the transaction was led by London Partners Ken Barry and Ian Bagshaw and Prague Partner Jan Andrusko, and included London Partners Lindsey Canning, Colin Harley, and Michael Wistow, Prague Partner Jonathan Weinberg, Prague Local Partners Jan Stejskal and Tomas Jine, London Associates Joe Bradley, Chris Ewing, and Paul Harrington, and Prague Associates Jan Jakoubek, Veronika Merjava and Radek Kraus.

    The Karanovic & Nikolic team was led by Partners Rastko Petakovic and Milos Jakovljevic.

    The BDK Advokati team included Managing Partner Tijana Kojovic, Senior Associates Dragoljub Sretenovic and Tomislav Popovic, and Consultant Pablo Perez Laya. Partner Luka Popovic provided Montenegrin law advice.

    The Boyanov & Co. team consisted of Partners Damian Simeonov and Yordan Naydenov and Senior Associate Ralitsa Nedkova.

    Editor’s Note: After this article was published Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov announced that it also advised PPF on the deal. According to the firm, “our work included the legal due diligence exercise and drafting of the transaction and the [relevant] financing documentation. DGKV was also assigned to assist the client in obtaining the subsequent necessary regulatory approvals and/or permits regarding the acquisition.” The firm’s team was led by Partner Violetta Kunze and included Partners Zdravka Ugrinova, Nikolai Gouginski, and Georgi Tzvetkov, Senior Associates Valentin Bojilov, Milka Ivanova, Lilia Kisseva, Silviya Apostolova, Kaloyan Krumov, and Vladislav Antonov, and Associates Lora Aleksandrova, Alexander Shpatov, Dimo Staykov, Kamen Gogov, Tsvetelina Bayraktarova, Galin Atanasoff, and Viktoriya Marincheva.

    In addition, Hungary’s Szecskay law firm announced that it had worked alongside White & Case in advising PPF on the deal. The firm reports that it “performed legal due diligence of the 3 Hungarian subsidiaries: Telenor Hungary Zrt., Telenor Real Estate Zrt. and Telenor Common Operations Zrt. [and] assisted with complex regulatory and transactional advice,” as well as working on the financing of the transaction. The firm’s team was led by Senior Partner Orsolya Gorgenyi, with Partner Katalin Szecskay leading on the financing. Team members included Partners Patrick Tausz, Sandor Nemeth, Gusztav Bacher, Katalin Grosz, Aniko Keller, Zoltan Kovacs, Hedi Bozsonyik, and Robert Dezso, Of Counsel Sam Baldwin, Associates Judit Szoradi, Bence Molnar, Adrienn Tar, Gabor Faludi Jr., and Gyorgy Wellmann, and Junior Associate Evelin Szoke.

      

     

  • Dentons and Clifford Chance Advice on Statoil Entry to Polish Offshore Wind Energy Market

    Dentons and Clifford Chance Advice on Statoil Entry to Polish Offshore Wind Energy Market

    Dentons has advised Statoil Group on the acquisition of 50% of shares in two offshore projects from Polenergia. Polenergia was advised by Clifford Chance.

    The two offshore wind farm projects – Baltyk Srodkowy II and Baltyk Srodkowy III – have total planned capacity of 1200 MW. According to Dentons, the two projects, which are located in the Baltic Sea, at distances of 27 kilometers and 40 kilometers respectively from the port of Leba, “constitute the largest and most advanced offshore wind energy projects in Poland.”

    Following the expected clearance by the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection, Statoil and Polenergia will set up a joint venture to expand the projects. Statoil will be the manager for the development and potential construction and operational phases. Statoil will also enjoy a call option for 50 percent of shares in Polenergia Baltyk I.

    The Dentons team consisted of Partners Pawel Grabowski, Arkadiusz Krasnodebski, Agnieszka Stefanowicz-Baranska, Counsels Arkadiusz Wierzbicki, Ryszard Manteuffel, Michal Motylewski, Zbigniew Stasiak, Wojciech Boguslawski, Senior Associates Jan Dubinski, Patrycja Talarek, and Maciej Marek, and Associates Agata Sokolowska, Robert Semczuk, Kamil Bulakowski, and Dawid Krakowiak.

    Clifford Chance did not reply to an inquiry about the deal. 

     

  • TGS Baltic Advises on Novaturas IPO in Estonia and Lithuania

    TGS Baltic Advises on Novaturas IPO in Estonia and Lithuania

    TGS Baltic has advised joint bookrunners Dom Maklerski PKO Banku Polskiego, Swedbank, and Trigon Dom Maklerski on the initial public offering of Baltic tour operator AB Novaturas in Lithuania and Estonia. 

    According to TGS Baltic, Novaturas, which was established in 1999, is the largest tour operator in the Baltic States. In 2017, the Novaturas group reported revenue of EUR 141 million, EBITDA of EUR 10.6 million, and a net profit pf almost EUR 8.2 million.

    According to TGS Baltic, “after the implementation of the public offering, over EUR 22 million has been received, this being considered one of the biggest IPOs in the Baltics. Besides, during this process, for the first time in the Baltic States, the strategic investor, Enterprise Investors, partly recouped its investments by implementing the IPO.”

    The TGS Baltic team advising the joint bookrunners on Lithuanian and Estonian law included Lithuanian Partners Vidmantas Drizga and Agnius Pilipavicius and Senior Associates Mantas Gofmanas and Irma Juskauskaite, as well as Estonian Partner Marko Kairjak and Associate Elina Varendi.  

     

  • CEE Attorneys Advises PZL Sedziszow on Acquisition of Bohm Plast-Technik

    CEE Attorneys Advises PZL Sedziszow on Acquisition of Bohm Plast-Technik

    CEE Attorneys has advised PZL Sedziszow S.A., a Polish automotive, industrial and agricultural filter producer, in its acquisition of a 69% stake in Bohm Plast-Technik a.s., a Czech producer and service provider in the area of plastic injection moulding technologies and metallization.

    According to Adam Sikorski, the President of the PZL Sedziszow, the first thing on the agenda after the company’s acquisition of Bohm Plast-Technik is to integrate the commercial organizations of both companies. Cooperation between the research and development departments of the two companies will follow.

    The CEE Attorneys team consisted of Partner Lukas Petr, Managing Associate Iveta Koubkova, Senior Associate Martina Schutzova, and Associate Martin Dohnal.

    CEE Attorneys did not identify the seller or its counsel in the deal.