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Squire Patton Boggs has announced that Luka Misetic has joined the firm as a Partner in the International Dispute Resolution Practice Group, based in New York. Previously, Misetic operated as a solo practitioner in Chicago and New York.

“Luka is one of the most well-known international dispute resolution lawyers in the former Yugoslavia countries, particularly Croatia,” said George von Mehren, Global Chair of the Squire Patton Boggs International Dispute Resolution Practice. “We’ve served as co-counsel with Luka in several arbitrations, and have gained great admiration for his skills and depth of experience. Growth has been a strategic priority for this practice as we continue to leverage our global resources to assist our clients around the world. Luka’s contacts and experience in Central and Eastern Europe will be a tremendous asset to the firm and our clients.”

“A strong team in New York is essential as the city continues to grow as the center for handling international disputes,” added Stephen Anway, Partner in the International Dispute Resolution Practice. “Luka’s arrival significantly boosts our depth of resources in New York, and his experience complements that of our global team, particularly our track record of sovereign representation in international arbitration.”  

Misetic represents clients in state, federal, and international litigation, including commercial, civil, white-collar criminal, and international criminal cases. He has represented clients for over fifteen years before international criminal tribunals. In 2012, he gained worldwide attention when he secured a full acquittal as lead defense counsel in the representation of Croatian General Ante Gotovina before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. Misetic has also represented the Republic of Croatia before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where he successfully secured a dismissal in February 2015 of all claims brought by the Republic of Serbia against Croatia. In business litigation, Misetic represents corporations and partnerships, as well as their directors, officers and partners in breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, regulatory matters, trade secrets claims, fraud and negligence suits, and a variety of other claims. In the white-collar criminal and corporate internal investigations areas, he represents corporations and individuals in securities fraud cases, SEC investigations and civil enforcement proceedings, as well as SEC enforcement actions brought under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

“Squire Patton Boggs has one of the preeminent international dispute resolution practices in the world,” said Mr. Misetic. “There are few firms that have the capabilities to conduct arbitrations involving parties from Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East, before all the leading arbitration institutions. Having worked alongside some of the lawyers at Squire Patton Boggs in the past, I am thrilled to be a full-time member of this team.”

US-born and educated, Mr. Misetic is of Croatian decent and is fluent in English and Croatian. He earned his B.A. from Northwestern University, and received his J.D., cum laude, from the Notre Dame Law School, where he was awarded the Dean’s Award in International Law. He is also the winner of the Croatian-American Bar Association’s Vinodol Code Award in 2013 in recognition of distinguished legal career and outstanding contribution to the Croatian-American community. He spent the first six years of his professional career as a lawyer at the Chicago-based Pedersen & Houpt law firm, then opened up his own office in 2004, where he worked until this recent move to Squire Patton Boggs.

Over the past year, Squire Patton Boggs has appointed 30 lawyers into its international dispute resolution practice.

On May 14, 2015, the Supreme Court granted the cassation appeal submitted by mBank represented by White & Case P. Pietkiewicz, M. Studniarek i Wspolnicy – Kancelaria Prawna, in connection with the class action suit filed against mBank by 1,247 clients who have loans with mBank in Swiss francs.

The Supreme Court also reversed the earlier decision of the Court of Appeals in Lodz (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on May 1, 2014) and remanded the case to that court for retrial.

According to White & Case, “the Supreme Court agreed with mBank’s argument that the evidentiary proceedings erroneously failed to assess the performance of the agreement in light of the situation on the inter-bank market, the division of currency risk between mBank and its clients and mBank’s profit from the above-mentioned agreements. Such issues should be assessed by an expert. The Supreme Court emphasized that it is essential to establish the bank’s contractual obligation and what constitutes a breach of such obligation. The failure to consider such aspects of the case justified reversing the appealed decision and ordering that the evidentiary proceedings be supplemented in that regard.”

The White & Case team representing mBank included Partner Pawel Pietkiewicz, Local Partner Lukasz Hejmej, and Associate Lukasz Zbyszynski.

The Red law firm has advised Linda Nektar on the listing of its shares on the alternative market First North. The trading in shares began on May 29, 2015.

Linda Nektar is an alcohol producer, primarily of raw wine used in the preparation of various alcoholic drinks. In addition to the alcohol business, Linda Nektar is involved in R&D aimed at commencing the production of concentrated aromatic substances. According to a statement released by the firm, “such concentrated aromatic substances can be used in a variety of ways in the foodstuffs and beverage industries; these are highly innovative products that are not offered by any other Estonian enterprise.”

Red acted as Linda Nektar’s legal advisor in the listing process and in the targeted offering of shares that preceded it. 

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Kocian Solc Balastik (KSB) has advised O2 Czech Republic on the spin-off of Ceska telekomunikacni infrastruktura (CETIN), which will retain the company’s telecommunications infrastructure, while O2 remains a telecom operator.

According to a formal KSB statement, the firm’s assistance to O2 ranged from “the initial analysis of relevant legal aspects, drafting the spin-off plan and associated documentation, preparing and convening the general meeting to subsequent steps including registration in the Companies Register.”

Before the spin-off, O2 was the largest integrated telecom operator on the Czech market, with its balance sheet value amounting to more than CZK 75 billion (approximately EUR 2.7 billion) at the end of 2014. O2 shares were and continue to be publically traded on the regulated market.  In January 2014, the PPF Group (one of the largest investment groups in Central Europe operating in Eurasia and Asia as well) became the majority owner of O2. The remaining shares are held by tens of thousands of minority shareholders.

The demerger had an even exchange ratio so O2’s shareholder structure was replicated on the date CETIN was established – 1 share in CETIN was allocated to every share in O2.

The spin-off resulted in unbundling – the telecommunications infrastructure has been transferred to CETIN while O2 remains a telecom operator. Voluntary unbundling can be considered unique on a global scale in the telecom industry.

According to KSB, the spin-off was unique for many reasons: “O2 is a company with a large and uneven shareholder structure and, in addition, with listed shares. Therefore, CETIN has a statutory obligation to buy-back its own shares from certain shareholders soon after the spin-off. As a result, a special information memorandum had to be submitted and approved by the Czech National Bank – both of which are comparable in scope to an IPO. This was the first time such statute-required procedure was applied in the Czech Republic in connection with a transformation. Moreover, the scope of real property which transferred to CETIN (tens of thousands of land tracts, buildings and rights attached thereto all over the Czech Republic) required an entirely distinctive approach towards the land registration authorities.”

Furthermore, “in order to provide the tens of thousands of O2 shareholders with the opportunity to vote, correspondence (remote) voting was available – for the first time ever in a company with such a large shareholder structure. Despite that, the general meeting was one of the most monumental in Czech history – both in terms of duration and the number of attending shareholders.”

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Sorainen has advised Svago Retail, a Finnish company formerly operating under the brand name Tiimari, that is facing insolvency proceedings, about the liquidation of VLTN Latvia, its subsidiary in Latvia.

The termination of the business in Latvia and the subsequent liquidation of VLTN Latvia involved a full scope of liquidation activities, from terminating contracts with employees and cooperative partners to the company’s exclusion from the commercial register. The Sorainen team was led by Partner Eva Berlaus and Senior Associate Zane Paeglite.

Drakopoulos has advised Secure Property Development & Investment PLC (SPDI) on the acquisition of income-generating assets in Romania and Bulgaria. The sellers in Romania were advised by NNDKP, and the sellers in Bulgaria were advised by Toskov & Yordanov. The value of the transactions, according to the firm, was a total of EUR 25 million.

SPDI, an AIM-quoted property company focused on emerging Europe, purchased a DIY retail property in Craiova, Romania, let to Praktiker, a leading European DIY retailer, and the Autounion office building, a Class A office building in Sofia, Bulgaria, let to a Bulgarian insurance company. According to Drakopoulos, the acquisitions are “in line with SPDI’s commitment to profitable growth, enhancing its strategy to build a diversified portfolio of prime commercial real estate in East and Southeast Europe.”

Previously, Drakopoulos advised (together with Reed Smith) SPDI on an acquisition of a logistics park in Romania (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on March 13, 2014) and on the acquisition of a logistics park in Greece and an office building in Romania (both reported on by CEE Legal Matters on September 25, 2014).

Image Source: secure-property.eu

The Arkitectura Prava (“Architecure of Law”) law firm has announced the opening of a new office in the Netherlands.

According to an official statement, the Architecture of Law firm “provides legal support for business clients whose interests are represented both in Russia and in European countries and in America.” The statement also explained that “the strategic objectives” of the Dutch office include providing “legal support to transnational projects.”

“I am pleased to announce the opening of an office of our law firm in the Netherlands,” said Zuykov Andrey, Managing Partner of Architecture of Law. “This step was taken primarily to meet our clients having business interests in Europe and America, and also demonstrates the openness of our company for foreign clients.”

The Baier law firm in Vienna has advised Sigmapharm Arzneimittel on legal issues related to the relocation of its plant from Vienna to Hornstein, in the eastern Burgenland state of Austria. The ceremonial signing for the respective contracts by Sigmapharm and the municipality of Hornstein took place in March 2015.

According to a statement released by the firm, “the reasons for Sigmapharm relocating from their current location are manifold ? including lack of space and full order books as well as planned investments in the production plant’s equipment ? and make a gradual transition to the much larger production site of 170,000 square meters in Industrial Zone III of Hornstein a necessity.” Construction will start in the fall of 2015.

Alexander Grohmann, real estate specialist at Baier, led the firm’s team on the matter.

Image Source: sigmapharm.at

CMS has successfully advised Novascon Pharmaceuticals, the Polish maker of OTC drugs, on the sale of its Pneumolan brand to Walmark, the CEE healthcare company. Walmark was advised by Baker & McKenzie on the deal.

The Pneumolan brand acquired by Walmark is applied to a series of natural products supporting the respiratory system. The brand includes preparations related to the upper and lower respiratory tract, in particular the nose, sinusitis, and bronchitis, and to the immune system. Current gross sales of the acquired products in the retail prices exceeded PLN 15 million (approximately EUR 3.6 million).  

Walmark was founded by brothers Adam, Valdemar, and Mariusz Walach in 1990. In 2012 the company gained the private equity fund Mid Europa Partners as a financial investor. According to a company press release, as a result of the acquisition, Walmark becomes “a leader in the natural products supporting the respiratory system, with gross sales at retail prices only in this category exceeding PLN 42 million in the last year.” The takeover of Pneumolan is the continuation of the takeover of the Sinulan last year, and strengthens the brand, according to the statement. 

Walmark intends to continue its acquisitions, both by expanding the portfolio of brands by OTC and dietary supplements and by acquiring shares in companies present on the Polish pharmaceutical market, according to Pawel Tomczak, President of the Management Board of Walmark Poland. The company is pursuing a plan of achieving PLN 300 million (approximately EUR 72.8 million) in annual retail sales by 2017, Tomczak stated.  

Jorge Manuel, the CEO of Walmark commented: “We are delighted to add Pneumolan to our product portfolio, Which complements our existing presence in the attractive natural respiratory health category and Further strengthens our position in the key Polish market.” 

Michelle Capiod, Partner at Mid Europa added: “The acquisition of Pneumolan represents another milestone in our buy-and-build strategy for Walmark. With Mid Europa’s support, the company is currently pursuing several M&A initiatives across the markets of Central and Eastern Europe” .

The Polish CMS team advising Nocascon Pharmaceuticals was led by Partner Marek Sawicki, Co-Head of the firm’s Corporate/M&A Department in Warsaw, supported by Of Counsel Joanna Blaszczyk.

The Baker & McKenzie team advising Walmark was led by Partner Tomasz Krzyzowski, assisted by Associate Piotr Siezieniewski.

Image Source: walmark.eu