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Baker & McKenzie has acted as Ukrainian law counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in connection with a new USD 25 million term loan facility for Nibulon, Ukraine’s leading grain trader, logistic operator, and exporter.

The transaction follows a EBRD syndicated loan facility of up to USD 130 million to Nibulon that was signed in August of this year.

According to a statement released by Baker & McKenize, the loan should allow Nibulon “to support its operations at the time when availability of external funding to businesses is significantly reduced for Ukrainian businesses.”

The Baker & McKenzie team was led by Kyiv Partner Ihor Olekhov with support from Associates Maksym Hlotov, Victoria Ischenko, Ganna Smyrnova, and Serhiy Mykhaylyk.

Schoenherr served as lead counsel to the shareholders of Volksbank Romania (VBRO) on their sale of the bank to Romania’s third-largest bank, Banca Transilvania (BT), which was advised by PeliFilip.

The shareholders of VBRO are Oesterreichische Volksbanken-AG (VBAG), Groupe BPCE, DZ Bank AG, and WGZ Bank.

Signing of the contracts took place on December 10, 2014. The closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the National Bank of Romania and the Romanian competition authority and is expected within the first half year of 2015. According to a Volksbank press release, following “all the necessary legal formalities” the bank will commence its integration within the BT structure. 

VBRO has 135 branches, 190,000 clients, and total assets of EUR 3.1 billion. At the moment, VBAG holds a 51.0% interest in VBRO, a 24.5% interest in Groupe BPCE, a 16.36% interest in DZ Bank AG, and an 8.14% interest in WGZ Bank.

The Schoenherr team advising the vendors was led by Vienna-based Partner Markus Piuk and included Bucharest-based Partners Madalina Neagu, Matei Florea, and Catalin Suliman, and Associate Clemens Leitner. Rothschild & Cie served as financial advisors to the vendors.

The PeliFilip team advising BT consisted of Partners Cristina Filip and Carmen Peli. Vienna Capital Partners acted as the financial advisor, and KPMG advised on tax and financial due diligence.

Image source: CC BY-SA 3.0

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has announced that Associate Stefan Huber will be joining the firm’s partnership as of January 1, 2015.

Huber has been with CHSH since 2007. His practice areas include public commercial and European law, constitutional and administrative law, state aid law, energy and environmental law, university and higher education law, litigation, and white collar crime. According to the firm, “he advises clients in German, English, French and Spanish.” He obtained his law degree from the University of Innsbruck in 2003. 

Wolf Theiss is advising the owners of the under-construction Huma Shopping Park, which will be located in the Simmering part of Vienna.

The firm reports that the mall — expected to be the third largest shopping center in the city — “will be one of the most modern of its time.” Construction began in December.

According to a Wolf Theiss statement, the new shopping center, which is owned by Jost Hurler, a corporate group from Munich, will open in 2016. It will contain more than 50,000 square meters of space and contain more than 100 shops.

Wolf Theiss represented the owners throughout the negotiations and contract preparations under the lead of real estate expert Karl Koller, woking with Maximilian Gutsche from Sibeth attorneys-at-law in Munich. 

Image source: ses-european.com

Asters has acted as Ukrainian law counsel to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in connection with a loan of up to EUR 8.5 million to the Farmak pharmaceutical company.

According to the firm, the financing will be used for working capital and to finance foreign trade supplier payments for raw materials, parts and services and for the refinancing of short-term debt from local banks. 

The Asters team advising on the project consisted of Partner Iryna Pokanay, Counsel Gabriel Aslanian, and Associate Inna Bondarenko.

Greenberg Traurig has advised Amstar, together with its local partner BBI Development, on negotiations and concluding of a general contractor agreement regarding resumption of construction work on Zlota 44, a luxury residential building in Warsaw, with the project’s previous general contractor INSO Sistemi Per Le Infrastructure Sociali.

Amstar partnered with Warsaw-based developer BBI Development to acquire and complete development of the almost completed project back in August 2014. The firm says that the building, which is located in the Warsaw city center and is in the shape of a shape of a sail, has become “a widely recognized land mark.”

Amstar is a US-based real estate private equity investor operating in multiple international markets. Zlota 44 is Amstar’s first investment into Poland. 

The general contractor agreement provides for the resumption of construction work in February 2015 and its completion in mid-2016.

The transaction, which involved Greenberg Traurig’s offices from Poland, US, and Italy, was led by Partner Eric Rosedale, the firm’s Chair of International Real Estate, who joined the firm in June, 2014. The Greenberg Traurig Warsaw team was led by Partner Andrzej Wysokinski, Local Partner Bartosz Clemenz, and Local Partner Robert Lis.

Image source: archdaily.com

Schoenherr reports that Corporate/M&A specialist Florian Kusznier has accepted the firm’s invitation to join its equity partnership, and he will become an equity partner on February 1, 2015, the start of Schoenherr’s next business year.

Kusznier has worked for Schoenherr for 11 years. According to the a statement released by the firm, “Kusznier has extensive know-how in advising Austrian and international clients on M&A and private equity transactions, public takeovers, and general corporate law matters. A further focus of his practice is M&A advice to leading medium-sized enterprises and transaction-related employment matters, including board advice. His transaction record includes  work in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences industries, as well in the telecommunications, infrastructure, consumer goods, and retail sectors. His recent clients, according to the firm, include funds advised by Triton, Switzerland’s Valora group, the German retail chain Metro, the steel and metal products distributor Klockner & Co, and the specialty chemical company Ashland.

Kusznier was admitted to the bar in Austria in 2007. He holds a masters degree (2001) and a PhD (2002) in law from the University of Innsbruck as well as a post-graduate degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science (2003). In addition, he spent a year at the University of Copenhagen’s law school while pursuing his graduate degree. Kusznier is a lecturer on legal aspects of M&A transactions at the MCI Management Center Innsbruck. He joined Schoenherr as an Associate in 2003 and was promoted to Partner in 2010.

Schoenherr Partner Christian Herbst, is quoted as saying: “Florian Kusznier stands out on account of his highly solution-oriented approach to handling complex transactions and corporate law matters. In more than a decade at Schoenherr, Florian has proven himself to be an exceptionally dynamic and knowledgeable attorney. We are very glad to have him join the firm’s equity partners.”

Earlier this month, Schoenherr also announced the addition of EU & Competition lawyer, Christoph Haid, to the firm’s equity partnership (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on December 9, 2014). 

Baker & McKenzie has advised Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim (Zorlu Energy Electricity Generation) and Zorlu Ruzgar Enerjisi Elektrik Uretim (Zorlu Wind Energy), both part of the Zorlu Energy Group, on financing for two wind power plant projects in Turkey.

The firm advised Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim and Zorlu Ruzgar Enerjisi Elektrik Uretim in relation to the financing of the development of 45.57 MW Saritepe and 23.3 MW Demirciler wind power farms provided by Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi and on the ECA financing for the supply of wind turbines for 45.57 MW Saritepe and 23.3 MW Demirciler wind power farms provided by Bayerische Landesbank. The deal was signed and closed on November 24, 2014.

Zorlu Energy Group, a group company of Zorlu Holding, was founded in 1993 with the creation of Zorlu Energy Electricity Generation. Currently, the Zorlu Energy Group has a total installed capacity of 1.061 MW with a portfolio of five natural gas power plants, seven hydroelectric power plants, two geothermal power plants, one wind power plant in Turkey, one natural gas plant in Israel, and one wind power plant in Pakistan. Originally generating 100% of its energy from natural gas, Zorlu is currently expanding its renewable energy resources, which now account for nearly 37% of its installed capacity. 

Lawyers from Esin Attorney Partnership — the Turkish arm of Baker & McKenzie — and Baker & McKenzie offices in other countries worked together to advise Zorlu Energy on the financing. The deal was led by Istanbul-based Partner Muhsin Keskin and Frankfurt-based Partner Oliver Socher with support from Associates Erdem Sismangil and Berk Cin.

“Zorlu, one of the major Turkish holding companies, is setting the bar high for renewable energy projects in Turkey, and we are pleased to be able to advise them on financing for their wind power projects. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Zorlu and hope to work together again on future energy projects in Turkey,” commented Keskin.

This week marks a year since we launched the CEE Legal Matters website. It has been a great year for us and we wanted to take a second to thank you, our readers, for being with us every step of the way.

At the same time, we have a special subscription offer valid for this anniversary week.

Here are some of the highlights of our 1st year:

• 1st corporate subscriber on December 18, 2013 (yes, 24 hours after the launch)
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• 1st 1,000th deal covered in September 2014
• 1st CEE Legal Summit gathering of top ranked regional legal experts

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Following an open tender, Kelemenis & Co. has been awarded a service contract for the legal and tax support of the Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES) in the development of the Greek market for energy services.

According to a statement released by the firm, its work will focus particularly on: “the (a) development of energy performance contracts (EPC), (b) the involvement of energy service companies (ESCOs), and (c) the conclusion of EPC contracts between ESCOs and the Greek State for the improvement of the energy performance of a number of targeted public buildings.” 

The CRES is a Greek “national entity” designed to promote renewable energy sources, the “rational use of energy”, and energy conservations.

The Kelemenis & Co. official statement goes on to list the 12-month contract’s “main objectives,” which include: (a) Identifying institutional barriers to the conclusion of EPC contracts between ESCOs and Greek state entities; (b) Proposing ways of lifting such barriers; (c) Designating “appropriate tendering procedures” for the award of EPC contracts in line with the current legislative regime on public contracts and tenders; (d) Drafting a model EPC contract between ESCOs and state bodies; (e) Identifying “tax-related issues” and proposing solutions; (f) Proposing ways for dealings with the insurance cover of EPC contracts; and (g) Supporting the conclusion of the first EPC contracts for five targeted public buildings.