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Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. has reported two major deals in recent months, both led by Partner Zoya Todorova.

In September of this year, Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. advised Advance Properties — a Bulgarian investment company —  in connection with its acquisition of the Huvepharma pharmaceutical company from the Rohatyn Group private equity investor. DPC advised Advance Properties in connection with securing a syndicated loan of EUR 275 million, which the firm says will be used for “financing the purchase of the 36.6% of the shares of the US investor.” According to Dimitrov, Petrov & Co., “this [was] one of the biggest corporate loans drawn by a Bulgarian company so far.”

In October, a Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. team also led by Todorova successfully advised the NEVEQ II venture capital fund in relation to its participation in a USD 2 million investment in a leading online real estate mobile platform in Latin ?merica. The investment provided by the NEVEQ II and NXTP investment funds will help the unnamed recipient, “continue the growth of its activities in the region, especially in the development of mobile platforms area.”

Since 2011, Lidings has represented the interests of Demesne Investments Limited in Russia, the special-purpose treasury company used by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation as a vehicle for the implementation of Sean Quinn’s many financial projects in Russia.

According to the firm, in 2006-2007, when Quinn first started investing in Russia, he was Ireland’s richest man. The firm reports that Quinn “came to Russia to lay the cornerstones at the construction sites of massive commercial real estate properties in a number of Russian regions.” Lidings claims that “Sean Quinn sat at the helm of a financial-industrial group encompassing mining enterprises, chemical concerns, insurance companies and real estate holdings worth some USD 6 billion. Yet, despite this enormous wealth, the empire found itself teetering on the edge of collapse as a result of risky moves played with over-extended, high-debt-load financial instruments at the height of the global crisis.”

According to the firm, among the properties once owned by Quinn that were carved out from the ownership structure to prevent the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation from recovering the money it had disbursed to Quinn are the Kutuzoff Tower (46,000 m²) and the Caspian (17,000 m²) business centers in Moscow, the Q-Park logistics park (200,000 m²) in Kazan, the Aurora shopping center (70,000 m²) in Ufa, and the StroyArsenal hypermarkets in Ekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Naberezhnye Chelny.

Lidings lawyers have worked with attorneys in Dublin, Belfast, London, Road Town (BVI), and Panama on obtaining expert opinions and witness statements for the Russian courts, going on to pursue information disclosure and take part in the deposition of key witnesses within the framework of foreign legal proceedings. 

The firm claims that its lawyers have handled more than 600 lawsuits on the matter in the last three years, “resulting in the wresting of control over the respective bankruptcy proceedings and the return of the concerned assets to the client’s corporate control.”

Gessel has acted as counsel to mBank on the preparation of a financing package for Oxylion, a leader in the new technologies sector.

Oxylion plans on applying the financing towards several acquisitions of other companies in its industry.

Gessel’s services included drafting and negotiation of the credit and securities documentation. The firm’s work was coordinated by Managing Associate Malgorzata Badowska, supported by Trainee Barbara Lagiewka.

At the beginning of the year, Gessel advised the same bank on debt financing to purchase shares of Stone Master (reported on by CEE Legal Matters on January 8, 2014)

Raidla Lejins & Norcous has advised the Lithuanian Cgates telecommunications company on its acquisition of 100% shares in RAKARAS, Ukmerges televizija, and UKMNET TV.

Cgates also took over part of SATELA’s cable internet access and cable TV retail business. The value of the acquisitions was not disclosed.

Raidla Lejins & Norcous drafted transaction documents, represented Cgates during negotiations, and advised on other transaction related matters. The team was led by Managing Associate Juozas Rimas, the Head of RLN’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group.

AstapovLawyers reports that Aleksey Kovryzhenko has joined the firm as Counsel and Head of Distressed Assets Practice in the CIS region.

According to the firm, “in his new role, Aleksey will be developing a new practice in the firm, focusing on distressed opportunities, recovering debt for financial institutions (commercial banks, insurance, leasing, factoring and other companies), as well as working with toxic assets in Crimea.”

Kovryzhenko has over 15 years of experience in the banking sphere. Prior to joining AstapovLawyers, he headed the Distressed Assets Department at state-owned Oschadbank for 4 years. His professional experience also includes positions in a number of mid-size and large commercial banks of Ukraine. He graduated from Faculty of Law of the International Solomon University, and gained a degree in economics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

AstapovLawyers Managing Partner Andrey Astapov said: “Developing a successful practice requires hands-on banking experience in addition to the legal knowledge. I strongly believe that due to deep experience in state and commercial banks, Aleksey will be a valuable addition to our team. Today, we are the only one firm with a special focused practice handling legal issues in distressed assets, including number of matters arising from change of the legal status of Crimea.” 

And Kovryzhenko said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to develop practice and my professional plans along with the leading team of AstapovLawyers. Dealing with distressed assets is gaining momentum due to general negative economic conditions, distrust of banking system in general, and deposit outflow, deterioration of performance (liquidity, insolvency, national currency devaluation); increase of non-performing loans in bank portfolio. In such difficult times, legal support for management and dealing with distressed assets, as well as protection of the rights and interests of Ukrainian creditors and foreign investors have become a topical issue. It demands systemic and innovative decisions, new approaches for protection in terms of Ukrainian jurisdiction and beyond.”

PRK Partners has announced that the firm’s “longstanding cooperation with the Tereza Maxova Foundation” has been recognized and acknowledged in the November newsletter of the Lex Mundi association.

The editors of the November issue praised three pro bono projects of its members around the world in particular, and according to PRK Partners, “one of those spotlighted was our pro bono project cooperating with and providing continuing support for the Tereza Maxova Foundation. PRK Partners provides the Tereza Maxova Foundation with essential legal services, head office, material and financial support.”

As reported in the Lex Mundi newsletter, “with more than 24,000 children and juveniles under institutional care, the Czech Republic numbers among countries with the greatest number of children growing up outside the family. The Tereza Maxova Foundation assists and supports these children with their integration into society and into a ‘normal’ life by giving them the chance to grow up in a family environment, to receive an education and develop good life skills.” 

PRK Partners Partner Daniel Rosicky, who serves as Vice-President of the Tereza Maxova Foundation, said: “Our partnership with Tereza Maxova is a unique combination of a professional relationship and interpersonal understanding. As most of our clients’ objectives are purely economic, we highly appreciate cooperating with a non-profit organzsation which clearly delivers help where it is actually needed.” In addition to providing legal assistance, PRK Partners also supported the Tereza Maxova Foundation in its successful initiative to pass an enforcement regulation for a new law aimed at the social and legal protection of children, including issues related to adoption. The new regulation came into force in 2013.

DZP has supervised the Remak-Rozruch group’s consolidation, which ended on November 3, 2014.

Due to the acquisition of Przedsiebiorstwo Inwestycyjno-Remontowe Energetyki i Przemyslu Remak-Rozruch by SBB Investments — Remak-Rozruch’s sole shareholder — SBB Investments took over all Remak-Rozruch’s rights, obligations, and assets, and changed its business name to SBB ENERGY. The consolidation process included the acquisition by SBB Investments of all Remak-Rozruch’s shares from previous shareholders, the transformation of SBB Investments into a joint-stock company, and finally merger of this company with Remak-Rozruch.

According to DXP, “SBB ENERGY is currently carrying out a number of key modernization projects, particularly for Zespol Elektrowni Patnow-Adamow-Konin, Elektrownia Opole, and Elektrownia Turow.”

The consolidation process was supervised by DZP Corporate/M&A lawyers Robert Niczyporuk and Przemyslaw Furmaga, with additional advice provided by Corporate/M&A lawyers Krzysztof Zakrzewski, Adam Pawlisz, Maciej Wasilewski, and Andrzej Dunikowski, IP/TMT lawyer Jaroslaw Konecko, and Tax lawyers Joanna Wierzejska and Grzegorz Sprawka.

Highly-regarded Bulgarian Banking & Finance Partner Reneta Petkova has left CMS to lead Deloitte Legal’s office in Sofia.

Petkova spent almost 9 years at CMS, becoming Bulgaria Managing Partner and Head of Banking & Finance, before moving to join Deloitte Legal as Associate Partner. She has more than 23 years of experience overall, including previous positions as Head of Legal at United Bulgarian Bank, Chief Legal Adviser at Bank Consolidation Company, Legal Adviser at Bankservice, Legal Adviser to the Management Board of the Bulgarian National Bank, and Senior Associate with the Hayhurst Robinson Law Firm. She specializes in asset finance, project finance, acquisition finance, corporate lending, and restructuring, as well as equity and debt finance, banking regulations and compliance, privatization, and M&A. 

In explaining why she left CMS for Deloitte, Petkova referred to the latter’s ability to combine its legal services with other forms of professional services offered by the Big 4. “Globalization requires integrated services, and I am a big fan of one-stop-shop services,” she said. “For me personally this combination between legal and the other practice services the Big 4 firms provide, including international advice and M&A, is a very good combination.” Petkova believes the Big 4 firms provide unique business development opportunities, noting that “of course I can rely on my contacts to develop the practice, but also on the contacts and relationship between other partners and the team here, so it’s much easier to reach the clients and to develop the law practice based on their existing relationships.”

Petkova graduated with an LL.M from the Sofia University Faculty of Law, and has been a member of the Sofia Bar since 2002. She also has a degree in Journalism from Sofia University.  

On November 20, Partners from six of the leading Capital Markets practices in Poland met in White & Case’s Warsaw Office for a CEE Legal Matters Round-Table on Capital Markets in the country.

Moderated by the CEE Legal Matters Editors, the round table included participants from both international firms and firms operating exclusively in the Polish market. Participants included:

• Host: Piotr Szelenbaum (White & Case) 
• Piotr Lesinski (Allen & Overy) 
• Konrad Konarski (Baker & McKenzie) 
• Ludomir Biedecki (DJBW) 
• Krzysztof Haladyj (Eversheds) 
• Jacek Jonak (JONAK) 
• Pawel Wajda (White & Case)

The conversation touched upon the slowdown of the Equity Capital Market in Poland and identified three main reasons: (1) the slowdown of the privatization program (carried out through the stock exchange); (2) the Pension Fund Reform in Poland — affecting one of the largest capital holders in the market; and (3) the lift of restrictions on investing abroad for these funds. The general consensus at the table was that Poland’s days as the tiger of CEE ECMs may be gone, but the participants to a man expressed optimism over their pipelines of work in Debt Capital Markets, which most believe is far more sophisticated and will likely keep their firms busy for years to come. 

Szelenbaum commented after the round table: “Although there is currently a certain stagnation in the development of the capital market, it is worth noting that the legal community is positive about the near future. DCM and in particular debt financing based on high yield bonds is at the moment the most dynamic part of the market. The outlook for ECM is also changing in a positive direction. I believe also that the regulations adopted by the EU authorities will have a dominant influence on the functioning and the further development of the capital market, to add a third element to the entire picture, i.e., regulatory work.”

A full summary of the discussion will be included in the December issue of the CEE Legal Matters Magazine.

CMS has reported that it advised both Gladiator Leasing — a subsidiary of Erste Group Bank AG — and Erse Group Bank itself in Gladiator Leasing’s purchase of an airplane owned by the American company Aircraft 28038.

Aircraft 28038 is a subsidiary of Aircastle, which is a global company involved in purchasing, leasing, and sales of commercial airplanes. Enter Air, a Polish charter airline with four permanent bases of operation — Chopin airport in Warsaw, the airport in Pyrzowice, the airport in Poznan, and the airport in Wroclaw — remains the operator of the airplane. The company leases a total of 14 Boeings, including the airplane belonging to Gladiator Leasing.

The CMS team consisted of Keith Wilson and Evonne Man from the London office as well as Malgorzata Chrusciak and Pawel Kulak from the Warsaw office. The team was responsible for all the legal aspects of the transaction, including arranging for the transfer of the airplane’s ownership and advising on issues related to financing the purchase and on governing law for securing claims under the credit agreement, as well as securing the bank’s claims, registering the new creditor and the securities in the civil aircraft register, and coordinating the successful closing of the transaction.

Aircastle was represented by the McCann Fitzgerald law office in Ireland, which specializes in aircraft finance transactions. The lessee, Enter Air, was supported by the Polish MMM Legal law firm, which provides services to aviation and tourism companies.