Category: Uncategorized

  • PT Legal Advises Odyssey Venture Partners on Agreement with Foundation of Technology & Research

    PT Legal Advises Odyssey Venture Partners on Agreement with Foundation of Technology & Research

    Greece’s Pistiolis-Triantfyllos & Associates (“PT Legal”) law firm has advised Odyssey Venture Partners (OVP) on its acquisition of intellectual property rights to software and the structure of a “co-operation between Foundation of Technology & Research and [OVP] subsidiary Llater SA.”

    According to its website, Odyssey Venture Partners is “the largest venture capital fund exclusively focused on ICT investing in Greece.” OVP invests in Greek information and communication technology start ups addressing global markets. 

    The Foundation for Research & Technology is a research center in Greece, supervised by the Greek Ministry for Education. It consists of seven research institutes, which are located in the Greek cities of Heraklion, Rethymno, Patras, and Ioannina. The Foundation’s headquarters are located in Heraklion, on Crete.

    The PT Legal team was led by Managing Partner Theodore Pistiolis.

  • Greenberg Traurig Represents Innova Capital in Acquisition of Controlling Stake in PEKAES

    Greenberg Traurig Represents Innova Capital in Acquisition of Controlling Stake in PEKAES

    Greenberg Traurig has advised the Innova Capital private equity fund on the acquisition of a majority stake in PEKAES S.A. from Kulczyk Investments S.A. and Kulczyk Holding S.A. According to a statement released by Greenberg Traurig, “after the completion of the Transaction, entities controlled by Innova Capital acquired control of companies that together hold more than 63% of shares in PEKAES and the same number of votes at the general meeting of the company.”

    Founded in 1994, Innova was the first major CEE fund consisting of entirely private capital. Innova has since invested almost EUR 600 million in over 40 companies across 10 countries in the region.

    PEKAES is one of the largest and oldest logistics operators in Poland and has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2004.    

    The Greenberg Traurig Warsaw team was led by Managing Partner Jaroslaw Grzesiak and Local Partner Pawel Piotrowski, supported by Associate Agata Wisniewska and Associate Magdalena Bachleda-Ksiedzularz, who was responsible for financing matters related to the transaction.

    Greenberg Traurig declined to identify the firm representing the sellers in the matter.

  • Cobalt Advises Falck on Acquisition of Altas Assistance

    Cobalt Advises Falck on Acquisition of Altas Assistance

    Cobalt’s Lithuanian office has advised Falck, the world’s largest international rescue company, on its acquisition of the assistance services provider Altas Assistance, UAB. The transaction officially closed on November 27, 2015. Ginkus & Partners advised the sellers — two private individuals — on the deal.

    Altas Assistance provides call center services, technical assistance to light and heavy vehicles and semi-trailers, and medical and housing assistance services. The company has 26 employees and an aggregate turnover of EUR 2.3 million — and in 2014 it provided customers with more than 16,000 different types of assistance services. In 2015 the company‘s turnover increased 35 percent and there was a 23 percent increase in the number of assistance services.

    Falck’s activities are directed at preventing accidents and disease, providing assistance in situations of emergency, accidents, and need, and helping people move on with their lives after illness or accidents. Falck is a Nordic-based organisation with business activities in 45 countries on six continents.

    COBALT conducted “in-depth legal due diligence,” drafted and negotiated the share acquisition and other transaction documents with other parties, represented Falck in negotiations, advised on structuring of the transaction, and “provided other legal support to the client on all related matters.” The firm’s team was led by Managing Associate Maksimas Saveljevas, with significant support from Managing Associate Ausrys Sliavas and Associates Audrius Slazinskas and Aurelija Balciune.

  • Reed Smith and Norton Rose Fulbright Advise on Financing for Turk Telekom

    Reed Smith and Norton Rose Fulbright Advise on Financing for Turk Telekom

    Reed Smith has advised a syndicate of 14 banks on the signing of a facilities agreement providing EUR 420 million and USD 380 million term facilities to Turk Telekom, Turkey’s leading communication and convergence technologies company. Norton Rose Fulbright advised Turk Telecom on the matter. The transaction closed on November 20, 2015.

    The Reed Smith team was led by Partners Fernand Arsanios and Ben Davis and included Associate Thierry Pujol d’Andrebo.

    The Norton Rose team acting for Turk Telekom consisted of Partner Ali Triptree and Associate Alex Zekkos.

  • Bezen & Partners Advises EBRD on Loan to Tofas Turk Otomobil Fabrikasi

    Bezen & Partners Advises EBRD on Loan to Tofas Turk Otomobil Fabrikasi

    Bezen & Partners has advised the EBRD on a USD 200 million long-term loan to Turkish automotive company Tofas Turk Otomobil Fabrikasi A.S.

    According to Bezen & Partners, Tofas will use the loan to finance the development and launch of two new models of passenger cars, as well as towards research and development expenses and fixed-asset investments for the production of approximately 700,000 vehicles between 2016 and 2023 at its production facility located in Bursa.

    The Bezen & Partners team that acted as legal counsel to the EBRD on matters of Turkish law was led by Senior Partner Yesim Bezen and Partner Banu Aslan.

  • CMS and DLA Advise on Enter Air IPO

    CMS and DLA Advise on Enter Air IPO

    CMS has advised IPOPEMA Securities, the offering agent and the bookrunner, and Bank Zachodni WBK, the manager of the offering, on the December 14 IPO of Enter Air — the largest charter airline in Poland and one of the largest in the region. DLA Piper advised Enter Air on the offering. The value of funds raised through the IPO amounted to nearly PLN 100 million, to be used to refresh and expand the air carrier fleet with 6 new aircraft. The Company issued 7 million new shares at PLN 14 per share.

    Enter Air’s offering was addressed to individual investors, authorized entities — i.e., the company’s employees and associates — and institutional investors. Approx. 1.5% of issued shares were allocated for individual investors and authorized entities, while the remaining shares were allocated to institutional investors.

    “We are proud that we could support Enter Air — the first Polish airline that is consistently profitable, in its IPO,” said CMS Partner Michal Pawlowski, who heads the CMS capital markets practice in Warsaw. “We have known Enter Air Group for five years and we are very impressed with its development, which is dynamic, but at the same time conscious and responsible. Today’s debut shows that well-managed and profitable companies, who have ambitious expansion plans, can count on the interest of stock market investors.”

    Pawlowski’s team included Of Counsel Rafal Wozniak and Associate Magdalena Trzepizur.

    The DLA Piper team advising Enter Air included Country Managing Partner Krzysztof Wiater, Senior Associate Grzegorz Godlewski, and Associate Wojciech Kalinowski.

    This is the third debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange this quarter in which CMS was involved, following the November IPO of the Wittchen luxury accessory and leather goods retailer (reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 9, 2015), and the October IPO of of the Inpost SA independent postal operator (reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 13, 2015).

  • Knotzl Moves on from Wolf Theiss

    Knotzl Moves on from Wolf Theiss

    Wolf Theiss has announced that Partner Bettina Knotzl has decided to leave the law firm in Vienna, “in order to strike a new career path.” The firm announced that Partner Clemens Trauttenberg will continue to head the Wolf Theiss Dispute Resolution Practice Group.

    Knotzl was at Wolf Theiss for more than 20 years, serving as an Equity Partner since 2005, and, while with Wolf Theiss, founded and built what she has described as “the largest international litigation and dispute resolution practice group in Austria.” At Wolf Theiss she specialized in international litigation and commercial litigation, focusing on white collar crime (including asset tracing), investor protection, liability claims, corporate disputes, banking, insurance and financial derivatives cases, and life science litigation. She also successfully defended against class action lawsuits (including Austria’s biggest civil litigation case to date), and represented corporate and investor clients in well-known shareholder disputes. 

    “Bettina Knotzl is one of the top dispute resolution lawyers in Austria and has an outstanding reputation abroad,” said Erik Steger, Managing Partner at Wolf Theiss. “We regret but respect her decision and wish her all the best.” 

    “Together, we have achieved much,” said Knotzl. “I have been very grateful for our partnership and I’m looking forward to whatever exciting challenges the future holds.”

    As a personal note, CEE Legal Matters would like to extend its best wishes to Knotzl, who — acting on behalf of Wolf Theiss — Chaired the first day of our first GC Summit, held this past September in Budapest.

  • Avellum Partners and Clifford Chance/Redcliffe Partners Advise on EBRD Investment in Raiffeisen Bank Aval

    Avellum Partners and Clifford Chance/Redcliffe Partners Advise on EBRD Investment in Raiffeisen Bank Aval

    Avellum Partners has advised Raiffeisen Bank International AG and PJSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval in connection with the EBRD’s acquisition of 30 per cent of shares in PJSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval. Clifford Chance — and Redcliffe Partners, once the latter took over Clifford Chance’s Kyiv office from Clifford Chance in early December (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 7, 2015) — advised the EBRD.

    The transaction concluded between EBRD and Raiffeisen Bank International AG includes EBRD participating in a UAH 3.15 billion (approximately EUR 122 million) Tier 1 capital increase of PJSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval. The capital increase was approved by the general shareholders’ meeting of PJSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval on December 3, 2015. 

    PJSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval, a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Bank International AG, provides services through a network of approximately 600 branches, across Ukraine, to more than 2.8 million customers. 

    The Avellum Partners team was led by the Managing Partner Mykola Stetsenko and Counsel Yuriy Nechayev, with “significant support” from Associates Andriy Romanchuk and Dmytro Tkachuk.

    The Clifford Chance/Redcliffe Partners team advised the EBRD on Ukrainian law matters, with Clifford Chance Warsaw advising on English law matters.

    Image source: Lucian Milasan / Shutterstock.com

  • CMS and DLA Advise on Decapterus Sale of Hame to Orkla

    CMS and DLA Advise on Decapterus Sale of Hame to Orkla

    CMS has advised Decapterus S.a.r.l., a Luxembourg-based private equity holding company, on its agreement to sell Hame, a leading branded consumer goods company in the food sector in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to Orkla. DLA Piper advised Orkla on the deal. The parties have agreed on a purchase price of EUR 175 million (on a debt-free basis). The purchase price will be funded through Orkla’s existing credit facilities, and the agreement remains subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities.

    According to an Orkla press release, “Hame holds strong market positions in numerous categories that represent a good fit with Orkla’s existing portfolio. By joining forces with Hame, Orkla will double its turnover in Central Europe.”

    Hame has approximately 2,400 employees and ten production sites. The company’s headquarters is located in Kunovice in the south-eastern part of the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hame holds leading positions in the pate, ready meals, ketchup, preserved vegetables, jams, and baby food categories. Its brands include Hame, Majka, Znojmia, and Otma. Hame also has strong positions in pates in Hungary, Romania, and Russia. Hame achieved gross sales in 2014 of CZK 4.9 billion and a net profit of CZK 234 million. 70% of the company’s sales iss generated from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

    Orkla’s existing assets in Central Europe include Vitana (in the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Felix Austria, and Orkla Foods Romania.

    “With Vitana and Hama, Orkla becomes an attractive supplier to the grocery trade in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and the transaction will also strengthen our operations in Romania,” said Atle Vidar Nagel-Johansen, Orkla EVP and CEO of Orkla Foods. “A stronger foothold in Central Europe will ensure that Orkla is well positioned for further growth in these markets.”

    The CMS team advising Decapterus was led by Prague-based Managing Partner Helen Rodwell, supported by Prague-based Senior Associates Frances Gerrard and Barbora Dubanska, Bucharest-based Senior Associate Ana-Maria Nistor, Budapest-based Senior Associate Zoltan Poronyi, Moscow-based Senior Associate Ernest Agayan and Trainee Solicitor Konrad Rawicz, and Kyiv-based Senior Associate Tetyana Dovgan.

    Editor’s Note: After this issue was published, the Randa Havel Legal law firm contacted CEE Legal Matters to note that it “also materially participated on the transaction on the buy side.” According to Randa Havel, “In fact, we were responsible for the due diligence of the Czech companies and assets of the Hame Group CZ (representing approximately 50 pct of turnover of the group).” The firm’s message concluded with the note that “This deal is definitely a major milestone for us this year and we are proud that we have participated on the transaction.” The Randa Havel team consisted of Partners Iva Javorska and Alois Satava and Senior Associates Michal Palinkas and Matyas Kuzela.

    Image source: hame.cz

  • New Head of Real Estate at Wolf Theiss Warsaw

    New Head of Real Estate at Wolf Theiss Warsaw

    Grzegorz Skowronski has assumed the role of head of the real estate practice group of the Warsaw office of Wolf Theiss.

    Skowronski comes to Wolf Theiss from Hochtief Development Poland Sp. z o.o., where he was head of the legal department and held a business management position. Prior to Hochtief he practiced with Baker & McKenzie Warsaw for a number of years.

    “We believe that Grzegorz’s extensive experience with both the legal and business side of the Polish real estate market will be of great benefit to our clients,” noted Aleksander Hetko, a current member of Wolf Theiss Warsaw’s real estate team. “We welcome and look forward to his leadership and contributions to our ongoing practice.”

    “Our clients expect 2016 to be another year of challenging but robust business activity,” added Ron Given, Co-Managing Partner of Wolf Theiss Warsaw. “We will continue to make additions and to fine tune our Warsaw team so as to assure that we will be right there with them offering the best available commercial counsel.”