Assisted the Swedish investment company Oresa and the entrepreneur Cristian Amza in relation to the sale of the entire stake in the La Fantana group, which has subsidiaries in Romania and Serbia, to the strategic investor Axel Johnson. La Fantana is a market leader in watercooler and bottled water supply solutions, for companies, public spaces, but also for the residential segment, with national coverage in Romania and Serbia.

Assisted Romcim in relation to the acquisition of Tehno World, a company active in the production and sale of solutions for utility infrastructure networks. With this transaction, Romcim adds to its portfolio the Tehno World factory in Baia, Suceava county, specialised in the production of connection solutions for water and sewerage networks, natural gas distribution, irrigation, telecommunications and energy.

Assisted CEE’s top independent dance music company Global Records and Stefan Lucian, the founder and CEO of the company, in the process of selling a 25% stake in the company to Believe, one of the world’s leading digital music companies and of setting up the terms of their strategic partnership.

Assisted the private equity fund Innova Capital in relation to the sale of Optical Investment Group to EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of ophthalmic lenses, frames and sunglasses. Optical Investment Group is one of the leading retailers of optical eyecare and eyewear products on the Romanian market. With a network of 99 stores in Bucharest and main cities in Romania, the group boasts the largest optical retail presence in the country under the OPTIblu, Optiplaza and O51 brands.

The law firm in collaboration with the A&O Shearman Silicon Valley team has assisted Wolt, a Finnish local commerce company, in relation to the acquisition of the fast delivery platform Tazz, part of eMAG Group. This acquisition strengthens Wolt’s presence in Central and Eastern Europe, combining Tazz’s local expertise with Wolt’s cutting-edge technology to enhance the consumer and merchant experience in Romania.

Specialist lawyers: Costin Taracila, Alina Stavaru, Mihai Ristici, Roxana Ionescu, Vlad Stamatescu, Cezara Urzica, Marina Fecheta-Giurgica, Andrei Tosa.

Advising World Class Romania, the market leader in the local fitness industry, with respect to its syndicated and bilateral financings. The syndicated financing is backed-up by a state guarantee from Romanian EximBank NCS (acting on behalf of the Romanian state), and the documentation follows strict requirements and approval process. The financing structure entails complex undertakings on both World Class Romania and various companies within its group.

Advised UniCredit Bank AG with respect to the accession to an €750 million acquisition finance of 5 Romanian  subsidiaries of the borrower, a market leader in medical imaging industry, and related share security package. The accession process had to be closed in a very limited timing, taking into account various restrictions under Romanian law which are involved in group financing, as well as when creating security and guarantees for acquisition finance.

Assisted Rodbun Grup in relation to a syndicated loan in amount of €15.7 million for covering the regular working capital needs in the group activity. The financing was granted by a syndicate of banks made of Banca Comerciala Romana, CEC Bank and Raiffeisen Bank and it was guaranteed by Eximbank Romania. Rodbun Grup is a company – integrator of products and solutions in the agricultural field, having 100% Romanian capital, established in 2002.

Regulatory advice in relation to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s activity in Romania. Mifid and capital markets regulatory assistance in terms of offering of specific securities and investment and/or non-investment services in Romania.

Regulatory advice in relation to Credit Suisse AG’s activity in Romania. Assistance in terms of offering of specific securities and services in Romania and on-going assistance in respect of disclosure obligations, selling restrictions and amendments to the prospectuses for various types of notes sold by Credit Suisse in a wide range of jurisdictions, including Romania.

Specialist lawyers: Victor Padurari, Cosmin Tilea, Andreea Nedeloiu, Bianca Eremia, Mihai Ristici, Vlad Stamatescu.

Advised OX2 AB on the sale during a competitive process of a 99.2 MW self developed onshore wind farm located in the Eastern part of Romania to Nala Renewables, a joint venture between IFM Investors and Trafigura. The project will consist of 16 Vestas turbines, V162-6.2 MW™. The project has secured grid access through a connection contract signed with Transelectrica in March 2023. OX2 will be responsible for the construction of the wind farm. Construction will start in the third quarter of 2024 while commissioning is planned for the first half of 2026. The deal includes a 12-year PPA (power purchase agreement) with a multinational corporate offtaker. The agreement covers a significant part of the electricity output generated by the wind farm.

Advised ENGIE Romania on the acquisition of an operational wind farm with a capacity of 80 MW majority owned by the EnerCap Group.

Assisted Evryo Group, owned by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management, in relation to the sale of its renewable energy portfolio to PPC Group. The transaction includes the Evryo Wind Farm, Romania’s largest operational onshore wind farm, with a total installed capacity of 600 MW, and the group’s hydropower system comprising 4 hydroelectric plants and associated hydro facilities, with a total installed capacity of approx. 22 MW. The Evryo Wind Farm is operated by Tomis Team, MW Invest and Ovidiu Development, and the hydropower system by TMK Hydroenergy Power.

Advised Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) on the sale of CEZ Vanzare to Premier Energy PLC, owned by the Czech private equity fund, Emma Capital.

Acted as Romanian legal counsel in relation to Aramco’s acquisition of 10% equity interest in HORSE Powertrain Limited, the new global powertrain solutions company, alongside Renault Group, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Geely Automobile Holdings Limited. Aramco is one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies. HORSE  Powertrain Limited was formed on May 31, 2024, by Renault Group and Geely and is incorporated and headquartered in London, UK.

Specialist lawyers: Mihai Ristici, Roxana Ionescu, Costin Taracila, Vlad Stamatescu, Bogdan Cordos, Cezara Urzica.

Represented Groupama Asigurari in the antitrust litigation against the decision issued by the competition authority in a complex antitrust investigation concerning exchange of commercially sensitive information among the insurance companies in Romania. This was the first time the competition authority examined an exchange of information as a standalone infringement. The investigation was widely publicised as it resulted in one of the highest fines applied by the authority (approximately €53 million).

Recently, the law firm’s competition litigation team succeeded in defending the last extraordinary appeal of the authority against a court ruling through which the fine applied to Groupama by the Competition Council was reduced from €8 million to €500,000. The law firm also reported three further victories in three extraordinary appeals against such decision. The case also involves proceedings on the merits, which are still ongoing and are now in final appeal stage.

Currently advising Zabka Polska, the largest Polish retailer, in relation to the structuring of its distribution system upon its entry on the Romanian market, in a complex antitrust self-assessment process, involving the competition authority.

Represented Bookster in the Competition Council’s investigation, in which several publishers and their trade association were fined for attempting to drive Bookster out of the market through concerted, anticompetitive activities. The firm also won the case in which the publishers sought to ban Bookster as a whole.

Advising and representing Electrica in court proceedings in the first “facilitatorvictim” case in the whole EU to date in which the client was fined €2.3 million for allegedly facilitating a cartel between its meter suppliers. The case raises complex and novel legal issues, such as the applicability of the facilitator concept under Romanian law when the alleged facilitator is also the victim of the cartel, the interplay between national and EU law, the liability of the company for the unauthorised deeds of deviating employee etc.

Assisted the largest Italian bank, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank in relation to the merger control and FDI approvals on the acquisition of First Bank from the American private investment fund J.C. Flowers. First Bank provides a diversified range of financial products and services to retail, SME and large corporate customers. According to market sources, following this transaction, Intesa San Paolo will double its presence in Romania and will enter the top 10 of Romanian banks.

Specialist lawyers: Valentin Berea, Roxana Ionescu, Andrada Rusan, Serban Halmagean.

Assisted Vectr Holdings, through its subsidiary Vectr Realty Holdings, in relation to the indirect acquisition of 100% stake in the company that owns The Landmark office building from funds managed by Revetas Capital and affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management. Vectr Holdings is a privately-owned group of companies, which is engaged in various sectors including agricultural operations, agricultural machinery distribution, fitness, and real estate in Romania. The Landmark is one of the most representative office buildings in downtown Bucharest. With a GLA of over 23,700 sqm, the business park developed in 2016 comprises three class A office buildings and is BREEM Excellence Certified.

Assisted Regus, the biggest, most well-known and active provider of serviced business offices on Romanian market having 14 opened locations in Bucharest, most of them being negotiated with the assistance of law firm’s real estate team. Recently the team has advised Regus in relation to 5 new lease agreements, as well as renegotiation of the commercial terms of the leases with their tenants. 

Advised OX2 AB on the sale during a competitive process of a self-developed onshore wind farm located in the Eastern part of Romania, having a capacity of 99.2 MW to Nala Renewables, a joint venture between IFM Investors and Trafigura. 

Advised the client on various real estate complex issues related to the development and supply of necessary equipment for the project. The matter also involved review of various rights for securing the necessary land for the Project.

Assistance for the client in relation to an agreement for securing various land rights for the purpose of a potential future development of a new factory on such land. Complex assistance for the client in the process of sale of the building and the related land where the client currently operates and securing new future lease for the client in the premises of one of the major actors in real estate market in Romania.

Specialist lawyers: Alexandru Retevoescu, Costin Taracila, Ianita Tui, Cristina Enaga.

Representing Zenith Media in a high profile cartel case of the competition authority against the most important media agencies groups in Europe (Publicis, WPP, McCann etc.). While the first instance court cases where consistently won by the competition authority, after almost 8 years of court battles the team succeeded in turning the tide by convincing the High Court of Cassation and Justice to send a preliminary ruling request to the CJUE, which was a premiere for the Romanian courts. The team obtained a favourable ruling from the CJUE, which will have a significant cross-jurisdiction impact upon how the turnover will be calculated from now on by competition authorities across EU for the purpose of setting antitrust fines.

Currently advising Eazy Asigurari in a court dispute aimed at securing its IP rights over the registered trademark “Eazy Asigurari” against an insurance broker that registered, in bad faith, a domain name almost identical and blatantly confusing with both the client’s trademark and its commercial name. Eazy Asigurari is the newest authorised insurance company in Romania, promoting itself also as the first insurtech in Romania. It is exactly this “new entry” that was exploited by the infringer, who proceeded to registration of the domain name easyasigurari.ro immediately after mass-media informed about Eazy Asigurari’s plans to enter the Romanian insurance market.

Represents Scania Group in one of the pioneering private damages cases in Romania, directed by a group of transporters owning Scania fleets against the very toptier entities in Scania’s corporate structure. The plaintiffs claim damages for alleged surcharges in truck prices, triggered by the alleged cross-border anticompetitive contacts and information exchange between truck producers fined by the European Commission. The case opens complex legal and economic debates on causality and damage assessment, where plausibility, causality and quantum valuation scenarios will come to the fore.

Obtained several ground-breaking successes for Lidl Discount in its dispute with Vel Pitar, the largest bread producer in Romania and holder of a portfolio of trademarks containing “wholewheat”, since 2012. The dispute relates to the use of “wholewheat” on the packaging of bread. Vel Pitar requests Lidl to withdraw its products described as containing wholewheat flour. Vel Pitar argues that “wholewheat” represents a protected trademark for which it holds exclusive rights, due to its extensive use for the relevant public. Lidl argues that the wholewheat cannot be used as a trademark, given its descriptive nature. The dispute involves 6 contradicting national court decisions and an EUIPO decision.

Currently representing Premier Energy Furnizare in a high-profile case involving the failure to deliver of a certain amount of electricity by a trader called Industrial Energy, who invoked the hardship theory (rebus sic stantibus). The dispute involves matters related to interpretation, performance and amendment of contracts concluded on a regulated energy exchange market,  including aspects related to contractual liability, applicability of special legislation and the analysis of cases in which a hedging contract may be amended in case of a high variation of prices.

Specialist lawyers: Valentin Berea, Alexandru Stanoiu, Andrada Rusan, Ana Popa.

Advised EMI Equipment Maintenance in relation to management agreements for its team as well as implementation of the company’s existing stock option plan, as well as on day-to-day matters. EMI is a market leader in industrial access systems, who provides integrated consulting, design, manufacturing, installation, maintenance and service solutions for industrial access solutions across various sectors.

Advised Intesa Sanpaolo SpA in relation to the appointment of a new management team in First Bank (in which the client acquired a controlling participation), including the necessary documentation (questionnaires and related statements) for the obtaining of the approval of such team by the National Bank of Romania.

Advised Profi in relation to the management agreements for its team (termination of the agreements of existing managers and preparing management agreements for thenew appointed managers), as well as day to day matters such as confidentiality and non-solicitation agreements for its employees and advice related to personnel leasing. Profi is Romania’s leading convenience and proximity supermarket chain, with a network of more than 1,650 stores, operated both directly and in partner system, with Super, City, Go and Loco as main formats.

Advised MidEuropa in relation to the implementation of a very complex management incentivisation plan for one of its portfolio companies.

Advised Lidl Discount in the context of the dismissal procedure of one of its key employees who breached the internal rules on conflict of interests. As the dismissed employee challenged in court the dismissal decision, is currently representing the client in the relevant court proceedings. The case is very challenging, mostly given the lack of a clear legal framework and jurisprudence on conflict of interests in the area of labour relationships.

Specialist lawyers: Alina Stavaru, Cezara Urzica, Valentin Berea, Ana Popa.