Month: November 2022

The largest merger on the Polish legal services market in recent years is here. Rymarz Zdort and Maruta Wachta are to operate as one law firm under the name Rymarz Zdort Maruta. The unprecedented merger of the firms, each a leader in its own respective areas of the legal market, will result in the enhancement of the already top-notch legal services provided by the two law firms, which services will be adapted to the challenges posed by a changing world, as well as market and economic realities. The merged law firm will comprise 30 partners and more than 170 lawyers, a total of 250 people.

“I am very enthusiastic about the cooperation between our teams, whose competence, enthusiasm and energy guarantee the success of our joint venture. I am confident that the clients of both companies will benefit from this merger.” – says Paweł Rymarz, Managing Partner at Rymarz Zdort.

Rymarz Zdort is best known for its M&A, restructuring, private equity and financial markets practices, while Maruta Wachta is a leader in new technology law. Both law firms have established strong positions over many years in the market in Poland and Europe and have set the highest standards for legal services based on client feedback, as reflected in the leading positions of both firms in Polish and international legal rankings.

“This is a strategic move for us. By merging with Rymarz Zdort, we have the opportunity to gain new competencies and significantly strengthen our team. Our law firms are not only leaders in their respective fields, but we also have a shared understanding of the work of a lawyer in the third decade of the 21^st century. We want to not only be lawyers, but also advisors, helping in the digital transformation of our clients.” – says Marcin Maruta, Managing Partner at Maruta Wachta.

“Our passion for law does not allow us to sit idle. We continually try to keep up with our clients’ needs and do things that no one in this market has yet dared to do. I am very happy that Marcin, Bartek and the other partners, as well as the rest of Maruta Wachta’s lawyers, have decided to embark on this remarkable journey with us. I am confident that together we will create many more innovations for our clients that may surprise our competitors… and perhaps we may even surprise ourselves.” – says Paweł Zdort, Managing Partner at Rymarz Zdort.

Rymarz Zdort and Maruta Wachta have adopted an equal partnership model as the basis for the merger. The official merger of the two law firms will take place at the beginning of 2023. The headquarters of the new law firm will be the existing offices of Rymarz Zdort, located at Prosta 18 in Warsaw.

“There are many exciting aspects of this merger, the most important one being offering unparalleled comprehensive services, both in terms of knowledge base and organisation. The fusion of our strengths, on the one hand, opens up new opportunities as has been mentioned by the managing partners of the respective firms, and on the other hand, is in itself an unprecedented event in the history of the Polish legal market. I am very happy that my professional path has led me to this place.” – concludes Bartłomiej Wachta, Managing Partner at Maruta Wachta.

Contact:

Aleksandra Petruk

Head of Marketing & BD

aleksandra.petruk@rymarz-zdort.com

+48 607 092 093

 

Jakub Płodzich

PR Officer

jplodzich@maruta.pl

+48 662 273 790

We are pleased to announce that we have advised the German company VH Invest AG (“VH Invest”) on the sale of 100% of the shares in one of the leading and most experienced renewable energy market players in Poland, Vortex Energy S.A. („Vortex Energy”), to the Dutch Vitol Group, known primarily for its trading activities in oil, fuels and other petroleum products.

VH Invest is a family-owned German capital group with its roots in the wind energy sector. Having initially started as a wind farm developer, VH Invest soon expanded into the construction and PV sectors. Today, VH Invest is also a green investment company.

Vortex Energy is one of the pioneers of the renewable energy sector in Poland and has over 18 years of experience in the development and realisation of PV and wind projects in Poland and Germany. Vortex Energy is a very strongly vertically integrated player in the RES sector in Poland and provides a wide range of services, from planning and development through construction and technical management, to the sale and purchase of projects in the RES market. To date, it has delivered over 400 MW of operational renewable generation capacity in wind and solar and has a development pipeline of over 3 GW.

The Vitol Group is a Dutch energy and commodities company, involved in trading in and distribution of, among other things, oil, coal and natural gas around the world. The investment in Vortex Energy is the first significant investment of the Vitol Group in the renewable energy sector in Europe, which is aligned with its strategy of investing in the energy transition and growing its sustainable business activities.

“Investments in renewable energy sources (RES) and their rapid development are necessary and not only with respect to green transition. Such investments are also able to secure energy interests in the long-term and guarantee Poland’s energy security. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to support our client in this transaction, which gives Vortex Energy the chance to enter the next level of development with an excellent partner by its side. Congratulations on such an impressive start to Vitol’s first investment in renewable energy in Europe” – comments Jacek Zawadzki, a partner in the corporate department of Rymarz Zdort.

The transaction team consisted of Jacek Zawadzki (partner), Aleksander Jakubisiak (associate), and Rafal Wloczka (associate). Banking and finance support was provided by dr Jakub Rachwol (partner) and Filip Ksiazczak (associate). Marek Kanczew (counsel) and Michal Chyla (senior associate) were responsible for tax issues in the transaction.

We are pleased to announce that we advised Equinor in connection with the Polish law aspects of its acquisition of BeGreen.

The transaction, following which BeGreen will be a fully-owned Equinor subsidiary, will expand Equinor’s renewable energy portfolio in Europe.

Equinor is an international energy company headquartered in Stavanger (Norway) and has a presence in about 30 countries worldwide.

BeGreen is a leading Danish developer of solar projects. Since its establishment, the company has developed and delivered solar PV projects with a combined capacity of more than 700 MW. BeGreen’s portfolio of development projects located in Denmark, Sweden and Poland has a combined generating capacity of more than 6 GW.

Plesner Advokatpartnerselskab acted as lead transactional counsel.

The Rymarz Zdort project team comprised Łukasz Lech (counsel), Klaudia Kasztelewicz (associate), Weronika Iskierska (associate) and Jakub Szewczak (associate).

We are pleased to announce that we advised PKO Bank Polski S.A. (“PKO Bank Polski”) on an ABB (accelerated book-building) transaction concerning a sale of shares in Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen S.A. (“PKN Orlen”) to domestic and foreign investors.

As part of the ABB transaction, PKO Bank Polski transferred a stake of 14,161,080 shares in PKN Orlen with a total value of more than PLN 715 million (approximately EUR 150 million) to a number of investors.

Rymarz Zdort supported PKO Bank Polski including the PKO Bank Polski Brokerage Office which acted as Global Coordinator and the Sole Bookrunner.

“We are delighted that once again the PKO Bank Polski team showed their trust in us and that we were engaged as legal advisors in connection with what was ultimately a very smooth process,” said Filip Leśniak, a partner in the corporate department of Rymarz Zdort.

The legal services we provided included consultancy support, the preparation of transaction documentation, support in the transaction process, as well as advice on disclosure obligations and the preparation of a legal opinion in connection with the transaction.

The project team comprised Filip Lesniak (partner) and Karolina Klos (associate).