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Rymarz Zdort has maintained the top position it holds in the ranking for Poland compiled by Mergermarket, an Acuris company, in its Global and Regional M&A League Tables 1H21 – Legal Advisors. The law firm has been ranked in first place in the league tables in terms of number of deals and second in terms of deal value.

Furthermore, Rymarz Zdort has taken fifth place in the league table in terms of deal value in the CEE region. According to the report, in the first half of 2021, Rymarz Zdort advised on nine transactions with a total value of approximately USD 3.8 billion.

“Being recognised as a leader for outstanding M&A transactions in the latest Mergermarket league tables is a fantastic accolade for our professionalism, commitment and the hard work we do for our clients. We are delighted to have elite corporate and M&A lawyers and many talented rising stars on the Rymarz Zdort team. With such a combination, we set the standard for transactional law advice in Poland and the CEE region. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our clients, to whom we owe our success. Their trust and cooperation in all the interesting and complex transactions we have completed together is our greatest reward” – commented Paweł Zdort, managing partner.

In the first half of 2021, Rymarz Zdort advised, among others, on transactions including the sale of Santander Bank Polska’s stake in Aviva Poland to Allianz, a deal which has been recognised as the largest transaction on the Polish insurance market to date and is also the largest M&A transaction in Poland so far this year. We advised on the sale of the controlling stake in Archicom to Echo Investment; the sale of WhitePress to RTB House; and the acquisition of a majority stake in Picodi.com by Méliuz. We would like to mention our work for APG on its joint venture with Orange Polska to build the largest independent, wholesale fibre-optic operator in Poland. Rymarz Zdort advised ProService Finteco on its acquisition of 100% of the shares in Moventum sp. z o.o., the parent company of Luxembourg-based Moventum S.C.A.

Our extensive experience in transactions relating to renewable energy sources, especially offshore investments, positions us very well to advise on such projects. In the first half of 2021, we advised the Polish energy group PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna in connection with the conclusion of a joint venture agreement with Danish energy company Ørsted. We are also delighted to highlight that a joint offshore wind farm project in the Baltic Sea of Northland Power and PKN Orlen, in connection with which Rymarz Zdort acted as legal advisor to Northland Power, has been shortlisted for the Offshore Deal of the Year in the 2021 Wind Investment Awards.

Rymarz Zdort is pleased to announce that in the most recent edition of the IFLR1000 2021 ranking it has again been recognised as one of the best law firms in Poland for capital markets. In the category capital markets: equity, Rymarz Zdort has been recognised in Tier 1, and in Tier 2 for capital markets: debt.

Several Rymarz Zdort partners have also been recognised individually for capital markets as well as private equity.

Market Leader recognitions:

• Marcin Chyliński (Capital Markets: Equity);
• Paweł Rymarz (Capital Markets: Equity, Private Equity); and
• Paweł Zdort (Private Equity).

Highly Regarded recognitions:

• Ewa Bober (Capital Markets: Equity);
• Dr hab. Łukasz Gasiński (Capital Markets: Equity, Private Equity);
• Zofia Frydrychowicz (Capital Markets: Debt); and
• Marcin Iwaniszyn (Capital Markets: Debt).

Notable Practitioner recognitions:

• Monika Kierepa (Capital Markets: Equity); and
• Dr Filip Uziębło (Private Equity).

We kindly thank our clients for their trust and recommendations. Congratulations to all of the lawyers and teams that received recognition!

The results of other ratings will be published in due course.

Please visit IFLR1000 to find out more: link

Rymarz Zdort advised CS Group Polska S.A. (“CS Group”), controlled by Innova Capital (“Innova”), in connection with the refinancing of existing indebtedness and obtaining additional term and revolving credit facilities under a credit facility agreement concluded with mBank S.A.

CS Group supports more than 50,000 small and medium-sized businesses in Poland and the broader CEE region by delivering a wide array of digital solutions related to online presence and automation of sales processes.

Innova is a leading CEE-oriented private equity fund, which has established six investment funds with a total value of EUR 1.1 billion, with almost 60 investments across 10 countries in the CEE region.

The transaction team advising CS Group and Innova Capital comprised Marcin Iwaniszyn, partner and co-head of the banking and finance practice of Rymarz Zdort, and associates Jakub Czerka and Maria Słomska.

Rymarz Zdort advised Pfleiderer Polska sp. z o.o.  and its subsidiaries (“Pfleiderer“, the “Group“) in connection with obtaining financing in the form of a revolving credit facility (RCF) of up to PLN 200 million under a credit facility agreement concluded with a consortium of three major banks.

The facility allowed the Group members to finance their liquidity and to use a number of banking products required in connection with their current operations.

Pfleiderer is one of the leaders in the wood-based materials industry in Poland and Europe.

Marcin Iwaniszyn, a partner and co-head of the banking and finance practice of Rymarz Zdort, supervised the team working on the financing, which also included associate Jakub Czerka, who was responsible for providing day-to-day financing advice, and associate Krystian Kurgan.

Rymarz Zdort advised ProService Finteco sp. z o.o. on its acquisition of 100% of the shares in Moventum sp. z o.o., the parent company of Moventum S.C.A based in Luxembourg. The Luxembourg financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), has already granted its approval to the transaction.

The ProService Finteco Group is a leading company in its field, operating as a transfer agent offering settlement, fund valuation and corporate accounting services. It also provides associated IT technologies and solutions. The company is owned by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management and Cornerstone Partners.

Moventum services more than 40,000 customers in over 120 countries worldwide and offers over 10,000 products, including ETFs and other securities. Moventum cooperates with more than 1,600 financial advisors, and has offices in five countries – Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The team that advised on the transaction was headed by managing partner Paweł Zdort, who was supported by counsel Jakub Krzemień and senior associate Aleksandra Kabać. The work related to the due diligence of the company was managed by partner Monika Kierepa. Advice related to acquisition financing was provided by partner Zofia Frydrychowicz, who was supported by associates Jakub Czerka and Wiktor Zień.

Rymarz Zdort together with Setterwalls Advokatbyrå AB advised CEPD N.V. on its investment in Admenta Sweden AB, the operator of the LloydsApotek chain of pharmacies. The transaction comprised the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Admenta Sweden AB from the company’s current shareholder.

LloydsApotek operates 76 pharmacies in Sweden and offers complete e-commerce services with access to a broad selection of self-care products.

CEPD N.V. is a highly experienced and knowledgeable health care company in Europe with its head office in the Netherlands. CEPD N.V. operates the fifth largest chain of pharmacies in Europe with over 1,300 pharmacies in Poland, Lithuania and Sweden.

Rymarz Zdort advised Pepco Group N.V. and its subsidiaries (“Pepco” or the “Group”) on the Polish law aspects of a EUR 740 million senior facilities agreement entered into with a consortium comprising 11 leading international and Polish financial institutions.

In order to refinance the Pepco Group’s existing indebtedness, Pepco Group entities entered into a new senior facilities agreement under which secured term loans in the aggregate amount of up to EUR 550 million and a secured working capital facility in the aggregate amount of up to EUR 190 million (or the equivalent thereof in other currencies) were made available to the Group.

The refinancing was connected with the IPO of Pepco on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (in connection with which Rymarz Zdort also advised Pepco Group on Polish law matters) and the respective finance documentation included aspects directly related to the IPO.

Pepco owns and operates a multi-format, pan-European retail business under the PEPCO, Dealz and Poundland brands, with 3,246 stores located across 16 countries (as at 31 March 2021). In the financial year ended 30 September 2020, Pepco’s revenues increased to EUR 3.5 billion.

Marcin Iwaniszyn, a partner and co-head of the banking and finance practice of Rymarz Zdort, supervised the team working on the financing, which also included associate Sebastian Mikina, who rendered day-to-day advice relating to the financing and was supported by associate Krystian Kurgan.

Rymarz Zdort advised Pepco Group N.V. (“Pepco”, “Group”) on Polish law matters related to the initial public offering of shares in Pepco and their admission and introduction to trading on the regulated market operated by the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Pepco’s offering and listing on the Warsaw stock exchange is the largest IPO in Poland in terms of value in 2021 thus far. Based on the final offer price, the market capitalisation of the Company amounted to PLN 23 billion (EUR 5 billion). The offering involved the sale of 92,466,602 existing shares and generated gross proceeds of approximately PLN 3.7 billion (EUR 0.8 billion).

The offering was conducted in accordance with U.S. Rule 144A and was directed at retail investors and institutional investors in Poland. The shares in Pepco were also offered to selected foreign institutional investors (within and outside of the United States).

Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE and J.P. Morgan A.G. acted as joint global coordinators for Pepco’s IPO.

Pepco owns and operates a multi-format, pan-European variety discount retail business under the PEPCO, Dealz and Poundland brands, with 3,246 stores located across 16 countries (as at 31 March 2021). The Group’s stores offer apparel, homeware-led general merchandise, including seasonal products, and FMCG at market leading prices. In the financial year ended 30 September 2020, Pepco’s revenues increased to EUR 3.5 billion.

“We congratulate Pepco Group on joining the elite group of major companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and all of the parties involved in what has thus far been the largest IPO in Poland in 2021. We are delighted that Pepco Group’s share offering has met with strong interest from a wide range of Polish and international institutional investors, as well as demand from individual investors. We are proud that our long-standing experience in providing legal advice on international IPOs and our knowledge of the Polish capital market are appreciated by international clients and leading investment firms, and that such experience and knowledge allow us to provide our clients with legal advice concerning the most complex transactions conducted on the equity capital markets in Poland,” said Marcin Chyliński, a partner in the corporate department and the head of the equity capital markets practice at Rymarz Zdort.

The transaction team, led by Marcin Chyliński, comprised: Ewa Bober, partner; Robert Krasnodębski, partner; Filip Leśniak, counsel; Marek Kanczew, counsel; Marta Rykalovska, associate; Ada Zahorodna, associate; Tomasz Wieczorek, associate; and Kacper Skowron, associate.

Rymarz Zdort advised Polish energy group PGE in the finalisation of a joint venture agreement, announced on 10 February this year with Danish company Ørsted, the purpose of which is the development, construction and operation of two offshore wind farm projects, Baltica-3 and Baltica-2, with a total capacity of approximately 2500 MW.

The estimated total cost of the investment with a capacity of approximately 2500 MW is around PLN 30-40 billion.

The team involved in the project included: Marek Durski, partner; dr Marek Maciąg, partner; Iwona Her, partner; Jakub Krzemień, counsel; dr Agnieszka Koniewicz, counsel; Aleksandra Kabać, senior associate; Adrian Augustyniak, associate; Marta Szczepkowska, associate and Irmina Wątły, counsel.

Rymarz Zdort advised European Logistics Investment (ELI), a dynamically growing logistics platform in Poland, in connection with the transaction documentation related to a land purchase, the corporate aspects of the investment and the development of a modern warehouse complex.

ELI will construct a high-quality logistics centre with an approximate area of 100,000 sqm in Tychy. The two-hall facility will be developed in cooperation with ELI’s strategic partner Panattoni, a market leader in the industrial property sector. The first building has already been 100% pre-let. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.

ELI’s portfolio includes 23 logistics projects with a total area of over 1 million sqm, including 619,000 sqm of standing assets in the most sought-after locations. The company is planning to further expand in the coming years.

The firm’s transaction team was headed by Piotr Fedorowicz, a partner in the corporate department and the real estate practice. The transaction team comprised: senior associate Tomasz Bąkowski, senior associate Izabela Skrzypczak, associate Michał Kostewicz and associate Mateusz Konopka.