Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners has secured a final arbitration decision from the International Chamber of Commerce Paris, which partially accepted a case brought by Societatea de Administrare a Participațiilor in Energie (SAPE) against Enel Investment Holding B.V. and Enel S.p.A (Enel).
With Enel being obliged to pay SAPE an amount of over EUR 401.2 million, ZRP claims this is “the largest international arbitration award ever obtained involving a Romanian party."
According to the firm, the dispute revolved around two issues. The first was the exercising of sales options (Put Options) in respect to a 13.57% stake held by SAPE in the former Electrica Muntenia Sud, the legal mechanism through which the shares are transferred to Enel. The second was the establishment of the price for said stake based on the formula provided in the privatization contract.
"The arbitration ruling is sensational given the very large sums of money awarded. From our point of view, this arbitration, which was far more complex than might first appear, raised many legal problems in terms of civil law, privatization and, in particular, the energy field, and it involved a range of specific issues pertaining to this regulated market," commented Cosmin Vasile, Managing Partner of Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners, who led the firm's team on the case. "Our satisfaction resides in the acceptance of an overwhelming majority of the positions and interpretations put forward and developed during the dispute by the Romanian party."
Aside from Vasile, the ZRP team included Partner Alina Tugearu, Managing Associate Cosmin Cojocaru, and Senior Associate Violeta Saranciuc.
