Finland's Castren & Snellman and Sorainen have advised the OP Corporate Bank on its provision of financing to Finland's Veho Group for Veho's acquisition of Silberauto. Finland's Dittmar Law Firm and Ellex's three offices in the Baltic advised Veho on the financing, as they had on the acquisition itself.
According to Castren & Snellman, the syndicated financing involved a EUR 182,100,000 and SEK 380,000,000 arrangement for Veho. According to the firm, "OP Corporate Bank plc acted as coordinator, bookrunner, agent, and security agent in this financing arrangement. The mandated lead arrangers in the syndicate were OP Corporate Bank plc, Nordea Bank Abp and Danske Bank A/S and lenders for the facilities were OP Corporate Bank plc, Nordea Bank Abp and Danske Bank A/S, Finland Branch."
Castren & Snellman reports that "the financing arrangement was carried out for the purpose of, among other things, refinancing Veho’s existing facilities agreement and financing the acquisition of Silberauto, the largest company in the Baltic automotive sector."
Veho's acquisition of Silberauto’s business in Estonia and Lithuania took place in September, 2019, with Cobalt advising the seller, entrepreneur Vaino Kaldoja (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on September 26, 2019).
The Castren & Snellman team on the financing consisted of Managing Partner Sakari Lukinmaa, Counsel Minna Korhonen, and Associate Sonja Hanninen.
Sorainen's team included, in Estonia, Partner Reimo Hammerberg, Senior Associate Jane Eespold, and Associate Kristjan Nommik; in Latvia, Partner Rudolfs Eņgelis and Senior Associate Edvins Draba; and in Lithuania, Partner Augustas Klezys and Senior Associate Lina Ragainyte.
The Ellex team included, in Estonia, Partner Ermo Kosk, Counsel Toomas Kasesalu and Rain Raa; in Latvia, Associate Partner Valters Diure and Senior Associate Beata Plocina; and in Lithuania, Partner Giedrius Stasevicius and Associate Tadas Kuzminskas.