On December 1, 2022, SMM Legal announced that the Aramco Overseas Company transactions made in relation to the PKN Orlen-Grupa Lotos merger (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 20, 2022) had closed.
According to SMM Legal, “On November 30, 2022, the key agreements with the Aramco Overseas Company ... were signed, and so the implementation of these specific remedies is now complete.”
As previously reported, Allen & Overy advised Aramco on its acquisitions from Polish oil refiner and fuel retailer PKN Orlen following the planned merger with Grupa Lotos. SMM Legal advised PKN Orlen and Rymarz Zdort advised Grupa Lotos.
The Saudi Arabian oil company invested in "Poland’s refining, wholesale, and jet fuel marketing segments," according to Allen & Overy. "Aramco has agreed to acquire equity stakes of 30% in a 210,000 barrels per day refinery in Gdansk; 100% in the associated wholesale fuels business; and 50% in a jet fuel marketing joint venture with BP. The investment will see Aramco, the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals company, significantly expanding its presence in the European downstream sector and further expanding its crude imports into Poland," A&O reported.
According to SMM Legal, going forward, the Gdansk refinery will process "raw materials for two separate processors, PKN Orlen and a company from the Saudi Aramco group."
SMM Legal's updated team included Managing Partner Maciej Mataczynski, Partners Tomasz Jaranowski, Pawel Lacki, Wojciech Sikorski, and Monika Adamczak, Of Counsels Mateusz Stanczyk and Maksymilian Saczywko, Senior Associates Magdalena Cisowska, Izabela Jackowska, Piotr Ruchala, Kinga Dziennik, Marlena Kruszynska-Kosmicka, Magdalena Michalska-Niewiadomska, Emilia Topolnicka-Landuch, Zuzanna Skurniak, Diana Krzyzanowska, Maciej Tulwin, and Milosz Malaga, and Associates Lukasz Dutkowski, Michal Wojtkowiak, Piotr Andrzejewski, Wojciech Rzepinski, Anna Mathews, and Dagmara Dragan.
Rymarz Zdort’s updated team included Managing Partner Pawel Rymarz, Partners Jakub Zagrajek, Iwona Her, and Robert Krasnodebski, Counsels Irmina Watly and Aleksandra Dobrzynska-Grezel, Senior Associates Diana Sofu and Pawel Mazur, and Associates Patrycja Gliwka, Kamil Klopocki, and Filip Goledzinowski.
The Allen & Overy team included Warsaw-based Partners Jaroslaw Iwanicki and Marta Sendrowicz, Counsel Kamil Jankielewicz, and Senior Associate Maciej Skoczynski with further teams in the UK, Dubai, Belgium, and Germany.
