Partner Wojciech Koczara has left CMS to rejoin Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka.

The Warsaw office of Linklaters has successfully defended Polish bank Interbrok Investment against claims worth PLN 270 million made against it by unidentified former clients.

2020 was quite a year and one all of us will not forget. For employment and labor law developments, 2020 was unlike any other. We saw rapid change and common themes emerge across the globe. One of the major themes was the introduction of government subsidies to support employers and maintain employment across many countries. We also saw an acceleration of remote and flexible working, and which posed both opportunities and challenges for employers and employees alike. There was also an increase in regulations that govern remote working.

On January 13, 2021, CEE Legal Matters reported that B2RLaw, working alongside Sidley Austin, had advised founders Pawel Malon and Marek Jakubow on the formation of Stability Capital, a Warsaw-based search fund. CEEIHM spoke with Malon and Jakubow, Managing Directors at Stability Capital, to learn more.

Grzegorz Pizon, former Counsel at SSW Pragmatic Solutions, has brought his team to Bird & Bird’s Warsaw office.

From 2021 entrepreneurs running sole proprietorships have been granted certain benefits, which had so far been enjoyed only by consumers. All this is due to the change in the Polish Civil Code and the consumer rights legislation referred to as the so-called "friendly law package" (Polish Journal of Laws 2019, item 1495). Based on the perspective of entrepreneurs, this paper outlines the challenges brought about by the amendment.

B2RLaw has advised Johnson Matthey on its agreement with Axpo Polska Sp. Z.o.o. to have renewable electricity provided to the company's new factory in Konin, Poland.

Greenberg Traurig has advised companies in the Marvipol group on the sale of residential and commercial units in three built-to-rent residential projects in Warsaw to Swedish company Heimstaden Bostad. Dentons advised Heimstaden Bostad on the deal.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought significant uncertainty to the market. In the wake of this highly contagious virus, authorities have issued unprecedented regulations and restrictions to prevent the spread of the disease, accompanied by measures providing help to businesses seeing their economic activities curtailed or suspended. These measures were primarily focused on providing liquidity to the market, but some introduced interesting changes to Polish restructuring law.

One of the most important issues facing businesses in CEE is the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on litigation and arbitration. In-person court and arbitration hearings have become problematic, if not impossible, and the importance of certain boilerplate contract clauses has skyrocketed. Zsolt Okanyi, Global Head of Dispute Resolution at CMS, Malgorzata Surdek, Head of Dispute Resolution at CMS Poland, and Daniela Karollus Bruner, Head of Dispute Resolution at CMS Austria, evaluate the current situation.

CMS has advised InPost, and its majority shareholder Advent International, on the listing of InPost on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The offer price was EUR 16 per share, making a market capitalization of EUR 8 billion. 

Domanski Zakrzewski Palinka has advised Hanwha Q Cells on the sale of 51 photovoltaic farms in Poland with a total capacity of 46 MW to Danish PV plant developer Obton. Clifford Chance advised KfW IPEX-Bank on financing for the deal and Danish law firm Kromann Reumert reportedly advised on Danish legal aspects of the transaction. Obton was advised by Bird & Bird.

Kondracki Celej has advised Alior Bank on its exit from Warsaw-based provider of e-commerce financial services PayPo.

Clifford Chance has advised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on its provision of two loans to the city of Walbrzych, Poland.

CMS has advised BaltCap Infrastructure Fund on a public-private partnership construction of lighting in the municipality of Miedzno, in the Slaskie Voivodship in Poland. The project is worth PLN 22.4 million, making it the largest local government investment in street lighting under a public-private partnership in Poland.

B2RLaw has advised Ambulero, Inc., a biotechnology company developing cell and gene therapy treatments for patients suffering from vascular disease, on its receipt of up to USD 5.5 million in financing from Orphinic Scientific. Orphinic Scientific was advised by solo practitioner Stan Komorowski.

White & Case has advised P4, the Polish operator of Play mobile network, on the issuance of PLN 500 million of seven-year unsecured B-series bonds.

Clifford Chance has advised DNB Bank Polska S.A. and the EBRD on financing they granted to a joint-venture company controlled by Taaleri SolarWind II and Masdar, an Abu Dhabi-based Future Energy Company. White & Case advised Taaleri SolarWind II and Masdar on the deal.