Raidla Lejins & Norcous awarded Baltic Legal Adviser of the Year, 2011

14.12.2011

At the annual Financial Times and mergermarket European M&A Awards held in London on 8 December 2011, Raidla Lejins & Norcous was awarded the title of Legal Adviser of the Year in the Baltics.

The Financial Times and mergermarket, an international M&A intelligence service, celebrated their fifth annual awards ceremony where they recognise excellence in corporate, private equity, banking and legal M&A services.Award winners are selected based on intelligence concerning M&A transactions in Europe as well as the opinion of an independent expert panel of leading European M&A practitioners (please click here to view the methodology details).

The title of Financial Adviser of the Year in Europe went to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank.The European Legal Adviser of the Year title was awarded to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a major player in the international legal services market.

“We are grateful for this recognition which we view as a satisfying reward for our hard work during the last year. We are especially honoured to have been placed among this group of elite award winners, which is yet another recognition of our top place on the Baltic market that is worthy of note from the respected international authorities. At the same time, it is an incentive and an obligation for the future,” said Dr Irmantas Norkus, Managing Partner of Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office.

During 2011, Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office advised on 21 transactions with a total value exceeding LTL 1.5 billion. The largest transaction handled by the firm was the sale of the 87.2% shareholding in AB Sanitas controlled by its major shareholders to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., a company based in Canada. The deal is valued in excess of EUR 350 million and is the largest single sale of shares transaction in Lithuania since 2006. Other significant deals advised on by Raidla Lejins & Norcous Vilnius office include the acquisition of UAB Kelprojektas by BaltCap, the acquisition of UAB Kabeliniairyšiųtinklai from Tele2, investment by AB Amilina into a new industrial biomass power plant, the sale of UAB Kustodija by AB Linas Agro Group, and many others.

According to Sven Papp, head of the Transactions and Corporate Advisory Practice Group in Raidla Lejins & Norcous Tallinn office, the award is the most highly valued and desired recognition in the field. "It is the absolute top level acknowledgment for us and I would hereby like to specifically thank all of our team members and clients who made this possible. Despite the current challenging economic climate we have successfully concluded a number of complex transactions this year," he proudly says.

Mr. Papp highlighted a number of major transactions in Estonia, including the acquisition of Silmet by Molycorp, the acquisition of Kaleva Travel by Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the sale of Kohtla-Järve Soojus to Viru Keemia Grupp, the acquisition of National Semiconductor by Texas Instruments, Swedbank investment in Arealis and the sale of the ONOFF electronics chain. As to stock transactions, Mr. Papp points out the IPO of Global Ports on the London Stock Exchange.

"In Latvia, it was a challenging but rewarding year in terms of both numbers and volumes of the deals concluded. Our team worked hard to achieve these results and we intend keep doing what we do best – supporting our clients in concluding transactions in the most efficient and successful way," says Guntars Zile, Partner of Raidla Lejins & Norcous Riga office.

According to Mr.Zile, during the year 2011, the largest transaction handled by Raidla Lejins & Norcous Riga office was AXA Private Equity, the leading European diversified private equity firm, and Resource Partners, one of Poland's major private equity advisers, joint acquisition of a majority stake in SIA Baltkom TV, Latvia's largest cable television operator, offering pay-tv, internet and telephony services in Riga and in other Latvian cities. Riga office also was involved in acquisitions of SIA Adam Auto by Amserv Grupp and Runway SIA by BaltCap, as well as advising a number of large scale M&A transactions in the area of banking and finance, such as sale of Parex leasing companies in Russia and Azerbaijan.

The firms also advised on a number of major multi-jurisdictional transactions where all Raidla Lejins & Norcous offices were involved, including acquisition of SIA Adam Auto by Amserv Grupp, the acquisition of Runway SIA by BaltCap and the acquisition of Kaleva Travel by Carlson Wagonlit Travel.

The Financial Times and mergermarket European M&A Awards were held at The Savoy, London, on 8 December 2011.

Raidla Lejins & Norcous firms in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are leading providers of legal services in the Baltic region with a team totalling over 100 lawyers. The firms render comprehensive services to local, regional and international entities, including multinational enterprises, international banks and financial institutions. Raidla Lejins & Norcous firms are members of the RR Alliance – one of the largest law firm operations in Northern Europe including Roschier from Finland and Sweden and Raidla Lejins & Norcous from the Baltics.


Contact details:

Raidla Lejins & Norcous, Vilnius
Dr Irmantas Norkus
+370 687 81323
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Raidla Lejins & Norcous, Tallinn
Mr. Sven Papp
+372 640 7151
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Raidla Lejins & Norcous, Riga
Mr. Guntars Zile
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+371 67240689

Further information:
Official press release of Financial Times and Mergermarket:
http://www.mergermarket.com/pdf/European-MA-Awards-winners-2011-press-release.pdf

From left: Elijus Burgis (Lithuania), Guntars Zile (Lavia), Sven Papp (Estonia) and representative of  Mergermarket.