act legal covers all major European business centres.
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Recommendation for the law firm:
– Real Estate – Band 4
Recommended lawyers:
– Piotr Smołuch (Capital Markets: Debt) – Up and Coming
– Michał Wielhorski (Real Estate) – Band 4
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This comes as a natural step further, propelled by the aspiration to provide clients, international companies operating on the European market, with synergistic international expertise, integrated cross-border capabilities and combined multi-disciplinary transnational teams, while ensuring local intelligence based on excellent local markets knowledge.
“We have been focusing on the quality and efficiency of our services since the idea of forming act legal first emerged. Over the last few years, we have put a lot of effort into developing shared work standards by participating in multiple cross-border projects. Our structure allows us to make decisions quickly and efficiently at both the regional and the local level. We believe that our further integration and continuous work on the quality of our services will be an added value for our clients.” – says Jacek Bieniak, Managing Partner at act legal Poland.
“In recent years, act legal has established itself as a first-class alternative to large international law firms, both on a national level and in international transactional business. The combination of the service profile of a large international law firm and the efficient structures of a boutique is unique in Europe. With act legal, demanding corporate clientele is guaranteed top-quality individual advice at an attractive price.” – added Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA, Managing Partner at act legal Germany.
With a unified brand and corporate style for all 10 law firms and a new modern joint website, the rebranding marks the logical next step in the evolution of the alliance. The aligned style reflects the strong years-long cooperation between the individual offices, and enhances a powerful approach to further strengthen act legal’s unique proposition in Europe.
act legal benefits from the combined forces of around 400 lawyers, tax consultants and business experts in 10 European markets. Strategically located in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and the Netherlands, act legal aims to expand further to cover mainland Europe in the years to come.
Sebastian Pietrzyk, attorney-at-law, Partner and Co-Head of Public Procurement at act BSWW, will analyse the needs and requirements according to the new Public Procurement Law.
The lecture will be held on March 10, 2021 at 10.00 – 10.30.
Marcelina Daszkiewicz, attorney-at-law, Senior Associate and Co-Head of Public Procurement at act BSWW, will share her knowledge about simplified procedure the new Public Procurement Law.
The lecture will be held on March 12, 2021 at 11.00 – 11.45.
The event’s program and participation details are available here.
The conference is organized by Must Read Media.
The transaction comprised the sale of 11 A-class office properties from BUMA’s portfolio, including two sites under development, with a total leasable area (GLA) of approx. 125,000 sq.m., located in Kraków and Wrocław to Partners Group.
act BSWW team was led by Michał Wielhorski (Managing Partner) and included Michał Sołtyszewski (Partner), Mateusz Prokopiuk (Partner), Alicja Sołtyszewska (Partner) and Katarzyna Marzec (Partner).
Clifford Chance team composed of Bartosz Kaniasty, Tomasz Derda, Joanna Satkiewicz, Tomasz Walerowicz and Joanna Kurdusiewicz, advised the closed end fund and private owners of Buma company.
Oleś & Rodzynkiewicz law firm composed of Krzysztof Rysz, Marcelina Domagała and Tomasz Ferenc advised the closed end fund, as the owner of the disposed shares.
Partners Group was advised by Greenberg Traurig and Goodwin Procter law firms.
Marcelina Daszkiewicz, attorney-at-law, Senior Associate and Co-Head of Public Procurement at act BSWW, will give a lecture on the rules of contractor participation in proceedings with a value under PLN 130,000.
The lecture will be held on March 3, 2021 at 14.00 – 14.45.
She will lead the workshop on defense of the contractor’s interests and use of legal remedies in the new Public Procurement Law.
The workshop will be held on March 5, 2021 at 11.00 – 12.30.
The event’s program and participation details are available here.
The conference is organized by Must Read Media.
The scope of the law firm’s services included negotiations with investors, preparation of the issuer’s corporate documentation and a review of the agreement with the issue agent.
The law firm’s team was led by Łukasz Piekarski, Partner. He was supported by other members of the bonds team.
Echo Investment is Poland’s largest developer, boasting vast experience in the residential, retail, office and hotel sectors of the real estate market. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
act BSWW provides comprehensive legal advisory services related to debt financing. The law firm has prepared legal documentation for and advised on over 450 debt financing transactions worth a total in excess of PLN 5bn.
If this article was a blood-chilling thriller, the next sentence would be something along the lines of “and then the mysterious SARS-CoV-2 virus struck, with the pandemic arriving and changing everything.” But this is not a thriller; we are focusing on facts, and there are two crucial facts to consider here.
The first one is that the pandemic has indeed struck. At first, it seemed that the story of the new virus would resemble that of bird flu – it will come, stay for some time (though many people would be inclined to believe that this does not concern them as the virus is only somewhere in Asia, and nobody really knows anyone who contracted it), and the whole thing will blow over as soon as the parliament adopts a new act, and farmers, miners or nurses (*delete as applicable) hit the streets. But this was not the case. The pandemic and the ensuing restrictions have become an intrinsic element of our daily life. We wear face-masks, wash hands more frequently than ever and avoid overcrowded locations.
The other fact is that the pandemic has indeed influenced much more than just the commercial real estate market. It has affected the economy in general. There were many different reactions at the beginning – from anxious and cautious (“OK, we are suspending all processes, let’s take a deep breath and keep monitoring the situation”) to more balanced and methodical ones (“Chill out, nothing is really going on, the HQ has made a decision, and we have secured financing – we will complete the project as planned”).
After the initial dust has settled, it is worth making a broader analysis of how heavily the pandemic has weighed (or will weigh) on office leases.
The first conclusion that comes to mind naturally is that if tenants are more cautious in their decision-making processes related to long-term lease agreements, and the demand for office premises is consequently lower, the market will respond by reducing base rents. It is hard to make any long-term predictions but one thing is for certain: we should not expect any bargains in buildings that are being delivered now.
Developers have incurred specific costs to prepare the investment projects as they are offered to tenants – they acquired land, developed buildings of a pre-determined standard (and for a specific price), and secured external financing whose conditions impose minimum requirements with respect to rent rates.
Secondly, it is not a groundbreaking statement to say that we have all learned to work from home to some extent. Many companies have found that this works perfectly fine, and the office, as we know it, will no longer be necessary. The pandemic has also affected the financial condition of numerous enterprises. Tenants are wondering if their pace of growth will stay the same or whether they will have to reduce headcount. We can safely say that the pandemic has forced companies to rethink their needs, leading to a drop in the area of leased premises.
We do not know what is going to happen. All that matters is here and now; anything else is just an option.
An option, that’s just it. Tenants are now increasingly looking for greater flexibility of the space occupied.
Needless to say, solutions ensuring such flexibility have always been used in lease agreements. We have frequently seen different expansion options with respect to a given building or complex (reservation right, option to lease additional space, priority right). However, such rights/options tended to apply to specific premises, over a definite period, and under pre-determined conditions. Right now tenants seem to be looking for greater freedom in that regard, and lessors are usually willing to accommodate such needs.
An increasing number of tenants want to be able to reduce the lease area after some time or even to be given the break option. However, developers are less willing to compromise here. Moreover, not that long ago, such solutions involved a certain fee for lessors, which was supposed to compensate for the lack of profits in the long run. Now the focus has shifted to cancellation of redundant incentives that were given to tenants with respect to the originally intended (i.e. longer) lease term (without entirely disregarding the compensation factor, though).
The flexibility sought by tenants is not limited to the lease area or term. Increasingly often, it applies to the manner in which tenants can use the leased space – from fewer restrictions on sublease, through interior arrangement, to a change in purpose (e.g. from office to retail or the other way round) and flexible management of incentives offered by the lessor (e.g. conversion of the fit-out budget into rent-free periods and the other way round).
Has the pandemic itself made an imprint on lease agreements? Do both lessors and tenants expect lease agreement to include provisions that govern the impact of the epidemic/pandemic (or coronavirus, specifically) on their contractual rights and obligations? Well, it seems that after the initial shock, when both parties (and their advisors) felt the instinctive need to address these issues in agreements, it turned out that (as is ever the case) this had done more harm than good. It is better to terminate the agreement or make an additional sacrifice than to insist on pandemic-specific provisions. Even more so that adequate provisions governing the parties’ liability or force majeure are sufficient, and there is no need to address COVID-19 specifically.
Two questions remain. Are typical clauses, such as the right to get a rent discount or terminate the agreement, negotiated more fiercely now than in the pre-pandemic times? Will the current trends become a permanent feature of the office property market? I am going to respond like lawyers often do – it depends. And though it is hard to say what the future holds, one thing is for sure: as of now, the market favors tenants, and it seems that this situation will persist at least until the end of the pandemic or until a drop in the supply of office spaces (which might soon turn out to be one of the pandemic’s outcomes).
Lubicz Business Center is made up of two A-class office buildings located close to Rondo Mogilskie, the Old Town, Kraków Główny Railway Station, Galeria Krakowska shopping mall and academic campuses. Both buildings have been awarded the BREEAM certificate (category: Management) with Very Good rating.
“When planning the upward extension of almost 2,100 sq.m. of new office space in Lubicz Business Center, we were positive that this option would generate a lot of interest among potential clients. We have held numerous talks and meetings, and today we can share great news that Poland’s largest e-commerce company has selected our building for its new office that will be used predominantly by the technology staff,” says Julie Archambault, Senior Leasing Manager at Globalworth Poland.
Comprehensive legal advisory services with respect to the negotiations and execution of the lease agreement were provided by Alicja Sołtyszewska, legal counsel, Partner at act BSWW.
“We are proud to be Globalworth’s trusted legal consultant that is routinely invited to cooperate on new projects. It was a pleasure to handle this transaction,” says Alicja Sołtyszewska.
Globalworth is a leading real estate company, concentrating its operations on Poland and Romania, two largest CEE markets. It acquires, develops and manages commercial assets, with a strong emphasis on the office sector. Globalworth has a real estate portfolio valued at approx. EUR 3bn, managed by a team of over 200 professionals working mostly from Warsaw and Bucharest.
Allegro is a shopping platform created in 1999. It is visited monthly by over 20 million clients who can shop for products offered by more than 117,000 businesses. Allegro has its registered office in Poznań, with offices in Warsaw, Toruń, Wrocław and Kraków. The company employs over 2,400 people.
The project was handled by Sebastian Sury and Matylda Juzala (Partners at act BSWW), and supervised by Piotr Smołuch (Managing Partner and Head of Bonds).
The strategically important project, involving the renovation and extension of the incineration plant, as well as the construction of a waste segregation plant, will see the emergence of two new technological lines for municipal waste combustion within the next three years. Following the completion of the works, this is going to be Poland’s biggest facility of this sort, while also being among the largest ones across Europe. It is supposed to combust over 300 tons of mixed waste annually, and generate energy for more than a dozen thousand households.
“We perfectly realize that this project is of crucial strategic importance for the city. Warsaw has been waiting for it for years. This makes us even prouder to be given the opportunity to contribute to its success,” says Piotr Smołuch, Managing Partner at act BSWW.
The facility is going to be eco-friendly as it was designed in line with top environmental standards related to waste management.
On November 19, 2020, Rank Progress Spółka Akcyjna Otwock spółka komandytowa (a subsidiary of Rank Progress S.A.) and Rank Progress S.A. entered into two final agreements for acquisition of ownership title to a land lot of 6.83 ha.
The property is located in Otwock. The transaction value is PLN 23.97 million.
The law firm provided a comprehensive range of legal advisory services, including a due diligence audit of the property.
The law firm’s team was supervised by Michał Wielhorski, Managing Partner at act BSWW. The team was made up of Mateusz Prokopiuk, Partner (transaction advisory), and Michał Sołtyszewski, Partner (due diligence).
“This is yet another project of this kind, on which we advise our Client,” says Michał Wielhorski.
Rank Progress is an investment and development company which has become a market leader when it comes to development of retail spaces. It is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
