Category: News

act legal (a European Alliance of law firms) has grown with the joining of VFGS+ (Milan, Italy) in July 2020.

act VFGS+ Avvocati is a future-oriented, experienced and dynamic team of lawyers. Its clients include private and public companies, private equity funds and financial institutions, from start-ups to global corporations operating across a wide range of industries.

“We have been working with VFGS+ for many years. Our clients appreciate its support in their international projects,” says Jacek Bieniak, Managing Partner and Co-Head of the Italian Desk at act BSWW (the alliance’s Warsaw-based law firm). “We are glad to welcome such reputable lawyers at act legal,” he adds.

This decision reflects the drive to provide the firm’s clients with top notch and also cross-border, legal services.

act legal has the relevant performance profile and efficient structures of a major international law firm, offering cross-border and regional full-service legal support to companies and investors that do business in continental Europe.

act legal, with 15 offices in most of the largest European business centres and combined forces of around 400 attorneys, stands for high quality, good value, efficient bespoke processes, strong partner involvement and a personal approach, all of which makes act legal an attractive one-stop-shop for excellent legal support in Europe.

“We truly put ourselves in our client’s shoes and, thinking how we can provide a good client experience going through a legal matter from their point of view, we believed that joining act legal is the best solution,” stated the partners of act VFGS+ Avvocati.

act legal understands the mechanisms influencing the business activities of its clients and has a unique insight into the true demands and expectations that a company has of external legal counsel.

“For more than 2 years, we have been looking for an Italian partner perfectly suited to act legal and have had discussions with many first-class Italian law firms. The high professionalism and future-oriented approach of VFGS+ Avvocati, combined with the extraordinary personalities both at partner level and among the younger lawyers, made the decision easy in the end”, said Dr. Sven Tischendorf, MBA, managing partner of the German act legal firm AC Tischendorf Rechtsanwälte and member of the act legal steering committee.

act VFGS+ Avvocati was founded in 2015 on the initiative of Luca Vicarioli, Federica Franchi and Angelo Giunta who, sharing their passion for the legal profession, combined their experiences, values and expertise driven by the ambition of creating a young, dynamic practice with high-level planning and a European vision. In 2018 Stefano Balzola, lawyer and professor at the Carlo Cattaneo University – LIUC and University of Turin, joined the firm as an additional partner. act VFGS+ Avvocati today counts 12 professionals and has offices in Milan and Turin.

act legal aims to further expand into other continental European countries in the coming years.

Mateusz Prokopiuk, attorney-at-law, has just joined the group of act BSWW’s partners.

He has been with the law firm since 2012.

Mateusz specializes in real estate law, real estate transactions (share and asset deals), due diligence audits, mergers, acquisitions and investment financing.

His professional focus is on transactions involving the sale/purchase of land lots for office, retail and residential developments. He negotiates financing conditions for notable real estate investment projects (incl. large shopping centers), while also advising companies from other market sectors on complex financing processes. Mateusz supervises due diligence audits related to the transactions that he handles. His experience also includes consulting on mergers (incl. cross-border ones) and acquisitions, as well as providing ongoing legal advisory services for companies operating across a wide range of industries.

“Mateusz is vital member of the real estate and investment financing teams, highly appreciated by clients for his knowledge and hard-working approach. We are glad to welcome him among the law firm’s partners,” says Michał Wielhorski, Managing Partner at act BSWW, Co-Head of the Real Estate Practice.

Real estate advisory is among act BSWW’s core competencies.

Adventum International, an investment fund operating internationally, has purchased an office building located at Plac Orląt Lwowskich in Wrocław.

Covering a usable area of over 17,000 sq.m., the building (“Centrum Orląt”) is located in a city center of Wrocław, nearby the Old Town.

Thanks to this transaction, the Polish portfolio of Adventum’s offices has grown to 63,000 sq.m.

– Centrum Orlat has an excellent location and strong property fundamentals. Our strategy with the asset is to undertake a full refurbishment program, transforming it into a modern, energy-efficient Class A office building with BREEAM certification. Leasing of the property has already commenced, with Centrum Orlat re-opening its doors in Q1 2021 – says Andras Marton, Business Development Director at Adventum International.

act BSWW advised Adventum throughout the purchase. The services provided by the law firm included due diligence of the property, drafting transaction-related documents, negotiation support and transaction-related advice.

The project team was led by Marta Kosiedowska (attorney-at-law, Partner) under supervision of Marek Wojnar (attorney-at-law and Managing Partner, co-heading the real estate practice of the law firm). Due diligence audit was prepared under the direction of Michał Sołtyszewski (attorney-at-law, Partner).

– It is the fourth project acquired by the fund in Poland over the last year; Adventum International has already purchased Poznań Financial Centre (Poznań), Renaissance Plaza (Warsaw) and Katowice Business Point (Katowice) – says Marta Kosiedowska, Partner at act BSWW. We had the opportunity to assist the Client on all four transactions – she adds.

Adventum is a group of boutique investment fund management companies focused on Central European real estate investments. The Group’s personnel includes highly experienced real estate professionals with CFA, NRW and MRICS qualifications, with a combined investment experience of 70+ years. The management has so far executed investments in the CEE region with a total value of over EUR 1.5bn.

The seller was represented by Deloitte Legal.

act BSWW has consulted one of its clients on negotiations and execution of a framework agreement with a leading Polish air operator, covering a range of cargo flights from China to Poland.

Aircrafts carry equipment intended for coronavirus prevention.

Comprehensive legal advisory services for the Client were provided by Michał Wielhorski, attorney-at-law, Managing Partner.

6B47 Poland acquired over 2,000 square meters of land at Grochowska Street in Warsaw, east of Wedel factory. The plan is to develop a mixed-use facility made up of a dorm, retail section and underground parking lot.

act BSWW consulted on financing granted by an investment fund, as well as on 6B47 Poland’s purchase of the property from Circle K Polska.

The transaction team was managed by Piotr Smołuch (attorney-at-law, Managing Partner). Michał Pawlak (legal counsel, Senior Associate) advised on financing, while Michał Semetkowski (attorney-at-law, Senior Associate) provided acquisition-related services.

“We are glad to have been given the opportunity to work on 6B47 Poland’s first project in the hospitality sector,” says Piotr Smołuch.

The building will have 12,000 square meters. The start of construction works is scheduled for Q1 2021, with completion slated for the second half of 2022.

“We are very happy with the acquisition of land from Circle K. This is going to be our first project in Warsaw, and we hope that it will follow the success of earlier ones, allowing us to step into the hospitality sector. The purchase was financed by the company’ own capital and funds provided by the investor,” says Mirosław Januszko, member of the management board at 6B47 Poland. “Right now we are even more intent on buying land lots or ready-made developments from entities that don’t need such assets any longer. This was also the case of Circle K. We operate in the residential and hospitality sectors (dormitories, residential projects for rent / PRS and hotels). We are also looking at the so-called small business units,” adds Mirosław Januszko.