PL

B2RLaw advises PGNiG Ventures on investment in electromobility charger company Enelion

B2RLaw has advised PGNiG Group’s corporate venture capital fund on its investment in Enelion, a provider of comprehensive solutions for electromobility. The first stage of the investment is PLN 2.53 million, and its total amount may reach PLN 6 million.

Enelion provides a range of solutions including smart electric vehicle chargers, a system for managing charger networks, tariff plans and payments, and a mobile app enabling EV drivers to remotely control charges, energy consumption, and charging costs. The company has designed, developed and manufactured electric vehicle charging terminals since 2015. It is consolidating its position in Poland and Europe, with as much as 70% of AC chargers manufactured by Enelion sold to customers abroad, and aims to increase production from the current 400 to more than 5,000 AC units per month in 2025. It plans to grow exports to the US, Canada, Eastern Europe, South America, the Middle East and Africa. The company also plans to launch DC fast chargers.

PGNiG Ventures is a corporate venture capital fund owned by Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo. Its investment focus is on companies offering unique products or services, knowledge, business model and strong management teams, striving to become leaders of their respective markets. PGNiG’s fund is interested in companies offering unique products and services that can be applied in the energy and upstream sectors.

B2RLaw’s team was led by Partner Szymon Syp, and included Counsel Paulina Wyrostek; Senior Associates Iga Wojtczak-Opala and Piotr Leonarski; Associate Julia Pycka; and Junior Associates Jakub Niemiec, Martyna Szpakowska and Tomasz Michalczyk.

Szymon Syp advises, “We thank PGNiG Ventures for the opportunity to advise on this exciting investment. Electromobility and the pursuit of a low-carbon future are one of the key directions for the energy sector. To allow for this, the rollout of necessary infrastructure including charging stations is imperative. B2RLaw has been supporting the electromobility industry for quite some time. We regularly advise electric battery producers, infrastructure providers, electromobility vehicle producers and investors in the industry.”

B2RLaw advises Henley Investments on its debut Polish acquisition of a shopping centre

B2RLaw has advised Henley Investments, a leading private equity real estate firm based in the UK, on the acquisition of its first shopping centre as it enters the Polish real estate market with the purchase of Galeria Pestka from a global investment manager.

The circa 42,000 sqm (452,000 sq ft) shopping centre in Poznan is a hypermarket-anchored scheme and builds on Henley’s recent retail acquisitions across supermarkets and retail parks.

The multi-story Galeria Pestka has a diverse tenant line-up headed up by international tenants, such as Carrefour and Bricomarche.

Established in 2006, Henley is a leading UK private equity real estate investor focusing on investment, development and asset management in commercial, residential, multifamily, healthcare, land infrastructure and alternative real estate assets. The company currently has deployed around USD 3 billion of capital.

Ian Rickwood, CEO of Henley Investments, states, “The purchase of Galeria Pestka marks an expansion by Henley into a new region – with our debut Polish purchase – as well as the firm’s first shopping centre acquisition. This builds on the firm’s existing retail experience, including retail parks, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and leverages our deep asset management expertise”.

B2RLaw’s team was overseen by Rafał Zięba (Senior Partner), led by Agnieszka Wojciechowska (Counsel) and Filip Badziak (Counsel); and included Weronika Nowosielska (Junior Associate) and Aleksandra Bartoszewicz (Junior Associate) from the Real Estate team; Marcin Huczkowski (Partner), responsible for IP issues; Iga Wojtczak-Opala (Senior Associate), Anna Skopicz-Radkiewicz (Associate), Joanna Markowicz-Maciocha (Associate), and Jakub Niemiec (Junior Associate) from the Corporate team; and Agnieszka Roztoczyńska – Groele (Senior Associate) on Commercial Law matters.

Rafał Zięba advises, “The retail real estate sector has had a tough time over the last year. However, the sector continues to evolve, complementing e-commerce and absorbing the impacts of Covid-19. Through Henley’s active asset management approach, Galeria Pestka will remain a leading offering in this evolving sector. We congratulate Henley and thank their team for trusting us on this double of firsts – their first acquisition of a shopping centre, and their first acquisition in Poland”.

B2RLaw advises specialist international food and agribusiness PE fund on investment

B2RLaw has advised Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in investments in the food and agribusiness sectors, on its investment through Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund V in Kynetec, a leader in agricultural and animal health market research, data and insights.

B2RLaw advised on Polish aspects of the transaction with Kynetec having a significant subsidiary in Poland. The transaction follows Kynetec’s acquisition of the Kleffmann Group in 2020 which also had a subsidiary in Poland.

Paine Schwartz Partners is a private equity firm focused exclusively on investment opportunities in the fast-growing, dynamic global food and agribusiness sectors. The firm’s investment, operations and finance professionals invest throughout cycles across the food and agribusiness value chain. The acquisition builds on Paine Schwartz’s track record of investing in data-driven food and agribusiness companies, including previous investments in Advanced Agrilytics, AgroFresh Solutions and FoodChain ID.

Kynetec provides market research for the agriculture and animal health industries, helping companies around the world understand the dynamics of their marketplaces, turning research into business opportunities and enabling clients to create winning strategies. Leveraging proprietary data sources and processing capabilities, the Company offers customers a suite of data-driven reporting and tracking solutions, as well as insight studies.

B2RLaw’s team was led by Partner Aleksandra Polak and included Partners Anna Cichońska and Marcin Huczkowski; Counsel Malwina Niczke-Chmura; and Associates Jakub Niemiec, Małgorzata Tomaka and Aleksandra Bartoszewicz.

Aleksandra advises, “It was only last week that B2RLaw formally launched our Agriculture and Agrifood Practice so its especially pleasing that we have been able to advise on this transaction, and testament in our belief that the flourishing food and agribusiness sector is an exciting industry to be involved in. We congratulate Paine Schwartz Partners and Kynetec on this transaction”.

B2RLaw launches Agriculture and Agrifood Practice

B2RLaw has launched an Agriculture and Agrifood Practice co-led by Partners Aleksandra Polak and Roman Iwański. In doing so, B2RLaw is one of the few law firms in Poland and the wider CEE region to have a fully dedicated and stand-alone Agriculture and Agrifood Practice.

Poland’s agriculture sector is vital to the European and Global market because it produces a variety of agricultural, horticultural and animal origin products, and the industry will further grow due to policies encouraging a green and digital circular economy. The surface area of agricultural land in Poland is 15.4 million ha, which constitutes nearly 50% of the total area of the country. In 2019, Poland was the 3rd largest producer of apples globally; the 4th largest producer of mushrooms after China, Japan and the US; the 2nd largest produce of rye after Germany; the 7th largest producer of sugar beets; and the 8th largest producer of potatoes.

B2RLaw’s team has a wealth of experience in advising on the whole range of the agribusiness and food value chain. B2RLaw advises the full spectrum of industry players including companies involved in agribusiness and food production, processing and distribution, agrichemicals manufacturers, processors of agricultural commodities, manufacturers of farming equipment, alternative fuel producers, soft commodities traders and financial institutions.

With the growing use of technology in the agriculture industry, B2RLaw is one of the few law firms that really understands AgriTech. Whether a start-up, corporate or landowner looking to either deploy or invest in AgriTech, B2RLaw’s multi-disciplinary team assists on everything from fundraising and investment, M&A, IP protection, regulation, commercial contracts to employment issues.

Aleksandra Polak advises, “When B2RLaw was formed through merger in June 2020, we were astonished at the huge amount of experience that the combined team had in relation to agriculture, Agrifood and AgriTech. With expert lawyers joining the firm since, this experience has been enhanced further. This, combined with a unique set of international relations and partnership with the leading international law firms for agriculture, meant that it was a natural step for us to launch a dedicated practice. In view of my background, my particular focus is on M&A, whether that be connecting Polish agri-businesses with specialist international VC or PE funds, or general industry M&A and joint ventures. At the same time, the growth of AgriTech (an area we excel in) is very exciting. A lot is said about FinTech with the global industry expected to reach over EUR 300 billion in 2022. However, the AgriTech industry is expected to reach EUR 130 billion in the same time-frame”.

Roman Iwański comments, “Food and agribusiness form a USD 5 trillion global industry that is only getting bigger. If current trends continue, by 2050, the industry would grow by between 70-100%. Sensing an opportunity, strategic and financial investors are racing to capture value from technological innovation and discontinuities in food and agriculture. Since the early 2000s, global investments in the food and agribusiness sector have grown sixfold. Poland lies at the heart of the global industry. Our Agriculture and Agrifood Practice is able to cater for all the demands of the growing industry and we look forward to assisting Polish agribusinesses in their growth, as well as international investors, partners and technology suppliers in their interaction with the Polish and CEE market”.

B2RLaw advises on the sale of an office and retail complex in Poznan

B2RLaw has advised an entity from the Wechta Group, one of the largest developers in the Wielkopolski region, on a transaction involving the sale of shares in a company that owns the Szyperska Office Centre in Poznan, a seven-storey office and retail complex with a lease area of approximately 19,000 m² and a panoramic view of the Warta River.

The building comprises modern office and retail space and is located in the direct vicinity of the very centre of Poznan with excellent transport accessibility. The building is entirely leased out and its tenants include renowned international and Polish companies such as Volkswagen, Alior Bank and Mirantis, as well as state institutions such as the local labour office.

B2RLaw’s team was led by Rafał Zięba (Senior Partner) and included Agnieszka Wojciechowska (Counsel), Weronika Nowosielska (Junior Associate) and Aleksandra Bartoszewicz (Junior Associate) from the Real Estate team, Tomasz Zaleski (Partner) and Piotr Leonarski (Senior Associate) from the Tax team, Marcin Huczkowski (Partner), responsible for IP and TMT issues, Agnieszka Przybyłowicz (Associate), responsible for issues related to Infrastructure and Construction, and Jakub Niemiec (Junior Associate) from the Corporate team.

B2RLaw advises PE fund Pinova Capital on the acquisition of software company Raynet GmbH

B2RLaw has advised PE fund Pinova Capital on the Polish aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake of German originating software company Raynet GmbH.

Pinova Capital is an independent private equity firm, with a focus on investments in innovative high-growth SMEs. The firm covers the full private equity spectrum, from growth capital to succession solutions, via a majority or minority shareholding.

Raynet GmbH is a leading and innovative service and solution provider in information technology and specialized in the architecture, implementation and operation of all tasks within Enterprise Application Lifecycle Management. Raynet’s headquarters is in Paderborn, Germany and has additional locations in the USA, Poland and the UK.

B2RLaw’s team was led by Partner Agnieszka Hajos – Iwańska and included Associate Joanna Markowicz – Maciocha and Junior Associate Dominika Guzek.

Agnieszka Hajos – Iwańska advises, “We congratulate the parties on this transaction and thank Pinova for the trust shown in us. Over the last year, B2RLaw’s team has advised on no less than seven M&A transactions involving software companies, with Poland clearly being a hub for software talent.”

B2RLaw advises Oben Group on its acquisition of plastic packaging group, Poligal

B2RLaw has advised Oben Group on its acquisition of Poligal Group. The acquisition includes BOPP and CPP production plants in Portugal and Poland, commercial offices in Germany, and an extensive sales and distribution network throughout Europe. B2RLaw advised on Polish aspects of the transaction.

The Polish plant, located in Skarbimierz, and constructed in 2018 at a cost of EUR 40 million, is Poligal’s largest asset and operation, employing nearly 100 people. The plant has a production capacity of 40,000 tonnes/year of BOPP film.

Oben Group, originating from Ecuador, is the leading manufacturer of plastic films in South America with 11 production plants in 6 countries: Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia and El Salvador with a total capacity of over 550,000 tonnes/year. Poligal is one of the leading European manufacturers of plastic films for flexible packaging of consumer products, labels, lamination and a variety of other industrial applications.

B2RLaw’s team was led by M&A Partners Aleksandra Polak and Agnieszka Hajos – Iwańska; and included Partners Anna Cichońska (Employment) and Marcin Huczkowski (IP and Data Protection); Counsels Agnieszka Wojciechowska (Real Estate), Malwina Niczke – Chmura (Commercial Law),  Luiza Wyrębkowska (Competition) and Paulina Wyrostek (IP and Data Protection); Associates Krystyna Jakubowska, Radosław Minh Nguyen (both Corporate) and Jacek Mizgier (Real Estate); and Junior Associates Aleksandra Bartoszwicz (Environmental/Real Estate) and Tomasz Granieczny (Corporate).

Aleksandra Polak advises, “This was a complex transaction involving a lot of moving parts and a number of jurisdictions across continents, further complicated by COVID-19 restrictions. The transaction marks a milestone in Oben’s growth as it represents the beginning of the company’s expansion outside of South America and into Europe. By having a production base in Europe, Oben Group will improve its value proposition to its customers by offering a complete portfolio of films for the packaging industry. We congratulate Oben and Poligal”.

B2RLaw advises Nuveen Real Estate and Value One on their entry to the Polish student housing market

B2RLaw is advising Eagle JVCo on its acquisition of a portfolio of purpose-built student housing with around 800 beds including two development sites in Poland.

Eagle JVCo is a EUR 600 million investment vehicle that was established in 2019 by Nuveen Real Estate (on behalf of its parent company, the New York-based TIAA pension fund) and Vienna-based Value One to invest in pan-European purpose-built student accommodation. The portfolio is to be operated by Value One’s student housing platform, Milestone, which now has a portfolio of over 4,600 student beds in operation and under development in Austria, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Italy and the Netherlands.

London headquartered real estate investment manager Nuveen Real Estate currently has around USD 129 billion of assets under management worldwide. The company is to act as the investment advisor to the venture, while Value One and Milestone will provide the origination, development management and operational expertise.

B2RLaw’s team is led by Of Counsel Krzysztof Marzyński (Real Estate), and Counsel Filip Badziak (Finance).

Krzysztof advises, “This is my first transaction at B2RLaw, and a very exciting transaction to begin with in a growing area of Polish real estate. It’s a landmark transaction for the Polish PBSA market. B2RLaw has leading experience in ‘living services’ real estate investments including student housing and PRS. Congratulations to Nuveen, Value One and Milestone!”

Crido Legal and Linklaters also advise on the transaction.

B2RLaw – No.1 for Venture Capital in CEE in 2020 according to PitchBook

In its first year, B2RLaw has been ranked as the No.1 most active law firm for venture capital in Central and Eastern Europe by Pitchbook in its 2020 Annual Global League Tables.

B2RLaw has also been ranked as the 23^rd most active law firm in Europe for venture capital, and the 17^th most active law firm representing venture capital investors.

2020 marked another record year on the Polish venture capital market and despite the uncertain environment, 2020 was undoubtedly the best year in the Polish startup scene. According to a report by PFR Ventures, the total value of the Polish VC market reached EUR 477 million in 2020, compared to EUR 295 million in 2019, representing a 70% year on year growth. In fact, the value of the Polish VC market was higher in 2020, than the years 2013 – 2019 combined.

Examples of the transactions that B2RLaw advised on in 2020 include:

• Learn Capital on its USD 80 million Series D investment in Polish founded online learning platform Brainly.

• PKO BP (PKO VC – FIZAN) on a joint PLN 17 million follow-on financing round in e-signature solution Autenti Sp. z o.o., involving three banks – PKO BP, Alior Bank and BNP Paribas and two Venture Capital funds – Innovation Nest VC and Black Pearls VC.

• SuperScale Poland and Ivan Trančik in a multi-party computer games venture capital transaction related to the investment of Level-Up First S.àr.l. (a Luxembourg venture capital fund) and a number of international angel investors into SuperScale.

• VC fund KnowledgeHub on its investment process concerning medical technology company Genomtec S.A.

• FinTech company SMEO on a transaction involving capital injection into the company from international VC fund Finch Capital and Polish investment fund Precapital.

• Venture capital funds PKO VC and RKK VC on a joint equity investment into Papukurier Sp. z o.o. (under the brand name PAPU.io), a food delivery POS system.

• CEE venture capital fund Next Road Ventures on its venture capital investment in SaaS tool TrustMate.

• The founders of proptech company WalkSee sp.z o.o. on an investment made by EVIG Alfa Venture Capital into the company.

• Life Science Innovation Fund on its investment in telemedical company AIDLAB.

• Apis Venture sp. z o.o., a venture capital fund from Warsaw, with regards its investment in Byte Barrel sp. z o.o., a Polish video games developer.

PitchBook’s league tables are widely regarded in the venture capital community as the leading and most comprehensive ranking of global VC activity. The tables detail top investors by region, firm headquarters, AUM and more, as well as the most active law firms and acquirers of VC-backed companies.

Rafał Stroiński comments, “This is absolutely fantastic news and a remarkable achievement, all the more that this has been accomplished in less than a year of our joint operations as B2RLaw, and in the difficult times of COVID-19. The B2RLaw brand has started to appear amongst the most recognized and reputable and international names in the venture capital industry. I could not be prouder of the B2RLaw team. We also wish to thank our clients for the trust shown. 2020 was a difficult year for everyone. One of the few positives is that we have been forced to rely more on technology than ever before, and as such we have seen a surge in transactions in the technology space. This is likely to occur for the longer term future. B2RLaw’s transaction practice is the foremost team for the exciting tech sector covering a number of niche areas such as computer games, fintech, biotech, agritech, proptech, energytech, smart cities and mobility, to name a few”.

B2RLaw advises fintech company SMEO on over PLN 21 million VC financing round

B2RLaw has advised FinTech company SMEO on a transaction involving capital injection into the company from international VC fund Finch Capital and Polish investment fund Precapital. The value of the round was in excess of PLN 21 million representing one of the largest VC rounds in a Polish fintech company.

SMEO, founded by Michał Pawlik, is a Polish originating company which provides invoice factoring services to businesses. SMEO started operating in April 2017 in Warsaw. For nearly four years, the company has processed invoices to a total amount of over PLN 355 million, with companies from the construction, IT, e-commerce, on-line marketing and trade industries predominantly using SMEO’s services. The combined capital injection from Finch Capital and PreCapital, allows the company to further grow in Poland, and allows for international expansion.

Finch Capital is a VC fund which invests in two regions – in Europe in the areas of artificial intelligence and fintech and in Central and Eastern Asia in solutions for the agricultural industry, education, transport and fintech. The fund is particularly familiar and has industry knowledge of the fintech market, having invested in Twisto and Symmetrical in Poland. This provides great added value to SMEO. Precapital is a private investment fund from Poland.

B2RLaw’s team was overseen by Senior Partner Rafał Stroiński and included Partner Szymon Syp, Senior Associate Teresa Pilecka and Associate Krystyna Jakubowska.

Rafał Stroiński advises, “We started the year 2020 advising on one of the largest VC investments in a Polish fintech company (Autenti) and closed the year in similar vein. This affirms our position as a leading law firm for the fintech industry, especially in relation to transactions concerning fintech companies. We congratulate SMEO, Finch Capital and Precapital.”