“We have a solid pipeline of projects and a stronger-than-ever team, which makes me confident that we will exceed our EUR 3.5 million revenue plan for our reporting period (ending June 2014),” Partner Alexandru Reff said in a news release.
Data provided by Reff & Asociatii show the firm’s team of 40 lawyers has assisted in projects worth over EUR 800 million so far this year
According to the press release, the team has been involved in buy or sell side mandates in deals worth over EUR270 million so far in 2013. Notably, the team assisted NEPI with its most recent transactions in Romania, including the acquisition of the class A – office building Lakeviewfrom AIG/Lincoln Lakeview (the largest property M&A deal in Romania in the first months of 2013), the acquisition of a 70% stake in the development of the Mega Mall shopping centre in Bucharest (together with the Austrian group Real4You), the acquisition from Bel Rom of the Severin Shopping Center in DrobetaTurnuSeverinas well as a commercial centre in Deva. All of these transactions (with individual value in the tens of millions of euros range) were complex, included arrangements with the financing banks and were executed under a tight schedule. The portfolio of the real estate practice includes other clients such as IKEA Romania, H&M, Hercesa, Moritz Group, Decathlon, First Property, AEW Europe.
The banking mandates of the team relate to matters worth over EUR 300 million so far this year. In the area of banking M&A, in one of this year’s landmark deals, Reff & Associates acted as exclusive Romanian legal advisor to Bank of Cyprus in the structuring, drafting and negotiating transaction documentation for the sale of part of Bank of Cyprus’ business in Romania to Marfin Bank Romania, the press release reads.
“This transaction has been a premiere for the Romanian market from several perspectives: it was the first time that the Romanian banking system has seen measures applied under the EU Directive on the reorganization and winding up of credit institutions (i.e., the temporary suspension of the activity of a branch of an EU bank) and in the context of first time application of the bail – in legislation,” said Andrei Burz Pinzaru, Partner, Head of the Banking, Finance and Capital Markets practice of Reff & Associates and the leader of the Deloitte multidisciplinary team assigned to the project.
Also, joint teams of insolvency, banking lawyers and litigators assisted creditors or debtors in insolvency cases worth over EUR 80 million, including opening of the insolvency procedure, management of the relationship with other categories of creditors and judicial administrator, settlements and acquisition of distressed assets.
The team continued to assist clients with on-going investigations of the Competition Council and notifications of economic concentrations to Romanian competition authorities as well as the European Commission concerning transactions exceeding EUR 170 million, according to the press release.
Effective 1 September, Robert Ionita, one of the most senior real estate lawyers in the team, was promoted to Associate Partner.
Reff & Associates is a Member of Deloitte Legal, a network of legal practices working with Deloitte all over the world integrated with the Deloitte multi-disciplinary advisory practice.