Linklaters

Rapid change has taken place across the region, accelerated by the accession of many of its countries to the EU.

Governments and leading global companies and financial institutions rely on Linklaters long-standing expertise in these fast-growing jurisdictions. The firm’s leading office in Poland serves as the regional hub, but Linklaters also has dedicated experts across the firm who specialise in jurisdictions such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and the Baltic States. Partners across Linklaters’ global offices staff specialised desks for Turkey and other parts of Central and Eastern and South East Europe. This allows the firm to maintain an in-depth knowledge of individual markets within the overall strength of Linklaters’ global network.

The firm has exceptionally strong relationships with local law firms in countries where it does not have offices. Through its long history of operating in this region, Linklaters has developed an unrivalled track record in complex and ground-breaking corporate/M&A, private equity, banking & finance, real estate and project finance/PPP energy and infrastructure transactions. The firm is uniquely able to unite global and local commercial understanding with successful project management.

Recent transactions include advising

• EBRD, EIB, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, DenizBank and HSBC on the project financing of Rotor Elektrik, a €220m wind farm being developed by the Zorlu group in Osmaniye, Turkey. This is the first internationally financed wind farm in Turkey
• the sponsors on the €1.5bn R1 expressway in Slovakia – one of the largest transactions of this type in the market
• the lenders on the PPP development of the next phase of the M6 motorway in Hungary
• the underwriters in the $1.8 billion IPO of Halkbank in Turkey
• a consortium of companies on the acquisition of Radiokomunikace and a 39% stake in T-Mobile Czech Republic –the largest private equity transaction in the Czech Republic
•  VSE on the unbundling and restructuring of its Eastern Slovak electricity distribution utility.