Deals

Asters — local transaction counsel for IFC

Asters acted as local transaction counsel to International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, in connection with the USD 10 million financing to Integrated Agrosystems, a member of Agrofusion Group, the largest tomato paste and industrial tomato producer in Ukraine.

IFC will provide corporate medium-term working capital financing in the form of a loan of up to USD 10 million. This project will support Integrated Agrosystems by strengthening its capital base through refinancing of existing short-term debt and financing incremental permanent working capital.

Asters’ banking and finance team that advised on the project consisted of partner Iryna Pokanay, counsel Gabriel Aslanian and associate Inna Bondarenko.

AEQUO advised Viasat World Limited

AEQUO advised Viasat World Limited, a leading international TV company, on acquisition of Viasat Ukraine LLC, a major provider of digital satellite television services in Ukraine, from Modern Times Group. AEQUO carried out legal due diligence of Viasat Ukraine LLC, advised on Ukrainian competition issues, namely obtaining the merger clearance for acquisition of Viasat Ukraine LLC, represented Viasat World Limited at completion and advised on other Ukrainian law matters. AEQUO’s team was led by Anna Babych, partner, head of Corporate and M&A, and included Sergey Denisenko, counsel, Oksana Krasnokutskaya, senior associate, and associates Igor Kalaida, Michael Lukashenko and Oleksandr Tereshchenko

DLA Piper advised Georgian Industrial Group

DLA Piper has advised Georgian Industrial Group acting through its special purpose vehicle, Luraq Investments Limited, on the acquisition of a 29.29% stake in Ukrainian insulin producer JSC Indar from a Polish biotechnological company called Bioton S.A.

The DLA Piper team provided full legal support of the transaction from pre-acquisition matters to closure. The firm’s services included legal due diligence, drafting and negotiation of all transaction documents, obtaining clearance from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, tax advice, as well as support in the closure.

The transaction team consisted of Alla Kozachenko, legal director, Dmytro Tkachenko, senior associate, Galyna Zagorodniuk, partner, Illya Sverdlov, legal director, supervised by corporate partner Margarita Karpenko.

Sayenko Kharenko — Ukrainian legal counsel for VTB Capital

Sayenko Kharenko acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to VTB Capital in the restructuring of a sovereign-guaranteed loan by VTB Capital to the State Road Agency of Ukraine (Ukravtodor) with an outstanding principal amount of USD 100.8 million.

Similarly to restructuring transactions of Ukravtodor completed earlier this year, the loan has been converted into sovereign Eurobonds and GDP-linked securities with 75% of the outstanding loan amount exchanged for Ukraine’s 7.75% senior notes due 2019, and 25% of the outstanding loan amount exchanged for Ukraine’s GDP-linked securities.

As the final step in restructuring of the sovereign guaranteed debt, this transaction represents one in the series of successful restructuring exercises conducted in accordance with the requirements of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility. The Ukravtodor deal enabled Ukraine to reduce its debt burden, which will contribute to macroeconomic stability and economic recovery.

Sayenko Kharenko’s team advising on the transaction included counsel Anton Korobeynikov and associate Taras Shyb, and was led by partner Nazar Chernyavsky.