Three Baltic Leaders Have Entered the Final Stage of Integration
Press release, 28 September, 2010.
LAWIN members have entered into the final stage of integration by combining the three leading law firms in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into one unparalleled Pan-Baltic law firm.
Among the many qualities that set LAWIN apart is the fact that the most respected international legal directories (Legal 500, Chambers and IFLR1000) rank LAWIN as the top tier firm for M&A/Corporate/Commercial and LAWIN is the only firm so highly ranked in all three directories in all three of the Baltic countries.
Strategic decisions of LAWIN Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius offices are now made by the LAWIN management board, and each of the LAWIN practice groups is led by one partner responsible for operations and development of the respective practice area on a Pan-Baltic level.
“After twenty years of leadership in each of the Baltic countries and six years of joint Pan-Baltic cooperation, we already work together with the major businesses in energy, banking, IT and other industry sectors in the region. Our current integration includes working in combined practice groups, having unified service standards and providing client services across the Baltics. This year we are taking a further step by uniting our three law firms into one Pan-Baltic law firm”, – says Filip Klavins, Chairman of the LAWIN management board.
“In such a small market as the Baltic States with seven million people, it is an exceptional situation to find such combined expertise and experience within one service provider. LAWIN represents a unique legal solution for both local companies and international businesses coming to the Baltic region”, – he continues.
Among the most significant recent deals of LAWIN are advising the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) regarding the restructuring of Parex Bank in Latvia into a “good” and “bad” bank and representing its interests as a material shareholder in both banks; advising AS Premia Foods (the largest Baltic frozen-food producer) in an initial public offering of its shares on the NASDAQ OMX Tallinn stock exchange in May 2010, being the only IPO completed in the last four years in Estonia; and participation in the most significant energy project in Lithuania to date by advising the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Lietuvos Energija AB (a single electricity Transmission System Operator in Lithuania and the largest Lithuanian power company) and Visagino Atomine Elektrine UAB (a new nuclear project company).
Recently, LAWIN has advised Fermentas International, a leading manufacturer of molecular biology products, on its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific in a breakthrough transaction. Valued at USD 260 million, the deal was the largest private transaction in the Baltic States in the last twenty years which attracted widespread attention and prompted Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius to express his satisfaction on the transaction.
