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CMS strengthens real estate and construction team in Poland with a new partner and lawyers

13 October 2021

International law firm CMS is pleased to announce the hire of Michał Mieciński, an expert with 25 years of experience in advising on real estate transactions in Poland and CEE. As partner, Michał will join the nearly 30-strong CMS real estate and construction team led by Caroline Maude. He will be responsible, together with partner Lidia Dziurzyńska-Leipert, for further developing the transactional part of CMS’s business in the real estate market in Poland. Michał joins the firm in November from Linklaters.

The CMS team has been expanded by the arrival of Żaneta Bałdowska as senior associate, who started on 1 October. The CMS real estate team has also recently been joined by Mateusz Jaworski, Mateusz Rojek and Paweł Śliwka as associates, as well as Aleksandra Rudnicka, lawyer. 

“Michał’s appointment is another step in the implementation of our business strategy in the Polish market and of our plans for the development of our real estate and construction team,” comments Andrzej Pośniak, CMS Poland managing partner. “Michał is a widely-known and talented professional, with years of experience in transactional work, an in-depth knowledge of the real estate market and strong relationships with key investors. Moreover, he is known for his ability to work proactively in a team with other partners and lawyers, which is crucial at CMS. I am confident that this combination of Michał’s competence and experience and that of the other lawyers working as part of the same team will guarantee our current and future clients the level of service they expect from the best advisers.”

Michał Mieciński has extensive experience advising international and local investors, funds and developers in all segments of the real estate market in relation to office, hotel & leisure, commercial, logistic and residential properties. He has deep expertise in real estate M&A and joint ventures, portfolio transactions, sale and lease back, forward sale/purchase transactions, and restructuring in the real estate sector. He has worked for major developers and real estate funds on key transactions in Poland. 

“I am delighted to be joining CMS, whose international real estate practice is very strong and enjoys an excellent reputation among clients not only in Poland, but in the vast majority of jurisdictions in which it operates, including the UK, Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. I am excited to co-create an excellent team of professionals, which is not only currently delivering a great performance in the market, but is also in the process of transformation accompanied by dynamic growth. My goal is to strengthen the real estate practice of CMS Poland as a first-choice advisor to a wide range of investors in this market segment. Poland's real estate market is extremely active, driven by, among other things, ongoing high yields, a steadily growing economy despite the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, the recent surge in interest in logistic assets, a booming residential market and favourable asset valuations. Investors see the opportunity to invest in new asset classes to the Polish market, such as the private rental sector,” comments Michał Mieciński.

Michał is an attorney-at-law and was associated with the Warsaw office of Linklaters since its opening. He works with clients in Polish, English and German, while also being able to speak Dutch, French, Italian and Hebrew.

Żaneta Bałdowska is an advocate with eight years of transactional real estate experience. She has coordinated leading office, commercial and hotel real estate transactions, representing local and international investors and funds operating in the CEE region. She has participated in numerous projects in the logistics and residential sectors. Her experience includes an extensive range of projects at every stage of the investment process. Żaneta also supported her clients with structuring transactions, financing and refinancing real estate assets and providing transactional insurance. For the last eight years she worked at Linklaters.

The CMS real estate and construction team has recently advised on projects such as the acquisition of the T-Mobile office building at Marynarska 12 in Warsaw from Starwood Capital Group by AFI Properties; the acquisition of the Nowogrodzka Square and Neopark office complexes in Warsaw by Amundi Real Estate; and the acquisition of the Panattoni Park Tychy DC 1 warehouse facility from JV partners incl. Panattoni and Bluehouse by REICO investiční společnost ČS, a.s.

Over the past year, CMS in Poland has expanded its transactional teams, most recently with the appointment of banking partner Rafał Zakrzewski together with a three-person team specialising in the financing of English law transactions. Last year also saw partners Sławomir Czerwiński and Mateusz Stępień join CMS, along with three lawyers specialising in transactions involving private equity funds. The implementation of CMS’s ambitious business development strategy in Poland has translated into a significant uptick in revenue. Last year, CMS recorded a financial result of PLN 135 million, a 10% increase on the previous record-breaking year, in which the firm recorded a 17% increase in revenue.