CMS wins Legal Advisor of the Year on the transaction market in Poland

CMS has won a prestigious award for best legal advisor on the transaction market, awarded by Polskie Stowarzyszenie Inwestorów Kapitałowych (PSIK, Polish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association). The best legal advisor is voted on by PSIK members, i.e. private equity funds, venture capital, banks and investment advisors.

The award granted by the private equity community reflects the scale of operations and the profile of transactions in which CMS lawyers assisted in Poland and in the CEE region, the complexity of the offered legal advisory services as well as the reputation of the transaction team.

In 2018, CMS advised on the largest number of M&A transactions entered into in Poland. Furthermore, the Warsaw transaction team was selected by clients to assist in M&A deals twice as often as the subsequent law firm ranked within the 2018 Mergermarket report. CMS transaction lawyers advised on a total of 18 M&A transactions handled in Poland in 2018.

Last year, CMS lawyers advised on such transactions as the sale of Polish cableway operator PKL S.A. by Mid Europa Partners, which was one of the four nominated transactions to win the PSIK award in the “Transaction of the Year” category, the acquisition of Emperia Holding S.A., owner of the Stokrotka grocery chain, by Maxima Grupe, combined with the company’s subsequent delisting. CMS also worked for private equity funds such as Abris Capital Partners, V4C, Coast2Coast, and Advent International. 

The CMS transaction team in Poland currently consists of approximately 30 lawyers and is regarded as one of Poland’s leading practices by international ranking agencies Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 (second position in the listings). Marek Sawicki, Partner leading the Warsaw team, is graded by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 in the highest Band/Tier 1 in individual rankings in the Private Equity category. CMS is also recognised as one of Poland’s best law firms in PE (Band 2) and the best law firm in CEE in the Corporate/M&A category (Band 1).