International law firm CMS has advised the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) on securing regulatory approvals from the National Bank of Ukraine and the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine for the acquisition of a significant shareholding in the Joint-Stock Company Joint Stock Bank "Lviv" (Bank Lviv), leading SME bank, which focuses its operations in west of Ukraine. CMS also advised Bank Lviv on certain transactional documents in the acquisition. The transaction marks the first international equity investment into a Ukrainian bank during the war in Ukraine.
DGGF, a programme commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to foster entrepreneurship in frontier markets through systemic and inclusive growth.
The CMS team provided comprehensive regulatory advice to DGGF throughout the transaction, as well as advice to Bank Lviv on investment agreements.
Ihor Olekhov, Banking & Finance Partner at CMS in Kyiv, said: “We are delighted to have assisted DGGF in securing regulatory approval for this crucial transaction. This project represents a major milestone, facilitating the flow of foreign investment into Ukraine amid ongoing challenges posed by Russia’s illegal and unprovoked military aggression. It is a promising step towards the country's future economic prosperity.”
The CMS team was led by Ihor Olekhov, partner and Head of Banking & Finance Practice, Olga Belyakova, partner responsible for competition law issues, and Tetyana Dovgan, partner responsible for transactional documents, and included Bohdan Ilchenko, Ruslan Dotsenko, Mykola Heletiy, Oleksandr Sytnyk, Mariana Saienko, Louise Çakar and Ihor Pavliukov.
