RTPR has assisted private equity fund Abris Capital Partners in relation to the sale of Pehart Grup to INVL Baltic Sea Growth Fund, the leading private equity fund in the Baltic States. Pehart Grup is one of the largest paper producers in South-Eastern Europe, present with its household and industrial products in 19 countries. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and the fulfilment of the conditions precedent agreed by the parties, and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

The RTPR team was coordinated by Costin Taracila (Managing Partner) and Marina Fecheta-Giurgica (Senior Associate), closely assisted by Andrei Tosa (Managing Associate), George Capota, David Mirea and Alexandru Dumitrescu (Junior Associates) for the transactional phase of the project. The due diligence team also included Vlad Stamatescu (Counsel), Cezara Urzica, Diana Dimitriu (Senior Associates), Irina Marinescu and Maria Luca (Junior Associates). Roxana Ionescu (Partner) and Serban Halmagean (Associate) advised on competition and FDI aspects of the deal, while Cosmin Tilea (Partner) and Andreea Nedeloiu (Senior Associate) on the finance matters.

“This is not the first transaction we do with RTPR’s support and certainly will not be the last one. We are grateful for the knowledge they brought to the project. Their creativity and hard work were crucial factors in overcoming the challenges we encountered in this transaction. I would like to thank Marina, George, David, Cosmin and, of course Costin, for their dedication to this transaction!”, declared Adrian Stanculescu, Partner and Head of Romania at Abris Capital Partners. 

“We are getting closer to the end of a year full of challenges and with many successes for our team, with a new M&A transaction that continues the series of extraordinary results in 2024. We are honoured to contribute to our clients’ success with our expertise. Congratulations to Abris Capital, Adrian, Ionut and Matei and thank you for your trust in this new mandate! It was a real pleasure to collaborate with the Pehart Grup team led by Gabriel Stanciu and Iulia Sbiera and we would like to thank them for their professionalism”, said Costin Taracila, Managing Partner of RTPR.

“We would like to thank the Abris Capital team for their trust and excellent collaboration and to congratulate both Adrian, Ionut and Matei, as well as the management team of Pehart Grup for the successful signing of this transaction which we are confident will continue to support the implementation of Pehart Grup’s development strategy from a Romanian brand with tradition to a regional leader in the production of paper products”, said Marina Fecheta-Giurgica, Senior Associate at RTPR.

RTPR is well-known for its extended experience in transactions involving investment funds, during the last few years it was involved in most of the private equity deals in Romania, assisting both buyers and sellers. It advised on the largest and most interesting transactions in Romania and in the region and this brought the firm international recognition. The most important international legal directories, enjoying an unrivalled reputation, such as Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR1000, rank RTPR’s Corporate/M&A practice on the first tier. At the same time several team members are recommended as Leading Lawyers or Rising Stars in this area.

Recently, RTPR was named Legal Adviser of the Year at the ROPEA Awards organised by the Romanian Private Equity Association. This is a new recognition of the law firm’s activity in the private equity sector, being the second consecutive year in which it has won this trophy.

Also, another outstanding nomination is the “Romania Law Firm of the Year” award offered to RTPR at the Chambers Europe Awards 2024, one of the most prestigious accolades in the legal area which confirms the firm’s status as a leader in the field.

Selected corporate/M&A deals in which RTPR have recently advised are set out below:

  • MidEuropa Partners on the EUR1.3bn sale of Profi, in the largest transaction in the retail sector ever concluded in Romania
  • Oresa and the entrepreneur Cristian Amza on the sale of the entire stake in the La Fantana group to the strategic investor Axel Johnson
  • Wolt, a Finnish local commerce company, on the acquisition of the fast delivery platform Tazz, part of eMAG Group
  • Evryo Group, owned by funds managed by Macquarie Asset Management, on the sale of its renewable energy portfolio to PPC Group
  • PragmaGO, a company owned by the private equity fund Enterprise Investors, on the acquisition of an 89% stake in Telecredit IFN, operating under the brand name Omnicredit
  • Romcim, part of the CRH group, on the acquisition of Tehno World, a company active in the production and sale of solutions for utility infrastructure networks
  • OX2 on the sale of a 99.2 MW onshore wind project located in the Eastern part of Romania to Nala Renewables, a joint venture between IFM Investors and Trafigura
  • Innova Capital on the sale of Optical Investment Group to EssilorLuxottica
  • Global Records and Stefan Lucian, the founder and CEO of the company, in the process of selling a 25% stake in the company to Believe, one of the world’s leading digital music companies and of setting up the terms of their strategic partnership
  • Vectr Holdings, through its subsidiary Vectr Realty Holdings, on the indirect acquisition of 100% stake in the company that owns The Landmark office building
  • ENGIE Romania on the acquisition of an operational wind farm with a capacity of 80MW