Mușat & Asociații

Chairman & Senior Partner: Gheorghe Muşat

Managing Partner: Paul Buta

Deputy Managing Partners: Iulian Popescu, Răzvan Stoicescu, Mihai Popa, Dan Minoiu

Number of partners: 17

Number of lawyers: 100 +

Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Romanian

Firm Overview:

Muşat & Asociaţii is a leading, full-service Romanian law firm, advising leading national and international companies alike, as well as governmental authorities and agencies, financial institutions and investment funds. Over 2,500 high-profile clients benefit from top notch legal expertise and extensive resources, provided via 16 partners and over 100 dedicated attorneys. Muşat & Asociaţii is a pioneer in the business law industry and one of the first established law firms in the country, tracing its history back more than 30 years.

Main Areas of Practice:

Mergers & Acquisitions/Privatisation

Banking & Finance

Corporate & Commercial

Energy & Natural Resources

Environment

Capital Markets & Securities

Real Estate & Construction

Telecom, IT & Media

Competition & Antitrust

Intellectual Property

Labour & Employee Benefits

Infrastructure & PPP/Public Procurement

Taxation

Healthcare & Pharma

Litigation & Arbitration

White Collar Crime

Restructuring & Insolvency

Shipping, Aviation & Transport Law

Corporate/M&A:

■ Premier Capital B.V. on the acquisition of a minority shareholding in Premier Capital SRL, which operates the Mc Donald’s restaurants in Romania

■ Amazon on its 3 offices expansion in Romania

■ Hitachi on the Romanian legal aspects of its acquisition of a majority stake in ABB’s Power Grids Business

■ KBC regarding their bid to acquire the AEGON businesses in Romania, one of the biggest players on the insurance market in Romania

■ Damen Shipyards Group on the post-closing matters regarding the EUR 500m acquisition of Mangalia shipyards

Key Clients: Amazon, Google, Facebook, Damen Shipyards, Hitachi, Emerson, Dell, Nokia, Penta Investments, Premier Capital, Universal Music Group

Contacts: Gheorghe Mușat, Răzvan Stoicescu, Iulian Popescu

Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Banking, Finance & Capital Markets:

■ HSBC, JP Morgan, Citibank, Northern Trust, The Bank of New York Mellon (members of the Global Custodian Association) on the custody of moneys and securities in Romania, risks, and insolvency of Romanian custodians (renewal of mandate for 2021)

■ Romanian Ministry of Public Finance on all Romanian law matters regarding the negotiations and conclusion of ISDA Master Derivative Agreements and related collaterals in view of entering into interest rates swaps, foreign currency swaps and cross-currency swaps

■ Issuers such as Vivendi S.E., XPO Logistics Inc., Atos S.E., Dell Technologies, Rakuten, on matters regarding employees stock options plans in Romania

■ EBRD on a multimillion facility granted to TeraPlast Group, for the implementation of the group’s projects in CEE

■ Goldman Sachs on the Romanian securities law and structured securities programmes to be implemented in Romania, as well as to reverse solicitation matters

Key Clients: EBRD, PPF Banka, Unicredit, Citi, Raiffeisen, BRD Societe Generale, Ciech S.A., European Investment Fund, Barclays PLC, Nokia, Alcatel- Lucent, Novares, Alior Bank, Apple, Google Cloud Platforms, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Contacts: Monia Dobrescu, Răzvan Stoicescu

Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]

Litigation & Arbitration:

■ BCR Banca pentru Locuinte, a division of BCR – one of the biggest banks in Romania- in a number of regulatory disputes with the Romanian Court of Accounts before the High Court of Cassation and Justice concerning the Bauspar financing system

■ The Romanian Government and the Ministry of Finance in a complex litigation case following a large reorganisation of the Ministry of Finance, in the context of the restructuring of the whole Governmental apparatus

■ Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding B.V. (the military shipbuilding division of Damen Group) before the Romanian Courts, including the High Court of Cassation and Justice, in a public procurement dispute aimed at cancelling an EUR 1.26 billion military public procurement contract for the acquisition of corvettes

■ Romanian National Railway Company in two highstake international commercial arbitration under the ICC Rules regarding two of the largest infrastructure projects in Romania estimated at EUR 885m

Key Clients: Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding, BCR Banca pentru Locuinte, FirstBank, Kaufland, Enel, Thyssen Krupp, Roche, Abbott, Oracle, Eli Lilly, Colas, Trigranit, GDF Suez, Panalpina, KMG International, Copisa Constructora Pirenaica

Contacts: Angela Porumb, Paul Buta, Iulian Popescu, Răzvan Stoicescu, Iuliana Iacob

Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Restructuring & Insolvency:

■ Kaufland Romania, during the insolvency proceedings of an important entrepreneurial and project management company, successfully recovering 80% of receivables

■ ECE Projektmanagement International GmbH, a German company offering real estate services, in connection with the voluntary liquidation procedure of its Romanian subsidiary as part of a an important restructuring plan

■ The Romanian subsidiary of Servier, Sermedic,in multiple insolvency proceedings of major Romanian pharmaceutical distributors

■ RADET Bucuresti, the largest heating system administrator in Romania in a high-profile dispute against the Municipality of Bucharest involving its liability worth more than EUR 850 million

■ First Bank on the legal issues to recover important receivables during the insolvency procedure against one of the bank’s clients – the total amount claimed by the creditors is over EUR 5.5m

Key Clients: First Bank, Aegean Airlines, Damen Shipyards Group, Termoelectrica, Sermedic, ECE Projektmanagement International GmbH, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, Chloe Acquisition Consulting, Gordian Holdings Limited, PVS International (S) PTE. LTD

Contacts: Mihai Popa, Răzvan Stoicescu

Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]

Real Estate/Infrastructure/PPP:

■ EBRD on real estate matters relating to a multimillion facility granted to TeraPlast Group, an important construction materials manufacturer

■ Buck Consultants (Administration & Investment) Limited on its relocation and corporate lease aspects in Romania

■ Kaufland on various real estate acquisitions in Romania during its expansion process

■ Adesgo on various matters concerning its real estates in Romania

Key Clients: Brookfield, Adesgo, Novares, Teconnex, CRH, Intercora, Kaufland, Buck Consultants, Trigranit, ING Real Estate, Sogeprom, Daimler, Grupo Lar, CAF, Italferr, European Investment Bank

Contacts: Monia Dobrescu, Iulian Popescu

Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]

Energy & Natural Resources:

■ Electrica S.A. on day-to-day regulatory and business development matters

■ Zenith Energy Ltd, an international independent oil & gas company, in connection with the company’s business of developing proven revenue generating oil production assets, as well as low-risk exploration activities in assets with existing production

■ Solar Turbines Europe S.A., a Caterpillar company, on contract negotiations and implementation of the Moldova Project: The development of a natural gas pipeline between Romania and Moldova

Key Clients: Electrica, Hidroelectrica, Electrica Furnizare, Repower, Nereo GreenCapital, Electromagnetica, Wellbore Integrity Solutions, Kraftanlagen Romania, Omya Calcita

Contacts: Iulian Popescu, Răzvan Stoicescu

Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]

EU & Antitrust:

■ Successfully represented Sig Sauer GmbH & CO KG, a global producer of firearms, before the High Court of Cassation and Justice that confirmed the annulment of the sanctioning decision issued by the Competition Council against the client for an alleged infringement of competition law

■ Most of the top global pharmaceutical innovative companies active in Romania, in various matters related to their distribution systems

■ A European leader in financing for individuals (the Bucharest branch), regarding Competition Council’s investigation on the financial leasing and consumer credit markets. The client was exonerated of any infringement of competition law

■ The local subsidiary of a European dairy producer, in an antitrust litigation for the annulment of a Competition Council decision in relation to alleged anticompetitive agreements in the food retail sector in Romania

Key Clients: Electrolux, Damen Shipyards Group, Roche, Generali Holding, Penta Investments, Eli Lilly, Servier, Orange

Contact: Paul Buta

Email: [email protected]