Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance Badea advises Abris Capital Partners in the Urgent Cargus sale to Mid Europa Partners

Clifford Chance Badea, the local office of global law firm Clifford Chance, has advised Polish-based private equity fund Abris Capital Partners on the sale of courier company Urgent Cargus to Mid Europa Partners.

As a trusted advisor of Abris Capital Partners since 2013, Clifford Chance has been advising the fund on all its investments in Romania, including the successive acquisitions in the courier industry - Cargus from DHL/Deutsche Post, and the portfolios of TCE Logistica, CRX and Otto Curier in 2013, followed by Urgent Curier in 2014. These deals have led to the creation of one of the largest courier businesses in Romania.

Clifford Chance Badea has also provided legal advice in the purchasing of a stake in the Pehart Tec Group, the leading tissue paper producer in Romania and the largest independent business of this type in the CEE region (2015), and the acquisition of Romanian waste-management business Green Group, a leading investor in the green industry, operating working points in Romania, as well as in Serbia, Macedonia, and Germany (2016).

Nadia Badea, Clifford Chance partner and coordinator of the project team, said: "We are, once again, honored to provide legal support to our long-term client, and thus contribute to another successful private equity deal for the local market. This transaction adds to a representative Private Equity portfolio for our firm, which reflects our strong focus and commitment to the industry".

The legal team, including Mihai Macelaru (lead counsel) and Radu Costin (senior associate), has advised Abris Capital Partners throughout the entire process, including vendor due diligence, data room preparation, deal structuring, transaction documents drafting, bids evaluation and negotiations with a number of bidders.

"This has probably been one of the most anticipated exits in the Romanian market, and, as such, it involved a significant amount of preparation, evaluation, and negotiation work for all parties involved. The successful result reflects the exceptional professionalism of all teams, who brought to the table the best practices of the industry, their determination and good will," said Mihai Macelaru, lead counsel.

Milestone M&A projects recently advised by Clifford Chance Badea include:

• Advising Czech Media Invest (CMI) throughout the acquisition of the CEE radio assets of multinational media conglomerate Lagardère Group (July 2018);
  
• Advising BNP Paribas Leasing in the acquisition of shares in two Romanian companies from German-based group IKB that is exiting the local market (June 2018);
  
• Advising CA Immo in relation to the acquisition of Campus 6.1 office building in Bucharest from Skanska, a deal valued at EUR 53 million (May 2018);
  
• Advising J.C. Flowers & Co. in relation to the acquisition of Piraeus Bank Romania by funds advised by J.C. Flowers & Co., a deal marking the American investor's entry on the local market (December 2017);
  
• Advising the independent European private equity firm Vitruvian Partners in relation to its acquisition of a 30% stake in BitDefender, a leading global cyber security technology company (December 2017);
  
• Advising EBRD in relation to it acquiring an equity stake in Black Sea Oil & Gas, an independent oil and gas company based in Romania (November 2017), and also in relation to its becoming a shareholder in Agricover Holding, following an investment of RON 32 million (EUR 7 million equivalent) in the company’s capital for a subscription to a 13% stake (October 2017);
  
• Advising sovereign fund China Investment Corporation on the acquisition of pan-European logistics operator Logicor from American fund Blackstone (June 2017).