Cobalt has advised French real estate investment fund Corum on the acquisition of 22,000 square meter large Depo DIY store in Kaunas.

Earlier this year the Estonian parliament enacted long-awaited dedicated covered bond legislation, finally allowing local banks to enter both regional and European-wide covered bond markets and to gain access to a reasonably priced and stable source of long-term funding for their key banking businesses (most importantly for funding the issuance of mortgage loans). Additionally, under the new legislation, local covered bond issuers able to meet prudential requirements under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) will be able to benefit from certain forms of preferential treatment afforded to covered bonds. For the local banking sector that, at the moment, remains dominated by Scandinavian banking groups, the new legislation also creates a viable alternative to the parent funding.

Amazingly, the Lithuanian FinTech ecosystem report of 2018 revealed that there were 170 FinTech companies based in Lithuania – reflecting 45 percent growth over the previous year – with some 2,600 employees working in FinTech companies, more than 700 of which were newly-employed in 2018. The numbers are still growing this year.

Kinstellar, Soltysinski Kawecki & Szlezak, and Cobalt have advised Stada Arzneimittel on the acquisition of Walmark from Mid Europa Partners. White & Case and Weil, Gotshal & Manges reportedly advised the sellers on the deal.

Cobalt has advised Lithuanian company LF Property on the sale of the Gostauto 40 business center in Vilnius to UAB AJ Projektai. CEE Attorneys reportedly advised UAB AJ Projektai on the deal.

Cobalt has advised the shareholders of Danpower Baltic on the sale of 50% of their shares to French renewable energy group Idex — a subsidiary of  Antin Infrastructure Partners. Idex bought another 40% of Danpower Baltic shares from UAB GECO Investicijos, which retains its 10% stake in the company. Triniti advised Idex on the deal.

Sorainen's Estonian and Lithuanian offices have advised Nordea Bank and DNB on financing they provided to the Luminor Group to develop Luminor’s lending activities and group liquidity buffers and to refinance existing debt. Cobalt advised Luminor on the deal.

TGS Baltic and Baker McKenzie have advised Inspired, a global premium schools group, on its acquisition of the King’s College, a British schools group. Cobalt advised the King's College on limited due diligence and Cuatrecasas reportedly advised the King's College on the sale.

Cobalt and Linklaters have advised the Zeppelin Group on its acquisition of Tallinn's Baltic Marine Contractors from the Pon Group.

This April, the new EU foreign investment screening regulation entered into force, with terms scheduled to become applicable on October 11, 2020. The regulation was conceived and designed to provide member states with a valuable tool to employ in defending their strategic interests. We spoke to several experts in the region to learn more.

Cobalt has advised Silberauto on the sale of its enterprises in Estonia and Lithuania to Scandinavian vehicle dealer Veho. Ellex advised Veho on the deal.

Cobalt has helped inHouse Pay AS obtain an e-money institution license from the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority to issue electronic money and provide various payment services.

Walless has advised the Baltic Horizon Fund on its EUR 20.7 million acquisition of the North Star business center in Lithuania from the UAB Prosperus Strategic RE Fund. Cobalt reportedly advised the Prosperus Strategic RE Fund on the deal.

“The Lithuanian legal market is really in a good moment,” says Cobalt Managing Partner Irmantas Norkus.

In late 2018, the Competition Council of the Republic of Latvia published the final report on its most recent in-depth sector inquiry on the distribution practices of reimbursed medicines on the wholesale market and potential competition restrictions therein. The sector inquiry had lasted for almost two years, during which the Competition Council gathered information from both the public and the private sectors, approaching seven producers, twelve wholesalers, and several public institutions, such as the State Agency of Medicines and the Health Inspectorate, among others. Although the Competition Council proclaimed that the main goal of the sector inquiry was to analyze potential competition restrictions on the wholesale market, which could be apparent because of the vertical integration of wholesalers and leading pharmacy chains and the exclusivity status of the wholesalers, no infringements proceedings were initiated as a result. Notwithstanding the lack of subsequent infringement proceedings, however, some crucial conclusions were drawn.

With the June 7, 2019 initiation of the draft Patient Insurance Act, the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs has achieved an important milestone in the development of the Estonian health care system. This draft act marks a principal change towards the creation of a patient-centric health care system, which will have a major effect on patients, health care service providers, health care professionals, insurance companies, and society at large.

Cobalt has advised M.M.M. Projektai, a real estate development and investment group operating in Central and Eastern Europe, on its acquisition of real estate at Brivibas Gatve 201 in Riga from RE Property SIA.

Dentons and Cobalt have advised Latvia's airBaltic airline on its July 23, 2019 placement of 200 million euro issue 6.75 percent 5-year bonds — the largest corporate bond issuance ever originating from Latvia. Linklaters advised J.P. Morgan as global coordinator and it andSEB as joint bookrunners.