Krogerus

Krogerus
Headquarters	Unioninkatu 22 Helsinki, Finland
No. of employees	approximately 175[1]
Major practice areas	General practice
Revenue	EUR 31 million EUR (2013)[2]
Website
www.krogerus.com

Krogerus is one of the largest corporate law firms in Finland.^[3][4] It is headquartered in Helsinki and has offices in Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Oulu and Turku.^[5] The firm’s revenue was roughly EUR 31 million, as of the financial period ending 31 March 2014.^[2]

Krogerus currently has approximately 100 lawyers and 75 other staff.^[6] Juha Pekka Katainen is the firm’s managing partner. Mika Ståhlberg serves as the chairman of the board.

Assignments in the media

The firm's assignments have gained frequent media coverage.

In November 2014, Krogerus advised Nexstim Plc., a medical technology company, on its initial public offering and dual listing of shares on First North Finland and First North Sweden.^[7] In June 2014, Krogerus advised Herantis Pharma on its initial public offering of shares on First North Finland.^[8]

In March 2014, Krogerus advised Deka Immobilien of Germany on the acquisition by one of its funds of Sanoma House for EUR 176 million from Sanoma Corporation.^[9]

In October 2013, Krogerus acted as Finnish counsel to certain investors in their sale of shares in Supercell to SoftBank and Gungho Online Entertainment for EUR 1.5 billion.^[10] The Supercell deal was on the shortlist to receive the 2014 M&A Deal of the Year award in Japan given out by Asian Legal Business.^[11]

In July 2013, Krogerus advised Denmark-based Royal Unibrew on its acquisition of the Finnish multi-beverage company Hartwall from Dutch beer manufacturer Heineken.^[12] The enterprise value of the transaction is approximately EUR 470 million.^[12]

In June 2013, Krogerus advised Citycon and NCC Property Development on their joint venture to extend Iso Omena, one of the largest shopping centres in Finland.^[13] The estimated cost for the three-phase project totals approximately EUR 175 million.^[13] The shopping centre extension will be completed in the late summer of 2016.^[13]

In May 2013, Krogerus advised VVO-group plc on its EUR 100 million secured bond.^[14]

In March 2013, Krogerus advised Pohjola Bank plc, as arranger and dealer, and dealers Danske Bank A/S, Nordea Bank Finland Plc, Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Swedbank AB (publ) in SATO Corporation’s EUR 500 million secured note issuance programme.^[15] This is the first secured note programme in Finland by a corporate issuer.^[15]

In January 2013, Krogerus advised AVIC International Investments Ltd on the Finnish law aspects of its acquisition of Finnish naval architecture and engineering firm Deltamarin Ltd.^[16] The transaction value is approximately EUR 32 million.^[16] AVIC International Investments Ltd, part of the AVIC Group, is a publicly listed company on the Singapore Exchange that provides shipbuilding project management and consultancy services.^[16]

As of June 2012, Krogerus has acted as the administrator of the bankruptcy estate of FNsteel Oy Ab, a producer of wire rod and steel billets.^[17] Revenue for the FNsteel group companies in the years before bankruptcy was approximately EUR 400 million.^[18] This is one of the largest bankruptcies in Finnish industrial history.^[17] Krogerus is also advising Metsähallitus^[19] in a court case concerning follow-on damages to forest owners caused by forbidden price fixing and exchange of information in the purchase of raw timber by forest industry companies Stora Enso, UPM Kymmene and Metsäliitto Cooperative.^[20]

Krogerus has acted as an adviser to the Special Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Iceland in investigations regarding alleged market manipulation and insider dealings in the Icelandic banks Bank Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir prior to the collapse of the banks in 2008.^[21]

In spring 2011, Krogerus advised the State of Finland when it acquired, together with Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, a majority stake in the electricity transmission operator Fingrid Oyj from Fortum Power and Heat Oy and Pohjolan Voima Oyj.^[3][22] The shares cost EUR 650 million.^[22]

In a dispute that took place during the 2011 fall/winter New York Fashion Week, Krogerus advised Ivana Helsinki in a trade mark dispute regarding the name Ivana against Ivana Trump. The dispute was settled out of court.^[23]

Firm lawyers have also worked on a number of important wind power projects in Finland.^[24] The estimate for 2020 is that Finland will have 2,500 megawatts of installed capacity of wind power, which is substantially higher than the 199 megawatts of installed capacity the country had as of 2011.^[24]

In June 2013, Krogerus advised Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Nordea Bank and Pohjola Bank in relation to a framework agreement concerning EUR 130 million wind farm financing for Taaleritehtaan Tuulitehdas I Ky.^[25] Taaleritehtaan Tuulitehdas is one of the largest wind farm participants in the Finnish market.^[25] The first wind farm to be financed under the framework agreement is the Honkajoki wind farm.^[25] Five wind turbines are already active in Honkajoki as of the summer 2013 and four more turbines are planned.^[25]

Rankings and recognition

Firm lawyers are ranked in the top tiers by leading legal guides such as Chambers & Partners,^[26] The Legal 500^[27] and IFLR 1000.^[28]

Krogerus tied in second place for the amount of mergers and acquisitions transactions in Finland for 2013, as reported by Mergermarket^[29] in its league tables.

Professionals in the legal field ranked Krogerus second among law firms in the Universum 2013 Professional survey of employers in Finland.^[30] Universum is a global independent consultancy and research company based in Sweden.^[30] Total survey respondents comprised over 7,000 professionals with higher education degrees and roughly ten years of work experience.^[30] Universum carried out its survey in August–October 2013.^[30] The results are divided among the business, technical, information technology and legal fields.^[30]

On 25 April 2013, Krogerus won the Chambers Europe Award for Excellence (2013) in Finland.^[31] This is the first year Chambers has presented this award in Finland.^[31]

The Lawyer magazine ranked Krogerus among Europe's top 100 law firms (excluding the United Kingdom) in it annual Euro100 survey in 2013^[32] and its Euro100 survey in 2014.^[33] The rankings are based on 2012 and 2013 revenue.^[32][33]

In a special 2012 edition of Kauppalehti Optio, a magazine published by Finnish business daily Kauppalehti, Krogerus ranked among the top performing companies in Finland.^[34] A total of 340 companies met the criteria for sustainable growth. Krogerus ranked seventh in this list, placing ahead of all other law firms in Finland.^[34] The Kauppalehti 2012 survey reviewed growth, return on investment and gearing ratio over the last ten years.^[34]

The firm's partners have also received awards such as Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" for 2012 and 2014 (finance, real estate and private equity categories)^[35][36] the International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Award 2014 (commercial property),^[37] the ILO Client Choice Award 2012 (capital markets)^[38] and ILO Client Choice Award 2011 (information technology).^[39]

Main practice areas

The firm’s main practice areas include:

• Banking and Finance
• Capital Markets and Securities
• Competition and Regulatory
• Corporate and Commercial
• Dispute Resolution
• Employment and Benefits
• Environment and Land Use
• Intellectual Property
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Private Equity
• Public Procurement
• Real Estate and Construction
• Restructuring and Insolvency
• State Aid
• Taxation
• Technology^[40]

Main industrial sectors

The firm’s main industrial sectors include:

• Energy and Infrastructure
• Financial Institutions and Insurance
• Food and Beverage
• Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
• Machinery and Engineering
• Public Sector
• Real Estate
• Retail
• Technology, Media and Telecommunications
• Transportation and Logistics^[41]

References

External links

• Krogerus