COBALT

Managing Partners: Jaanus Mody (Estonia), Dace Silava-Tomsone (Latvia), Lauris Liepa (Latvia), Dr Irmantas Norkus (Lithuania), Darya Zhuk (Belarus)
Number of partners: 35 (Estonia - 12)
Number of lawyers: 160 (Estonia - 50)
Languages: Estonian, English, Finnish, German, Italian, Russian

Firm Overview:
COBALT is a closely integrated alliance of top-tier law offices across the Baltics and Belarus uniting close to 200 attorneys and lawyers. The firm’s legal professionals offer leading–edge legal solutions in all key areas of business law: banking and finance, capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, EU law, competition, dispute resolution, restructuring and bankruptcy, real estate and construction, energy and infrastructure, employment, IP, IT and regulatory, environmental law, transportation and tax.

Main Areas of Practice:

Banking & Finance:
2 partners, 8 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising Port of Tallinn, an Estonian state-owned company, on organising IPO – the first IPO of a state-owned company in almost two decades
■ Advising Luminor Bank on entering into a strategic partnership with Blackstone. The transaction represents one of the largest private equity deals in the Baltic history
Key Clients: Luminor Bank, OP-Pohjola Group, Swedbank, SEB Bank
Contacts: Kristel Raidla-Talur, Marina Kotkas
Emails: [email protected], marina. [email protected]

EU & Competition:
1 partner, 4 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising Luminor on obtaining an approval from the European Central Bank for carrying out a cross-border merger in the Baltics
■ Advising the majority shareholders of Baltic Media Holding on selling their shares to Havas. The firm’s work comprised assisting the client within the framework of intra-group restructuring with the merger clearance procedure
Key Clients: Ragn-Sells, Luminor Bank, Circle K
Contact: Elo Tamm
Email: [email protected]

Mergers/Acquisitions:
2 partners, 9 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia 
■ Advising BaltCap the largest buy-out, growth capital and private equity infrastructure investor in the Baltic States and minority shareholders on the sale of 100% of the shares in Magnetic MRO to Guangzhou Hangxin Aviation Technology
■ Advising Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) on acquiring Estonia’s biggest terminal operator Transiidikeskuse AS, which will become a subsidiary of HHLA International GmbH, making HHLA the market leader in container handling at the Port of Muuga, the main port in Estonia and an important maritime location in the Baltic region
Key Clients: DiDi Chuxing, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG, First State Investment
Contacts: Martin Simovart, Peeter Kutman
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

Dispute Resolution:
3 partners, 13 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia 
■ Successfully advising Nordea and DNB banks regarding default syndicate loan and other claims against Estonian largest dairy producer Tere. The case involved complex parallel proceedings (restructuring, bankruptcy, various other civil, administrative and criminal proceedings). The legal work made it possible for the banks to transfer all of their claims to Tere’s main competitor Maag Grupp
■ Representing successfully the European Commission in a dispute against the Republic of Estonia in the Court of Justice of the European Union concerning the amounts to be charged for surplus sugar stocks
Key Clients: Nordic Aviation Group, European Commission, Ragn-Sells AS, Luminor Bank, ABB
Contact: Jaanus Mody
Email: [email protected]

Corporate & Employment:
1 partner, 4 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising Estonian flag-carrier Nordica in civil court proceedings initiated by former employees of Estonian Air, where the plaintiffs claim that there has been a transfer of Estonian Air enterprise to Nordica and therefore Nordica is liable for all the monetary claims that the plaintiffs have against Estonian Air
■ Advising Luminor on reorganising its management structure and cross-border merger, including on corporate and employment law matters
Key Clients: Luminor Bank, Abbott, Nordic Aviation Group
Contact: Karina Paatsi
Email: [email protected]

Energy & Infrastructure:
2 partners, 2 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising Alexela Oil on the acquisition of 220 Energia, an Estonian private capital based electricity sales company
■ Advising European Diversified Infrastructure Fund II SPSc on investment in Utilitas, Estonia’s largest district heating company and a leading renewable power producer
Key Clients: Alexela Group, Skinest Group
Contacts: Aivar Taro, Elo Tamm
Emails: [email protected], [email protected]

IP, IT & Data Protection:
1 partner, 4 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising MCF Group Estonia, a company that unites Finnish and Estonian investors and technology experts, on legal matters pertaining to the development of a data centre that is planned to be built in Saue, Estonia in 2019. The project’s cost is estimated at EUR100 million and it will be the biggest data centre in the Baltic States
■ Serving wide variety of venture capital funds in relation with start-ups (MeetFrank, Taxify, Festivality, Minut, inc, SpectX etc)
Key Clients: DiDi Chuxing, Forum Cinemas, Change Ventures
Contact: Egon Talur
Email: [email protected]

Real Estate:
1 partner, 3 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange-listed investment fund Baltic Horizon Fund on acquisition of Postimaja shopping center located in the heart of Tallinn
■ Advising the Dutch commercial real estate company Geneba Properties N.V. in the sale of its Baltic real estate portfolio to Laurus S.a.r.l, a joint venture of the clients of the Swiss investment company Partners Group and Northern Horizon Capital
Key Clients: Baltic Horizon Fund, BPT Real Estate, Northern Horizon Capital, Geneba Properties N.V.
Contact: Aivar Taro
Email: [email protected]

Tax:
1 partner, 3 fee earners based in Tallinn, Estonia
■ Advising French real estate fund Corum on VAT and income tax related matters upon acquisition of real estate and the subsequent lease 
■ Advising Change Ventures on tax setup of a limited partnership fund in Estonia. The work has so far included advising on and assisting to set up the tax structure and providing detailed overview on the tax related questions
Key Clients: Change Ventures, Port of Tallinn, TMB Group
Contact: Egon Talur
Email: [email protected]