Ranked in 1 Practice Areas
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Band 1

Private Wealth Law

Finland

4 Years Ranked

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About

Provided by Heikki Vesikansa

High Net Worth

Practice Areas

Heikki heads the Hannes Snellman Tax practice in Helsinki, and he advises our clients on transaction tax structuring and tax planning as well as tax litigation engagements. He frequently acts as a trusted advisor, particularly in cases involving complex international and cross-border tax elements. Heikki has received recognition especially for his tax technical skills and service-oriented approach in major surveys by Chambers, Legal500, and International Tax Review.

Career

Heikki’s wide experience in the area of transaction structuring stems from providing tax advice in over 500 transactions over the past 20 years. He also frequently defends clients' tax positions in courts – recently, in the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court, Heikki has provided advice in several successful high-profile tax cases which have resulted in important case law precedents in Finnish tax law. Heikki works with a wide range of clients, including publicly listed companies, real estate and private equity investors, family-owned businesses, and private clients.

Professional Memberships

- Board member, Association of Finnish Tax Professionals 2019-

- Member, Taxes Committee of the Finnish Bar Association 2017

- Member of the Finnish Corporate Law Association 2016

- Member of the International Bar Association 2016

- Member of the Finnish Bar Association 2015

- Member of International Fiscal Association (IFA) 2015

- Legal committee of the Finnish Venture Capital Association (FVCA) 2011 -

Publications

- Co-author of the article The Court of Justice of the European Union rules that Finnish tax rules discriminate against foreign company form investment funds, MNE Tax, 2022

- Co-author of the article Finnish court rules on arm’s length range and transfer pricing adjustment point, MNE Tax, 2021

- Co-author of the article Finnish court accepts US GAAP as basis for transfer pricing in landmark ruling, MNE Tax, 2021

- Co-author of the Finnish Chapter in the third edition of The Corporate Tax Planning Law Review, 2021

- Co-author of the Finnish Chapter in the second edition of The Corporate Tax Planning Law Review, 2020

- Co-author of the article Ylimääräinen muutoksenhaku verotuksessa (available only in Finnish), Verotus 4/2019, p. 441-448

- Co-author of the Finnish Chapter in the inaugural edition of The Corporate Tax Planning Law Review, 2019

- Uraauurtava ratkaisu kansallisen ylimmän tuomioistuimen velvollisuudesta tehdä ennakkoratkaisupyyntö EUT:lle - Groundbreaking Ruling on a National Court’s Obligation to Refer a Question to the ECJ (available only in Finnish) Edilex, 2018

- Verolain aukkokohdan täyttäminen – EVL 18 a §:n 3 momentin tasetestin soveltaminen pääomarahastorakenteissa | Filling a Legislative Gap – Application of the Finnish Equity Ratio exemption from interest barrier rule in Private Equity Fund Structures (available only in Finnish) Defensor Legis, 2018

- Yhtiölainan käsitteestä ja yhtiölainasta suoritettavasta varainsiirtoverosta kiinteistöosakeyhtiöiden osakkeiden kaupassa | The Concept of Company Loan and Transfer Tax Levied on Such Company Loans in Finnish Real Estate Company Transactions, (available only in Finnish) Edilex, 2018

- Tax advice memorandums and the legal privilege of an attorney's and other tax consultant's clients – analysis of Supreme Administrative Court case 2016:127, Verotus 1/2017, p. 66-80

- Carried Interest in Finland and Sweden: Ongoing Uncertainty, Tax Notes Int’l, January 30th 2017, p. 463-469

- IBA National Reporter for Taxes Committee (Finland) 2016-2017

- Management Incentives in Finland, Russia, and Sweden, Tax Notes Int’l, July 27th 2015, p. 339-346

Work Highlights

Transactions:

- Counsel to Uponor Corporation in the recommended public cash tender offer by Georg Fischer Ltd to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Uponor Corporation.

- Counsel to Myrsky Energia in the formation of a joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) concerning the investment and development of 1.8 GW portfolio of onshore wind power in Finland.

- Counsel to Citycon Oyj in its tender offers of outstanding notes due 2024 of Citycon Treasury B.V. and capital securities issued by it in November 2019 and June 2021.

- Counsel to Sampo plc on its dual listing of its Class A shares on Nasdaq Stockholm in the form of Swedish Depository Receipts

- Counsel to the offeror consortium consisting of Security Trading, Fennogens Investments, Corbis, and Bain Capital in the recommended public cash tender offer for all shares in Caverion Oyj.

- Merger of Cargotec Corporation and Konecranes Plc

- Counsel to Orange Capital Partners in the acquisition of a residential portfolio of 2,200 apartments located across 16 cities from Starwood Capital Group and Avara Oy

- Counsel to Duunitori Oy and its owners in the sale of majority of Duunitori’s share capital to Intera Partners

- Counsel to Esperi Care and its majority owners Danske Bank, SEB, and Ilmarinen in the acquisition of the majority of Esperi Care’s shares by Triton Smaller Mid Cap Fund II advised by Triton.

- Hannes Snellman acted as counsel to Slättö in the formation of a joint venture with PEAB regarding investments into residential housing in Finland.

- Counsel to the offeror consortium of Accel-KKR, Long Path Partners, and Briarwood Chase Management in the tender offer for all outstanding securities in Basware Corporation.

- The divestment of Paulig’s Gold&Green brand, intellectual property and R&D function to Valio

- Counsel to Orange Capital Partners' and another global investor's acquisition of a residential portfolio with 37 assets and 1,900 apartments from Morgan Stanley

- Finnish Counsel in Combination of Angel Pond Holdings Corporation and MariaDB Corporation Ab by way of a domestication merger and cross-border merger, and related transactions

- Finnish Counsel to Smartly-Io in Acquisition of Ad-Lib.io, the next-generation creative optimization platform, by Smartly.io, the leading social advertising SaaS platform for creative and performance marketers.

Tax litigation references:

- Counsel to a Finnish private equity fund in a Supreme Administrative Court Yearbook case confirming the correct application of equity ratio exemption in interest deduction limitations.

- Counsel to a tax payer in Supreme Administrative Court Yearbook case confirming US GAAP as acceptable basis for transfer pricing.

- Counsel in a Supreme Administrative Court Yearbook case clarifying taxation related to dividend in natura.

- Counsel to a taxpayer in the Supreme Administrative Court Yearbook case outlining VAT treatment of coworking services.

- Counsel in Administrative Court case confirming mutual real estate company’s taxation under Business Income Tax Act.

- Counsel in Supreme Administrative Court case confirming equal treatment of a Swedish real estate investor in Finnish taxation

- Counsel in Supreme Administrative Court case confirming that Refinancing of real estate company’s bank loans is not subject to transfer tax.

- Counsel in Supreme Administrative Court case confirming that share transfer tax is not due on purchase price of shareholder loans

- Counsel to a taxpayer receiving confirmation that a transfer of a business at an early stage qualifies as a transfer of a going concern for VAT purposes.

Languages Spoken

- English

- Finnish

- Swedish

Education

University of Helsinki 2001

Master of Laws

1996 - 2001

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