New Awards for Bostina and Associates - Privatizations and Capital Market

The activity of Bostina & Associates has been recently rewarded with two

prestigious awards – for the capital market activity and privatization – within the Top Lawyers Gala, on 11 June 2008, at the Radisson Hotel.

 

 

According to a top made by Ziarul Financiar, the lawyers with “Bostina & Associates” were involved in 4 of the top 10 privatizations last year: Antibiotice Iasi, FAMOS S.A. Suceava, INAV S.A., and, of course, Electroputere Craiova, a transaction of approximately EURO 120 million.

 

The last transaction deserves a special mention as – leaving its value aside – it passed smoothly through the European Commission’s rigorous procedures, unlike the second transaction which kept Craiova on the front page of economic newspapers – and the authorities holding their breath for about 9 months.

The privatizations carried out before 2005 and even in 2006 constantly benefited from state aid, but since Romania’s EU accession in 2007 the situation radically changed. A.V.A.S. currently requests the investors, in principle, to take over all the debts of the companies to be privatized. Nowadays any concession easing the financial obligations to foreign as well as for Romanian investors may represent “state aid” as defined by the EC Treaty. Such aids may be approved and granted only after the notification and subsequent authorisation of the European Commission. The fact that Electroputere Craiova’s privatization has been very quickly and smoothly given the green light from Bruxelles is also due to the fine work carried out by team of lawyers coordinated by Laura Mocanu, Partner. “Bostina & Associates” awaits the authorities to resume the privatisation process at Antibiotice Iasi, another significant transaction wherein the law firm is involved.

 

For the past years, “Bostina & Associates” has been constantly present on the Romanian capital market, being involved in most projects that gave been successfully completed.

 

“Bostina & Associates” Lawyers matured together with this sector or, better said, it contributed to its development – participating in “first ever” projects on the Romanian capital market: IPO Transgaz, the only IPO in 2007, with a value of EURO 65 million, where “Bostina & Associates” lawyers worked on drafting the allocation rights – a “first ever” for the Romanian capital market: IPO for the STK Closed Fund which also represented a first listing of a closed fund in Bucharest. Among other past successes one could count: the listing of Transelectrica and Alumil, as well as taking-over the portfolio of Fondul Proprietatea. Currently, “Bostina & Associates” lawyers work towards listing Romtelecom, also the first offering in the telecommunications on the domestic capital market.