News Archive 2022

This year three of MPR Partners ‘ specialists have been designated winners during the prestigious Lexology Client Choice Awards. Hence, congratulations for the awards received by Founding Partner Gelu Maravela (#mergersandacquisitions in Romania, third year in a row), Partner Anca Băițan (#Restructuring & #Insolvency in Romania ) and Senior #Privacy and #Technology Consultant Cristina Crețu (Telecoms & Media in Romania).
ClientChoice is different from every other award in that it receives nominations from clients, with no involvement from the law firms during the process. This year there were over 2,500 nominations received, according to Lexology officials and, since our team members were designated winners, they added that this represents a testament to the services provided to clients. Further information about Client Choice awards is available at https://www.lexology.com/clientchoice
Gelu Maravela has over 20 years of experience in the legal profession, being ranked amongst the most prominent lawyers in Romania. Throughout his practice, Gelu has been lead counsel in a large number of high value projects and has worked for an outstanding number of high profile corporations doing business in Romania as well as for many public authorities, being praised for his results-driven, business-oriented approach, negotiation skills and multi-angled strategic thinking, which have paid striking results in some of the most sensitive and/or sub-leveraged matters. Gelu holds a wide ranging expertise in mergers & acquisitions, having been involved in some of the largest deals closed in Romania, including privatizations and all forms of private dealings in the field.
Anca Băițan is a key member of the Restructuring & Insolvency team. She is also well-versed in representing clients in litigation and arbitrations. She represents companies from various key industry sectors before relevant institutions such as courts of law, arbitral tribunals, central and local authorities, etc. Anca’s expertise equally extends to insolvency matters, as she handles for both creditors and debtors a wide range of services including debt recovery, insolvency procedures, representation before courts, elaborating the strategy for the commencement of the insolvency procedure and through the reorganization procedure, etc.
Cristina Cretu has over 16 years of experience in the TMT sector. She has worked with the Romanian telecom regulatory authority (ANCOM), has been a regulatory expert with Deutsche Telekom’s Romanian subsidiary as well as a regulatory manager and data protection officer with Liberty Global in Romania, and is now a Senior Technology and Data Protection Consultant with MPR Partners’ Bucharest and London offices. Cristina is also a Vice Chair of the AmChams Data Protection Task Force, she co-heads the firm’s task force on the Romanian National Council for Digital Transformation and is part of the European Data Protection Board “Support Pool of Experts” List.

MPR Partners is a proud partner of this year’s Global Forum, hosted by The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Romania. Taking place in Cluj-Napoca, Forum 2022 will bring together international leaders from 130 countries and territories to plan the future growth of the Award worldwide. Founding Partners Gelu Maravela and Alina Popescu stated: “We decided to be a part of this phenomenon inspired by the spectacular history of the program, by the way it changes pathways at a global level and equally by the people behind it, who make everything possible. We are glad to contribute and join the people who build the future with the help of today’s non-formal education. Young people need support, shaping and encouragement in order to discover their passions, irrespective of their economic and cultural environment or their ease of accessing resources.” During the Forum, the theme “Support Infinite Potential” will discuss challenges affecting young people today, how the Award can help and how to reach all young people between the ages of 14-24 years, giving them access to the Award to positively impact themselves and their communities. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award champions non-formal education which focuses on developing the wider ‘soft’ – or life – skills that help young people ensure they are ready for the world. When paired with a formal education, it provides a fantastic foundation for a young person to thrive. Further information about the wonderful Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is available here: https://dofe.ro/en/

There is a new legislative project to be adopted at European Union level, namely the Proposal for a Council Regulation on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices. The Proposal comes in the context of the energy crisis caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and aims to tackle the rising energy prices by a series of temporary measures adopted at the European Union level. Our professionals analysed the main actions to be implemented according to the Proposal. The complete article is available here.

Founding Partner Gelu Maravela has been ranked in IFLR1000’s 31st edition of Leading Lawyers as Highly Regarded for his M&A expertise, and recognized for his activity in the Healthcare sector. It is the fifth year in a row that he has been bestowed with the ranking. The firm continues to be recognized in IFLR1000’s M&A rankings, alongside other important names on the market. The IFLR1000 has been producing legal market intelligence since 1990 and remains the only international legal directory dedicated to ranking law firms and lawyers on the basis of financial and corporate transactional work.

Romania has recently launched a State aid scheme for the purpose of encouraging investments in the manufacturing industry, with view, on the one hand, to overcome current extensive labour shortages and the diminished trade flows to and from Ukraine caused by the armed conflict therein, and, on the other hand, to facilitate access to new international markets. In this respect, our competition professionals released an article, available in full here.

On July 26^th, 2022, Law no. 265/2022 regarding the Trade Registry and for amending and supplementing certain legal enactments impacting the registration in the Trade Registry has been published in the Official Gazette of Romania (“Law 265/2022”). The new legislation will enter into force on November 26, 2022. In the sections below, we will present the main novelties and amendments brought by Law 265/2022. The complete article is available here.

On August 4^th, 2022, Ordinance no. 18/2022 on the authorization and functioning of representative offices of foreign companies and economic organizations in Romania (“GO 18/2022”) adopted by the Romanian Government has been published in the Official Gazette. GO 18/2022 represents the first change of Romanian legislation on representative offices adopted since 1990, thus bringing much needed updates in the field, including as regards the means by which the procedure will be undertaken, namely via a digital platform. Registering a Romanian representative office implies the payment of an authorization tax amounting to EUR 1,000 per year. The complete article is available here.

MPR Partners assisted V-Ridium in the recent acquisition of a 45 MWp solar park, located in Giurgiu County, Romania, which is part of the expansion strategy of the Portuguese listed energy company GreenVolt.

MPR Partners provided assistance throughout all stages of the project, including a complex due diligence, the bidding process, the structure of the transaction, the mark-up and negotiation of the transaction documents and all other M&A aspects. Our involvement also included assistance and advice related to the acquisition finance and refinancing of the project on the borrower side.
The dedicated team, which provided corporate, M&A, regulatory, energy, financing, real estate and permitting assistance was coordinated by Partner Dana Rădulescu and consisted of Partner Daniel Alexie, Senior Associates, Diana Borcean and Flavia Ștefura and Associates Oana Săvulescu and Sonia Benga. Founding Partner Alina Popescu coordinated all antitrust and foreign direct investment work pertaining to the deal.

Consistent research and involvement from all of our team members have led to a useful product that we are proud to put at your disposal. Key aspects about investing in Romania is an overview of some of the aspects we think of importance when considering expanding your business and/or starting fresh in Romania. Detailing Romania’s positioning, alliances, economic growth, tax incentives, real estate as well as things to improve (just to name a few), the guide offers a starting point to making a first consistent impression with regards to the business landscape. The guide is available for online reading on our London office’s website here and on the top right corner of the same page, a full guide download option is available.

MPR Partners’ Dispute resolution department is ranked anew by the reputed Chambers and Partners in the Europe 2022 edition. Researchers concluded that “MPR Partners offers a dispute resolution practice that represents clients in a number of disputes before Romanian courts and international arbitration tribunals. The law firm is experienced advising on bankruptcy proceedings and employment disputes, as well as on contentious mandates relating to administrative and public procurement matters. The team also offers expertise in transactional and real estate disputes, and has additional skills in pre-litigation and settlement procedures. Notable practitioners: Gelu Maravela is a key contact within the department.” This year’s rankings are available here.