CMS has advised AFI Europe, a property investment and development group in Romania, on its share acquisition of six companies owning four Class A office projects in Romania from NEPI Rockcastle. Herbert Smith Freehills and Reff & Associates – the Romanian member firm of Deloitte Legal – advised NEPI.
CMS also advised AFI Europe on the financing of the acquisition by Erste Group Bank AG, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG, and Banca Comerciala Romana SA. Wolf Theiss reportedly advised the banks.
As a result of the EUR 300 million deal, AFI Europe Romania becomes the second-largest office owner in Romania with a 282,000-square-meter portfolio.
The deal follows a similar agreement that was announced at the end of last year (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on December 20, 2019), but that deal did not close as anticipated. This second attempt, which closed in August, was more successful.
CMS's team, in Bucharest, consisted of Partners Horea Popescu, Roxana Fratila, Ana Radnev, Senior Counsel Alina Tihan, Consultant David Cranfield, Senior Associates Claudia Popescu, Claudia Nagy, Associates Catalin Vasile, Bogdan Buta, Andreea Turcu, and Alexandru Dumitrescu, Lawyers Diana Rotaru, Bogdan Vlad, and Alexandru Trandafir, and Junior Lawyer Andrei Sbarnea. The firm’s team in London included Partners Kenny Henderson and Richard Bamforth and Senior Associates Will Anderson and Jessica Foley, with support from Frankfurt-based Partner Philipp Melzer.
Reff & Associates' team was led by Partner Irina Dimitriu and included Senior Managing Associate Simona Iacob, Senior Associates Maria Nitulescu, Diana Stan, Ioana Georgescu-Muresanu, and Calin Georgescu-Muresanu, and Associate Alexandru Butusina.
Herbert Smith Freehills' London-based team included Partners Caroline Rae, Gavin Davies, and Jeremy Walden and Senior Associate Sid Shukla.
Editor's note: After this article was published, Wolf Theiss announced that it had advised the banks, and Dentons informed CEE Legal Matters that it also had advised AFI Europe on the deal. The Wolf Theiss team included Partner Claudia Chiper, Counsel Flaviu Nanu, and Associates Iuliana Stoicescu, Alexandru Asaftei, Catalin Sabau, and Andrei Salageanu. Dentons' team consisted of Partner Simona Marin and Associate Sandra Constantin.
