Agnieszka Wiercińska-Krużewska shared her reflections on Polish privacy related regulations in a podcast recorded by Privacy Rules, a global alliance of privacy professionals. The briefing includes the latest on Polish data protection-related laws and is available both on Privacy Rules’ website and on YouTube.

The annual Chambers Global international legal services guide, compiled primarily on the basis of client reviews, has recommended WKB in the following categories: Banking & Finance, Corporate/M&A, Dispute Resolution, Italy: Corporate/M&A: Foreign desks. Also, WKB has been recommended as a go-to partner for cross-jurisdictional matters in the newly introduced International & Cross-Border Capabilities rankings, among four other Polish independent (non-multinational) law firms. Five of our lawyers also received individual recommendations.

We are pleased to announce that advocate Aleksandra Stępniewska has joined WKB as counsel and head of the white collar crime practice. With support from other advocates in the firm, including Jan Roliński (a senior partner at WKB), Aleksandra will provide clients with comprehensive advice on all aspects of criminal proceedings, preventive procedures, and crisis management.

WKB Wierciński, Kwieciński, Baehr advised Boekestijn Transport on the acquisition of 100% of shares in Baltic Trans sp. z o. o. from ECS Corporate NV. At the same time, WKB advised the Client on the acquisition of assets of European Trucking Sp. z o.o.

WKB law firm advised Grosfillex (through a group entity, Arban Sàrl) on a transaction concerning their acquisition of 100% of shares in Warmińska Fabryka Okien “Postęp” Sp. z o.o., a window manufacturer active on both the Polish and European markets since 2003.

On Thursday (30 January), PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna signed a contract with the consortium of Polimex Mostostal and  General Electric companies (General Electric Global Services GmbH and General Electric International Inc) for the construction of two CCGT units at the Dolna Odra Power Plant. The total value of the investment is PLN 5 billion net. WKB law firm, whose experts Jan Roliński, Agnieszka Chwiałkowska and Piotr Wojdak are GE companies’ long-standing tender advisers, participated in the preparation of tender offer.

WKB law firm advised Duna House (listed on the Prime Market of the Budapest Stock Exchange and an owner of, among others, Metrohouse and Gold Finance in Poland) on the acquisition of 100% of the shares in Alex T. Great (a company specializing in financial intermediation) by its subsidiary, Metrohouse Franchise S.A.

As of 1 January 2020 certain amendments concerning the introduction of shareholders' register for non-public joint stock companies and partnerships limited by shares came into force. The shareholders' register is a new institution in the Polish legal system, which introduces the mandatory dematerialisation of shares for those companies and partnerships mentioned above. The purpose of the amendments is to improve the security of trading shares in non-public companies and to enable all of their shareholders to be identified.

WKB law firm advised Intel Corporation on the Polish aspects of its acquisition of Habana Labs, an Israeli company specializing in the design of processors for machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. The transaction, worth approximately two billion dollars, was announced on 16 December 2019.

Andrzej Wierciński, Anna Wojciechowska and Anna Wyrzykowska have co-authored the chapter on Polish regulations regarding corporate governance in ”The Corporate Governance Review 2019”. The publication is available for download.