The Legal 500

Glimstedt & Partneri’s strong, ‘dedicated’ team attracts headline deals. These included acting for Pure Food on its 100% share sale to a Belgian competitor in a deal that retained production in Latvia. Following the successful bailout of Parex bank, Eriks Blumbergs is now leading corporate advice to airBaltic as part of the government’s attempt to rescue the distressed national airline.

The ‘highly professional and experienced’ Vineta Cukste leads Kronbergs & Cukste’s practice, which represents clients such as Bridgestone, Microsoft and Radisson. Recent mandates include a debt recovery action for a major airline and advising a US technology company on the acquisition of a Latvian software developer and attendant creation of a holding structure in Ireland. Associate Tina Luse also attracts praise.

Lawin’s ‘internationally oriented’ corporate practice is ‘superior to other firms’. The firm worked alongside the UK’s Slaughter and May to advise GE Capital on the sale of Latvian bank GE Money Bank to a Russian investor, subject to regulatory approval. Raimonds Slaidins heads the department, which also includes Zinta Jansons, who provides ‘highly responsive, practical advice and has a can-do attitude’.

Raidla Lejins & Norcous regularly acts as corporate counsel to leading inward investors such as Kraft Foods and Nordea Bank. The firm advised AXA Private Equity and Polish private equity firm Resource Partners on their joint acquisition of a majority stake in Baltkom TV, the country’s largest cable television operator. Practice head Dace Silava-Tomsone has ‘excellent business understanding’, and, overall, the team’s ‘efficiency delivers good value for money’.

Arguably ‘the best law firm in Latvia’, Sorainen fields one of the largest corporate groups in the market. The team advised Baltkom TV and its majority shareholder on its sale to AXA Private Equity and Resource Partners, and the Latvian Privatisation Agency on the sale of a stake in Bank Citadele to the ERBD. Office managing partner and practice head Eva Berlaus is ‘very good at spotting opportunities in transactions and an excellent negotiator’.

Attorneys at Law Borenius acted for Belgium’s Puratos Group on its acquisition of leading Latvian food processing company Pure Food, and also provides everyday corporate advice to international broadcasting group, Modern Times. Practice head Indrikis Liepa and Gatis Filnters are ‘very good colleagues to work with and clearly hardworking people’.

Eversheds Bitans’ quality client roster has generated significant instructions in a relatively flat market. It advised Securitas on the acquisition of a majority stake in Latvian security company AveLat and has been involved in the airBaltic takeover. Maris Vainovskis has ‘great business sense and is a real pleasure to work with’.

Tark Grunte Sutkiene is benefiting from its pan-Baltic merger, which is allowing it to advise on cross-border deals such as the Baltic restructuring of ERGO Life Insurance; and sports retail chain Viva Sport’s sale and merger into Sportland. Andra Rubene ‘sees the wider picture’, and is ‘one of the most experienced corporate and M&A experts in Latvia’.

Varul is praised for its lawyers’ language skills, ‘Western outlook’, and ‘original ideas and approach to solutions’. The corporate practice is a core area for the firm, which advised Verifone on Latvian aspects of the €340m merger of two IT companies. Gints Vilgerts and Julija Jerneva lead the practice.

bnt Klauberg Krauklis Attorneys-at-law’s clients praise the team’s extensive language skills and the way it ‘always provides an excellent service’. Theis Klauberg and senior associate Esmeralda Balode-Buraka were instructed by White & Case LLP in Hamburg to advise Wilke Autohandel on local law aspects of the restructuring of international car dealerships. FedEx, Wrigley and Volvo Truck Latvia are also clients.

Gencs Valters Law Firm continues to advise longstanding client Premier Capital, owner of McDonald’s fast food business, on a €20m Baltic expansion programme. Anita Sondore led advice on a €21m merger between two meat-processing companies.

LetLaw’s corporate team advises Roche Latvia and Sandoz Pharmaceuticals on their activities in Latvia, and acted for Turkish company ATU Turizm Isletmeciligi on establishing a duty-free business at Riga Airport. Its ‘very well informed’ team includes Zane Eglite, who is recommended.

MAQS Law Firm’s corporate group provides ‘very high quality’ service. It handles a steady stream of cross-border and domestic matters for clients such as Latvian Railways, Unibet and AVT NAFTA. Sergei Petrov and Dimitri Kolesnikov are experienced professionals capable of advising in Latvian, Russian and English.

Skrastins & Dzenis has ‘a strong focus on achieving practical solutions’, and attains ‘a high standard of customer communication’. It primarily handles corporate matters for domestic and international SMEs, but also notably advised Ducascopy Bank (the Latvian subsidiary of Swiss-based Forex Bank) on the acquisition of a Latvian investment brokerage firm.