Our team

Expertise

Alina heads our Banking and Finance practice and has developed her expertise during more than 25 years of practical experience in a wide range of projects, including complex mergers and acquisitions projects in the banking sector, financing transactions, sales/acquisitions and development of real estate projects, as well as assistance on corporate matters, contracts and a large number of projects requiring thorough knowledge of regulatory matters in the financial services field.

Alina has assisted clients in landmark deals on the Romanian market, advising companies in relation to multi-jurisdictional or domestic financing and refinancing facilities, shaping complex security structures and addressing key financing aspects in various borrower default or insolvency scenarios.

Her practice focuses on:

• banking
• corporate finance
• acquisition finance
• project finance
• real estate
• corporate
• mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector
• the launch of new banking products and other financial services
• restructuring and insolvency
• financing on the debt markets
• financing of public authorities
• insurance

Industry Focus

• financial sector
• industrial and manufacturing
• insurance and private pensions

Representative Cases and Transactions

Banking, Finance and Capital Markets

• assistance to a leading real estate investment firm active in the CEE area on a landmark listing on the AIM market operated by the London Stock Exchange
• assistance to a leading real estate investor and developer in CEE region on Romanian law aspects related to its listing and offering on Warsaw Stock Exchange
• assistance to a major Romanian food producer listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange’s AeRO market (BSE’s alternative trading system) in connection with Romanian law requirements regarding the implementation of a mandatory public offer
• assistance to a leading Romanian producer of organic agricultural products on the very successful private placement and bonds issuance and on the process of admission to listing on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
• assistance to a local administrative body in relation to the largest ever municipal bond issue in Romania, amounting to 500 million EUR
• assistance to the Romanian government in connection with the sale of a majority interest in Romania’s largest state-owned financial institution to the leading Austrian bank at 3.75 billion EUR, as well as with respect to the pre-privatisation stage, including the  structuring, negotiation and execution of a sale of 25% of BCR’s share capital to international financial institutions and the transfer of 8% of its share capital to BCR employees
• assistance to a leading American financial institution in the cross-border merger process of its Irish and Romanian branches, the first cross-border merger implemented in Romania as a result of which Citibank Romania transferred all of its assets and liabilities to Citibank Ireland; following this process, Citibank Romania was dissolved in parallel with the establishment of the Romanian branch of Citibank Ireland
• assistance to the real estate division of a major investment bank in relation to the financing of a 341 million EUR forward purchase of two office buildings and two residential buildings located in the northern area of Bucharest
• assistance to two major European banks in connection with the Romanian security package related to a syndicated senior and mezzanine financing of approximately 300 million GBP for a group of companies with affiliates in Romania
• assistance to the agent and a syndicate of banks and financial institutions in a multi-jurisdictional syndicated facility, with a value of 80 million EUR, extended to a group of companies in process of restructuring within insolvency proceedings abroad, including aspects related to the release of existing security and creating new security
• assistance to a major CEE real estate developer in connection with a financing in excess of 200 million EUR for various real estate projects including office and residential developments in Bucharest and shopping malls outside Bucharest
• assistance to the arranger and leading banks in connection with a syndicated facility in excess of 180 million RON granted to the Bucharest Sector 6 Municipality
• assistance to a leading international bank, in connection with the loans (amounting to 40 million EUR and 16.4 million EUR) extended to the Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport for development and modernization of the airport, guaranteed by sovereign guarantees and with the support of Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero
• assistance on Romanian law aspects (including the security package) to a club of major credit institutions extending a 100 million EUR loan to a major pharmaceutical company for refinancing an existing facility and for general corporate purposes