Been there,
done that

As the Baltic market leader in this field, COBALT is pleased to be the first choice for local and international clients in the largest and most complex public and private M&A transactions. The size of our Corporate Transactions practice group has enabled us to develop unique in-depth knowledge across various sectors which, with tailored teams set up for the most demanding transactions, provides a competitive edge for our clients. We cover not only straightforward M&A cases and private equity transactions but also spin-offs, joint ventures, management buyouts, and corporate restructuring processes. Working closely with other practice groups enables us to respond to the individual requirements of each transaction and develop tailored solutions for each client.

Our corporate and employment team offers legal advice to the management and shareholders of local and international companies on both routine and complex corporate and employment matters. We help clients just launching their business as well as provide support in relation to corporate governance, risk management, board liability, employment law, regulatory matters and maintaining good relations with authorities, as well as restructuring and liquidation.

Our top-ranked international team of lawyers advises on a large range of financing and capital market transactions, complex financing techniques, and financial regulatory and compliance matters. We are equally proud of our long-term relationships with established financial institutions and new market participants leveraging technology to disrupt the financial services industry. Our clients include local and international financial institutions, government agencies, international organisations, investment funds, private and listed companies raising equity and debt financing, and the most promising FinTech players in the region. We have provided services for lenders and borrowers, and issuers and underwriters in domestic and cross-border financing, as well as DCM and ECM transactions across all industries. Our experience includes debt and equity offerings, listings on regulated markets, derivatives, and structured finance. Our lawyers combine long-term experience in advising on transactions in a wide range of industrial and financial sectors with a deep knowledge of financial sector specifics and the applicable financial regulatory frameworks. We have also advised on the most significant financial sector M&A transactions in the Baltic region and have assisted in takeover offers in respect of shares in local listed companies. In addition, we consult banking industry representatives on policy issues to help develop a better regulatory landscape.

Competition, procurement, and state aid are among COBALT’s core business areas. Our experts are deeply involved as litigators and non-governmental advisors in the emerging fields of competitive neutrality and the regulation of superior bargaining power. The multilingual team draws on decisional practice from across Europe. Our business law practitioners and public law thought-leaders rely on each other’s strengths to help clients deal with the multitude of level-playing-field rules and supervisory authorities. Our various practices have a wealth of experience representing clients before EU administrative bodies and courts. Our experts feel comfortable in mixed language contexts to function as powerful intermediaries between clients and EU institutions. Notable assignments include merger control before the European Commission, state aid litigation before the EU General Court, and numerous Grand Chamber cases before the EU Court of Justice and trademark opposition proceedings before EUIPO.

Intellectual property, information technologies and data protection are among core areas at COBALT. We provide advice and represent clients in respect to trademarks and design registration, including protection and transactions, the IT and communications sector, data protection regulations, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and life sciences, product liability and consumer protection, media law and beyond. Our skilled and sizable team of IP/IT lawyers has the required industry business understanding and years of experience for advising clients in the respective areas and representing clients before supervisory authorities and government bodies. We focus on attaining our clients’ goals.

Our seasoned team caters for the diverse needs of various real estate and energy sector clients, including real estate transactions, tenancy relationships, property and infrastructure development, energy sector transactions, regulatory aspects and environmental matters, to name but a few. We also focus on processes related to climate change, including transfer to renewables, curbing carbon emissions, navigating subsidy schemes and complying with ever-increasing regulation. During years of practice, our dedicated specialists have gained invaluable experience from advising clients on some of the most significant real estate transactions, complex property, energy and infrastructure development projects, and demanding regulatory issues. This puts us in a perfect position to provide clients with efficient and practical advice, no matter how complicated and specific the issues may be from real estate, energy and the environmental field.

Our Tax practice group houses more than fifteen full-time tax professionals across our three offices with diverse specialist and professional backgrounds, which, paired with years of experience and a proven track record, allow us to offer our clients the best support in day-to-day tax matters, managing tax risks, structuring M&A transactions and representing clients in the most complex taxation disputes. Our tax experts are recognised as top-tier advisors by leading independent legal directories, and COBALT has been nominated as Baltic States Tax Firm of the Year by the prestigious ITR European Tax Awards.

Our Dispute Resolution team assists clients whenever a legal conflict is anticipated or needs to be avoided, managed or solved. Focusing on our clients’ needs, we have specialist and highly experienced lawyers for complex litigation, restructuring and insolvency, white-collar cases, internal investigations, public administrative and constitutional law questions, public procurement disputes, arbitration and mediation, as well as private wealth matters. Dispute Resolution covers all industries and legal areas, and our clients are also able to benefit from the in-depth knowledge COBALT’s other practice groups can bring to the table.

The interest and need of companies in environmental, social and governance issues are increasing day by day, both due to the addition of laws and regulations, and the growing expectations of investors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Our dedicated team is adept at mapping and mitigating ESG risks and identifying new business opportunities.