Arzinger is taking over AGRECA
At the beginning of February, one of Ukraine’s legal business leaders Arzinger announced the news on it being strengthened by AGRECA, the firm known for its work with transport and infrastructure areas.
As our interlocutors summarized, this takeover was a logical step for Arzinger aimed to work with big concession projects. As the companies’ press release on the news contained mostly common phrases the Dead Lawyers Society found out some details from the inside.
AGRECA is located in Kyiv. It was included in the list of top-5 firms of the infrastructure practice area, according to Ukrainian Law Firms 2020. It has been working with seaports, inland waterways, railways, airports, and highways. From now on, AGRECA ‘s two partners, Andrii Pidhainyi and Maryna Sharapa are joining Arzinger where they are to head the discipline of transactions with the public sector. In particular, they’ll work with privatization, state-private partnership/concessions, rent, joint activity, and others.
Both Pidhainyi and Sharapa have a background in working with the State Property Fund of Ukraine, before Agreca’s founding in 2005. Pidhainyi headed the Fund’s legal department, while Sharapa headed the legal department’s sector of claims work. Together with the two partners, another five AGRECA’s lawyers joined Arzinger.
“The partners who have joined Arzinger are no longer owners of AGRECA. However, according to a preliminary agreement, it was decided that this firm will gradually complete all cases and will not provide legal services in the future. Maybe, it will be eliminated. The lawyers who came with us remain in the team,” Pidhainyi told The Dead Lawyers Society.
The partner has not revealed the details on whether the conditions for the lawyers changed, as well as whether he and Sharapa became Arzinger’s equity or salary partners. Neither he answered how long did the negotiations take. Arzinger’s adviser Viktor Syzonenko however shared that it was “a painstaking and lengthy process”.
Pidhainyi left the question of who initiated the union with no answer. However, he explained the decision on joining by increasing competition in the sector of transport, infrastructure, and public-private partnership. Therefore, during the last three-four years, the majority of big companies turned their eye on the market. Correspondingly for highly specialized companies such as AGRECA it became harder to compete. The partner is confident that AGRECA’s expertise is the main benefit Arzinger receives from the takeover.
Syzonenko in his turn shared that he is inspired by the new partnership, despite the trend of such so-called marriages in Ukraine being falling apart.
“With this reinforcement, we have no equal in the industry of infrastructure projects and transport in Ukraine,” Syzonenko concluded.
Dima Gadomsky, Olena Makarenko
