Wolf Theiss expands its Corporate and M&A team in Poland

According to Wolf Theiss Managing Partner Andrea Gritsch, this expansion is a big step for the firm’s target market in Poland as well as the entire CEE/SEE region: “We are excited to have highly experienced and talented teams join our Polish office. This is a testament to Wolf Theiss’ strategy to investing in top-tier talent and expanding our capabilities across the entire region.”

The new additions to the Corporate and M&A team in Poland

The teams, which include 7 partners at the core, have extensive experience advising domestic and international clients across various industry sectors on a broad range of corporate and M&A matters, including public and private M&A and private equity transactions, joint ventures, corporate governance and corporate restructurings, privatizations, as well as capital markets, work.

Tomasz Stasiak, Managing Partner of the Wolf Theiss office in Poland, emphasizes the importance of this expansion for the local market:

“We warmly welcome our new joiners who will strengthen our capabilities and allow us to offer our clients an even more comprehensive range of legal services in the Polish market. This is an exciting time for the legal industry in the region and I am confident that our Corporate and M&A practice in Poland is ideally positioned to continue meeting and exceeding our clients’ expectations.”

Partner Florian Kusznier, Head of the firm-wide Corporate and M&A practice at Wolf Theiss, further comments on the importance of this expansion for the firm’s corporate team: “These teams’ joining Wolf Theiss is a significant development for our overall Corporate and M&A practice. Their expertise and experience will be invaluable as we continue to grow and expand our capabilities. We are excited to have them on board and look forward to working with them to deliver outstanding results for our clients.”

From among the new team members, Izabela Zielińska-Barłożek, Anna Dąbrowska and Krzysztof Libiszewski will lead the Polish Corporate/M&A team with partners Bartosz Kuraś, Maciej A. Szewczyk, Marcin Pietkiewicz and Katarzyna Wójcik-Bąkowska joining forces.

• Izabela Zielińska-Barłożek specialises in M&A including cross-border transactions. She also provides ongoing advice on corporate law and has taken part in many enterprise restructuring projects including mergers, divisions and reorganisations. Her clients include companies in various sectors such as construction, technology, FMCG and private equity. She serves as a Commissioner in the IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission is a member of the Advisory Board of the Real Estate Committee of the International Bar Association and a past chair of that very Committee, as well as a board member of the Association Europénne d’Études Juridiques et Fiscales (AEEJF). Izabela is listed in the Poland IFLR1000 Women Leaders for 2022 (M&A, Real estate transactions).
• Anna Dąbrowska specialises in local as well as international acquisitions and divestments in a variety of economic sectors including manufacturing, FMCG, technology and private equity. She also assists clients daily in corporate matters, including mergers, divisions and reorganisations. Anna is the Senior Vice-Chair of the European Regional Forum in the IBA and she also serves as a Commissioner in the IBA Future of Legal Services Commission. Furthermore, she is a co-chair of the Polish Chapter of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association.
• Krzysztof Libiszewski specialises in cross-border M&A, takeovers, joint ventures, distressed situations, as well as corporate restructurings. While he is strongly focused on the private equity industry, his clients also include strategic and various financial investors. He regularly advises corporate boards on governance issues and publishes general Corporate/M&A and selected capital market topics.
• Bartosz Kuraś specialises in providing transactional advice on domestic and cross-border M&A matters and supports clients on an ongoing basis. Bartosz assists strategic and financial investors as well as private equity. He is also active in the field of commercial contracts and in taking up new technologies.
• Maciej A. Szewczyk is a dual-qualified M&A lawyer, admitted as a Polish attorney-at-law and a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales (currently not practising). He handles M&A, including private equity, corporate and commercial law. He has taken part in numerous complex and notable transactions, both domestic and multi-jurisdictional. Maciej regularly contributes to international and local publications in his specialist field.
• Marcin Pietkiewicz has a strong focus on Equity and Debt Capital Markets, the financial industry and M&A. Marcin advises his clients on public and financial sector M&A transactions as well as on public and private offerings of securities and matters relating to listings on securities markets. His practice combines transactional advice with regulatory aspects, and he has a wide range of financial services regulatory experience. His clients include listed companies, banks, investment firms, asset managers and other financial institutions. Marcin is also active in securitization and NPL (non-performing loans) transactions, where he focuses on regulatory aspects.
• Katarzyna Wójcik-Bąkowska specialises in M&A cross-border, global and domestic transactions. She also provides advice on corporate law and has taken part in many enterprise restructuring projects including mergers, divisions and reorganisations. Katarzyna supports clients on an ongoing basis and assists strategic and financial investors as well as private equity investors. Her clients include companies in various sectors including IP, technology, FMCG and financial services. In addition, Katarzyna has extensive experience in the healthcare and biotechnology sectors.

Anna Dąbrowska, also for Izabela Zielińska-Barłożek and Krzysztof Libiszewski: “We are thrilled to join Wolf Theiss, a leading regional firm which has a strong reputation for delivering high-quality legal services to clients in Poland and beyond. We are confident that our experience and expertise will enable us to make a significant contribution to the firm’s further growth and success in the region.”