Bird & Bird advised Customs Support Group, a portfolio company of Castik Capital (a European Private Equity firm), one of Europe’s leading independent, digital and neutral provider of customs services, headquartered in the Netherlands, in connection with the acquisition of Rusak Business Services, a Polish leader in the customs sector with more than 20 locations throughout Poland and in the United Kingdom.
We have assisted Customs Support Group at each stage of the transaction, from the due diligence review, through drafting and negotiating of the transaction documents, including the agreements on the purchase of the shares of Rusak Business Services sp. z o.o. and Rusak UK Ltd., as well overseeing the period between signing and closing and assisting at completion of the transaction.
Bird & Bird’s core project team included lawyers from the Warsaw and London offices led by Ludomir Biedecki (Partner, Corporate & M&A, Warsaw) and comprised the following associates: Wojciech Nowosad (Senior Associate, Corporate & M&A, Warsaw), Justyna Walendziak (Junior Associate, Corporate & M&A, Warsaw), Karolina Ponikowska (Junior Associate, Corporate & M&A, Warsaw), George Mason (Senior Associate, Corporate & M&A, London), Anna Mikhalkovich (Associate, Corporate & M&A, London). The abovementioned team was supported by other lawyers from the Warsaw office:
Marta Koremba (Partner), Karolina Stawicka (Partner), Mateusz Dubek (Counsel), Marta Kwiatkowska-Cylke (Counsel), Bartłomiej Sikora (Counsel), Mateusz Bednarski (Senior Associate), Mateusz Żuk (Senior Associate), Olga Dąbrowska-Mel (Associate), Barbara Staniszewska (Associate), Filip Windak (Associate), Mateusz Kosowicz (Junior Associate), Michał Liszka (Junior Associate) and Julia Belina (Lawyer).
The law firm Skadden assisted the client with certain Luxembourg law related matters.
“We are thankful to have been entrusted by Customs Support Group with it first direct investment in Poland. The transaction had a fast pace as it was a key issue for the client and we were able to meet all the deadlines, despite its multijurisdictional aspects, including matters of Polish, English and Luxembourg law. We very much hope that this acquisition will be one of many more carried out by our client not only within the CEE Region but on a global scale”, said Ludomir Biedecki.
“By adding Rusak Business Services to the Customs Support Group’s family we have onboarded a fantastic team with excellent leaders. The transaction enhances our market position in Poland and will allow us to reach a larger scale of business both geographically and in terms of volumes. We would like to thank Bird & Bird for efficiently navigating us through every stage of the transaction and meeting the tight timeline. We are very pleased with the services, pragmatic and business-oriented approach which helped successfully close the deal”, commented Sebastian Ootjers, Director M&A and Corporate Development at Customs Support Group.