BUCHAREST – RTPR Allen & Overy advises Catalyst Romania on an investment in SmartDreamers.
RTPR Allen & Overy has advised private equity fund Catalyst Romania in relation to the investment in SmartDreamers S.R.L., a well-known online recruitment platform. The investment targets the development of the business and its international expansion.
3TS Catalyst Romania is the most active investor in Romania by the number of companies in the IT and technology sector, and the investment in SmartDreamers represents the tenth deal of the fund. In the last two years RTPR Allen & Overy advised the fund in relation to several projects, such as Elefant Online (a well-known online retailer in Romania), Intelligent IT (the developers of the billing software SmartBill), Marketizator Friends (offering to online businesses conversion rate optimisation services, surveys, traffic segmentation and web personalisation), Vector Watch (the smart watches business), 123ContactForm (a software development company whose primary product is an online web form and survey builder), Green Horse Games (the developers of an online football gaming company).
The RTPR Allen & Overy team of lawyers that advised the private equity fund Catalyst Romania in relation to this matter included Costin Tărăcilă (Managing Partner), Alina Stăvaru (Counsel), Laurenţiu Tisescu (Associate), Ana Maria Eremia (Senior Associate) and Evelin Grigore (Junior Associate).
“We would like to thank Catalyst Romania for giving us the chance to advise them once again on a new project. The new deal is a confirmation of the fact that the online sector generates interesting businesses for investors. We wish our client Catalyst Romania that this project becomes an international success as they plan and we are honoured to have been part in its accomplishment”, Alina Stăvaru declared.
Laurențiu Tisescu added: “We are extremely proud to have had the chance to assist Catalyst Romania on the fund’s tenth investment in Romania. It was a very intense deal which took place within a short timeframe and which was achieved as a result of the professional approach of all parties. We would like to thank Catalyst Romania for putting their trust in us and we are happy to have been part of a project that we believe will become a success story.”
RTPR Allen & Overy’s main areas of activity are: financing, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, insolvency and restructuring, competition, labour law, intellectual property law, litigation and arbitration, and providing advice across a range of business sectors including energy, telecommunications, finance, real estate and the pharmaceutical industry.
Selected transactions in the TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) sector in which RTPR Allen & Overy have been recently involved are set out below:
• South Eastern European Fund in relation to the sale of Total Soft S.A., the most important ERP producer in Central Europe
• Elefant Online and its shareholders, Millennium Gold Resources and Catalyst Romania, in relation to the investment of Axxess Capital and a supplementary investment from its minority shareholder Catalyst Romania.
• Catalyst Romania fund on the recent investments in Intelligent IT, the developers of the well-known billing software SmartBill and Marketizator Friends, offering to online businesses conversion rate optimisation services, surveys, traffic segmentation and web personalisation
• Technology in Central and Eastern Europe fund in relation to the acquisition of Internet Corp, one of the biggest players on the online publishing market at the moment which owns several well-known websites such as wall-street.ro, 9am.ro, start-up.ro etc.
• Facebook on the acquisition of the LiveRail group, a video advertising business created by a Romanian entrepreneur
• Catalyst Romania, a private equity fund managed by 3TS Capital Partners in relation to the investment in Vector Watch group, the producers of the smartwatches having a one-month battery life
• Catalyst Romania, a private equity fund managed by 3TS Capital Partners on the acquisition of a 20% shareholding stake in 123ContactForm SRL, a software development company whose primary product is an online web form and survey builder
• Enterprise Investors in relation to the exit from Siveco Romania
• Catalyst Romania, a private equity fund managed by 3TS Capital Partners on its investment in Green Horse Games, a Romanian online football gaming company
Note to the editors:
1. Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with approximately 5,200 staff, including some 530 partners, working in 44 major worldwide.
2. RTPR was incorporated in 2004 and has been working in association with Allen & Overy since 2008. RTPR Allen & Overy has a team of 38 lawyers, including 5 partners: Costin Tărăcilă, Victor Pădurari, Alexandru Retevoescu, Mihai Ristici, Valentin Berea and also Prof Dr Lucian Mihai, Of counsel.
3. In this press release, “Allen & Overy” means Allen & Overy LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings.
4. In this press release, “RTPR Allen & Overy” means Radu Tărăcilă Pădurari Retevoescu SCA in association with Allen & Overy LLP.
5. Allen & Overy has been operating in the CEE region since 1991, when its first office opened in Warsaw. Since then, it has expanded its operations to include Prague, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava and Moscow, all of which are renowned in the market for top quality legal advice combined with local commercial understanding, as well as for their integrity and their pro-active approach to matters. Additionally, Allen & Overy signed an exclusive association with the leading full-service Romanian law firm Radu Tărăcilă Pădurari Retevoescu SCA (RTPR), effective from July 2008, expanding the number of CEE offices in which we are able to provide local law advice to six.
