BUCHAREST – RTPR Allen & Overy successful in cancelling the fine imposed on Panasonic Romania by the Competition Council

RTPR Allen & Overy has represented Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH in its successful action for cancelling the decision of the Competition Council under which the company was sanctioned along with other 5 companies, members of ECOTIC, for allegedly concluding anti-trust agreements during the buy-back campaigns organised by ECOTIC in 2009.

By way of the decision ruled, the Bucharest Court of Appeal has fully upheld the plaintiff’s application and has cancelled the decision of the Competition Council No. 8/17.03.2014 as regards the Romanian branch of Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH. The court of law also awarded Panasonic the full amount of the trial costs requested.

A mixed legal team of RTPR Allen & Overy, specialising in litigation and competition law, having as members Prof Lucian Mihai (Of Counsel), Roxana Ionescu (Senior Associate), Adriana Dobre and Andrei Mihul (Associate), advised and represented Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH in this action in court.

“This has been a highly complex case, in which we believed firmly from the very beginning. Our defence relied on very strong arguments and evidence.” Roxana Ionescu declared.
Adriana Dobre, attorney-at-law specializing in litigation, said: “We have achieved this result given the work rendered by a cross-disciplinary team which included both lawyers specializing in competition law, and also lawyers specializing in litigation.”
Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH is the first company from the 6 companies, members of ECOTIC, sanctioned by the Competition Council in relation to this investigation, successful in obtaining a favourable decision ruled by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

RTPR was founded in 2004 and has been working in association with the London based international law firm Allen & Overy LLP since 2008. RTPR Allen & Overy has 45 lawyers, including 5 partners: Costin Tărăcilă, Victor Pădurari, Alexandru Retevoescu, Mihai Ristici, Valentin Berea and Professor Lucian Mihai, Of counsel.
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 which RTPR Allen & Overy have been recently involved are set out below:

• the syndicate of banks including Banca Comercială Română S.A., as coordinator, ING Bank N.V. Amsterdam – Bucharest Branch, Raiffeisen Bank S.A. and UniCredit Țiriac Bank S.A. in relation to a credit facility in amount of USD 360m granted to KMG International N.V. (former The Rompetrol Group N.V.) for refinancing some existing debts and for covering the regular demands.
• CA Immobilien Anlagen on the sale of its portfolio of logistic projects in total of 467,000 square meters located in Romania and Poland to PointPark Properties.
• Facebook on the acquisition of LiveRail.
• Resource Partners on the acquisition of the network of fitness centres, World Class, in Romania.
• Banco Comercial Português, the largest Portuguese bank, on the sale of Millennium Bank to OTP Bank.
• 3TS Capital Partners on the acquisition of a 23% shareholding stake in Simartis Telecom.
• Romprest and its shareholder Detaco on the exit of the investment fund 3i Group from Romprest.

Note to the editors:
1. Allen & Overy is an international legal practice with approximately 5,000 staff, including some 525 partners, working in 46 major cities in 32 countries.
2. RTPR was incorporated in 2004 and has been working in association with Allen & Overy since 2008. RTPR Allen & Overy has a team of 45 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.