Sayenko Kharenko has won the first ever CEE Legal Matters CEE Deal of the Year Award at the CEE Legal Matters Awards Banquet in Prague on June 7 for its work on Ukraine’s 2017 Eurobond issue. Picking up the double, the firm also won Deal of the Year Award for Ukraine for that same matter.

Winners were chosen based on deal complexity, market (and regional) significance, and innovation. Finalists had been nominated based on all deals signed in the 2017 calendar year, and nominees were identified by a panel of highly-regarded private practitioners in Ukraine. A second, “Final Selection Committee,” consisting of prominent legal experts from across Central and Eastern Europe, picked the winners for each market and for CEE as a whole. The awards were announced at the CEE Legal Matters Annual Banquet that concluded the international Dealer’s Choice law firm conference at the Czech National Bank in Prague.

Partner Anton Korobeynikov commented: “This year’s inaugural award event is an important launch for CEE Legal Matters which also brought welcome recognition for Sayenko Kharenko. It is an honour for us to have Ukraine’s Eurobond issue awarded both the Deal of the Year in Ukraine and the Deal of the Year across the CEE region. We are grateful to CEE Legal Matters for creating this CEE-focused format and look forward to next year’s event.”

"To a real extent, the ability to make these important deals happen reflects the skill and passion the best lawyers in the region bring to their work every day," said CEE Legal Matters Executive Editor David Stuckey, who co-hosted the event with CEELM Managing Editor Radu Cotarcea. "We were honoured to have so many of these skilled and committed lawyers join us for this unique celebration in Prague and it was a pleasure to acknowledge the real value they bring both to their clients, the countries they work in, and CEE as a whole. The importance of Ukraine's Eurobond Issue was undeniable, and the Final Selection Committee was evidently swayed by the significant message it sent to the region and the world about Ukraine’s renaissance and viability. We hope the firms who worked on that tremendous matters and joined us in Prague to celebrate it enjoyed the evening as much as we did."

In the two awards winning deal, Sayenko Kharenko acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Securities, joint lead managers of the landmark Eurobond placement and related tender offer by Ukraine for the total amount of USD 3 billion. Ukraine has successfully re-entered the international Eurobonds market. This issue and tender offer were a clear sign that debt capital markets are becoming accessible again for Ukraine. The demand was at a record high for Ukraine, as a result of which book offers exceeded USD 9.5 billion.

Sayenko Kharenko acted as a legal counsel on two out of three deals shortlisted this year. The second nominated deal was the acquisition of Karavan Hypermarket chain by Auchan Retail Ukraine deal, which is the biggest deal in the Ukrainian retail sector to date and the largest local M&A transaction for the last four years.

Sayenko Kharenko’s team working on the transaction included senior associates Marta Lozenko and Konstantin Penskoy, associate Andriy Tsyatsyak, junior associate Oles Trachuk and was led by partner Nazar Chernyavsky.

More information about the awards and a complete list of winners can be found on the CEE Legal Matters website, here.