International law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP acted as outside legal counsel on matters of Polish, UK and US law to PKO Bank Polski (PKO), Poland’s top bank by assets, on the issuance of $1 billion in senior 10-year bonds by its subsidiary, PKO Finance AB. The bonds will be traded on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and proceeds will be used to refinance the bank’s existing financial indebtedness as well as for general corporate purposes. Goldman Sachs International and J.P. Morgan Securities plc acted as the joint lead managers.
Warsaw Capital Markets partner Anna M. Frankowska, who led Weil’s team, commented: “There have been very few Yankee bond offerings by issuers from Central and Eastern Europe, especially offerings this size. Poland’s banks have largely been insulated from the euro debt crisis and it is exciting to see PKO active in the marketplace. The transaction reaffirms the ability of our Firm to seamlessly handle multi-jurisdictional securities offerings.”
In addition to Ms. Frankowska, the Weil team on this matter included Warsaw Tax partner Robert Krasnodebski; Warsaw Banking & Finance partner Artur Zawadowski and associates Jakub Zagrajek, Marek Kanczew, Aleksandra Dobrzynska-Grezel and Maria Roszkowska; London Capital Markets partners Robert Ferguson and James Cole and associates Jesse Zigmund and James Cousins; US Capital Markets partner Matthew D. Bloch; US Private Equity partner David E. Wohl; and US Tax partner David I. Bower and associate Randell J. Gartin.
