Bucharest - London, October 3rd - Lina & Guia, one of Romania's top law firms, has today announced its association with the international law firm Eversheds. Immediately after obtaining the approval of the Bucharest Bar, Lina & Guia will operate under the name Eversheds Lina & Guia.

Lina & Guia is a well-established Romanian full service law firm, boasting a prestigious track record and an impressive client portfolio, including Danone, Cosmote, GlaxoSmithKline, Tyco, Sigma Bleyzer, RBS, Medicover and Volvo. The firm's areas of expertise range from M&A, Commercial and real Estate, to Energy & Projects, Banking, Employment, Telecommunications, Antitrust, Dispute Resolution and Insolvency.

Lina & Guia is an energetic, fast-paced and enterprising legal practice committed to providing the highest level of quality in legal services in Romania. Working at large-firm standards and being able to undertake complex work, coupled with small-firm client care and attention to detail, Lina & Guia now marks another era in its evolution.

Eversheds International is a top-ranking global London based law firm with 46 offices world-wide. Its continuing expansion speaks of a better understanding of local markets and legal contexts, dedicated to offering impeccable services.

Mihai Guia, managing partner of Lina & Guia said: "Our collaboration with such a prestigious global law firm will enable us to provide our clients with seamless international service and, in return, we will be able to share our local knowledge of the Romanian market and this region with our new colleagues overseas. We share the same perspective, to be committed locally but to operate as one firm globally."

"We are proud to collaborate with such a strong and highly reputed law firm. This is a crucial milestone in our evolution and we will continue to uphold the highest of standards, now benefitting from a wider global perspective," Cristian Lina, managing partner of Lina & Guia, declared.

Bryan Hughes, Chief Executive of Eversheds LLP said: "Lina & Guia has an exceptional reputation for its ability to undertake complex work, coupled with a high standard of client service. The Romanian market is a critical hub for the Central and Eastern European market and has strong growth potential as well as being a strong trade partner with Russia."

Lina & Guia is proud to announce its collaboration with the recently established Romanian Society for Developmental Biology (RSDB), a non-profit organization that aims at providing a forum for the best Romanian scientists, irrespective of their country of residence or affiliation, working in the field of stem cells and developmental biology at large. RSDB aims at strengthening the Romanian scientific community in these areas, building on the local tradition of the field and the experience of young investigators, both abroad and working in the country.

"This is one of the fastest-growing disciplines in biology and science in general," says Dr Octavian Voiculescu, of Cambridge University, the body's acting President, who added that the organization "will seek to elucidate fundamental aspects of living matter organisation, and their application at the frontier of modern medicine."

Adrian Iordache, the Partner who has helped with the project set-up, stressed the firm's continuing commitment to pro-bono work for worthwhile causes. "It is our way of giving back to the community" said Mr Iordache, who added that "We are confident that RSDB will be a hub for Romanian scientific excellence and we are particularly pleased to be able to contribute, with our own expertise, to the visionary efforts of some best Romanian researchers in the field."

Mihai Jelea has joined Lina & Guia to strengthen the Corporate and Commercial practice of the firm. His arrival will also significantly increase the capabilities of Lina & Guia in the Insolvency and Recovery practice area - a field that has seen in the past two years an unprecedented growth in terms of client mandates. Mihai's previous career includes working with Bulboaca & Associatii, with the legal arm of KPMG and with a leading insolvency practice in Romania. Mihai graduated from the Law School of the Bucharest University and from the University of Paris I, Pantheone - Sorbonne, Faculty of European Law and is a member of the Bucharest Bar. He also holds a LLM in Business Law from Bucharest University. He is fluent in English, French, Italian and Romanian.

More then ever, we feel the holiday season is the time for us to remember those who are less fortunate and share not only the good spirit, but also the material accomplishments. Law firm Lina & Guia keeps that tradition alive, and sponsors, for the 2nd consecutive year an orphanage in Bucharest (St Joseph's Orphanage). We here at Lina & Guia support children to whom life has proven harsh, because Lina & Guia believes in living the charitable spirit and aligns its CSR effort with helping those in need.

On November the 1st, local law firm Lina & Guia initiated its first training program in partnership with the European Law Students Association. The top five senior year law students have been awarded a three month internship training program, working together with the legal team of Lina & Guia and getting a hands on and practical experience of practicing law in the real world. Undoubtedly, these three months will prove beneficial for the students on the brink of their next professional stage. We proud ourselves in the fact that we are able to share our experience with young enthusiasts who will one day become the next generation of legal professionals.

Experienced litigator Sorin Susnea has joined this month the litigation practice of Lina & Guia as Senior Associate. The move is designed to boost the litigation capability of the firm in the face of growing demand for litigation assistance from current clients as well as of an increasing number of requests for new mandates.

"I am excited to have been offered this new role with a firm that has already built a strong reputation on the market", said Susnea. "Lina & Guia assists prestigious businesses in the country as well as abroad and I hope to be able to contribute my experience to the consolidation of the practice."

Sorin Susnea has been a trial lawyer in Romania for more than 7 years and joins Lina & Guia from litigation boutique Susnea & Popescu SCA.

On the first edition of the Attorney Gala of Ziarul Financiar, the award for the largest telecom transaction for 2009 went to "Lina & Guia" for the firm's contribution in providing advice in one of the most important transactions on the telecommunication market of 2009. The firm assisted Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications S.A. on the acquisition of Romanian mobile operator Telemobil S.A., operating under the Zapp trademark.

Also this week, on the third edition of the Top Attorneys Awards Gala held by Finmedia, Lina & Guia has received an award under the "Mergers and Acquisitions" category.

Lina & Guia was rewarded for its role within the course of the transaction which included running a full due diligence exercise on the target, negotiation of transaction documents and transactional assistance, and merger clearance.

"Beyond the challenges posed by this transaction, the highlight for us was that this operation is the third notable assignment given by our client Cosmote (following the acquisition of Cosmorom and Germanos) and we are proud that by providing quality services we managed to grow our client's loyalty" says Cristian Lina, managing partner of Lina & Guia. The telecommunication industry is a highly specialised field, on a well regulated and concentrated, from a competition point of view, market therefore the transaction proved to be very complex.

Two new Associates join Lina & Guia providing a perfect upgrade of its capabilities in the Banking, Corporate & Commercial and Energy practices.

Alina Corobana is an attorney with strong credentials in corporate and commercial law in Romania. Alina joins the Lina & Guia team from the Bucharest office of Gide Loyrette Nouel. Alina is a graduate of University of Bucharest and speaks English, French and Romanian.

Mara Pancu focuses primarily on Banking and Finance, Energy and Projects and Corporate related matters. She has developed a particular and valuable expertise in banking and finance transactions, in focusing in particular on securitization of receivables and other instruments, as well as in advising both public and private clients in public sector transactions. Before joining Lina & Guia, she worked as an Associate Attorney with Voicu & Filipescu SCA. Mara is a graduate of University of Bucharest and speaks English and Romanian.

Lina & Guia advises Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications S.A. in connection with the acquisition of the Romanian mobile operator Telemobil S.A , which operates on the local market under the Zapp brand name.

Our role includes full due diligence, assisting with the transaction documents and merger clearance.

The transaction represents the combination of the third and fourth largest mobile network operators in Romania and is one of the most significant transactions in the telecom sector in Romania and likely to be the largest M&A transaction of the year in Romania.

Additional press coverage can be found here, at Top Legal International, or here, at Ziarul Financiar and here, at Standard.

We are proud to announce that Lina & Guia SCA has received, for the second year, meritorious recommendations from Legal 500 in its 2008-2009 issue in 4 core areas, notably placing our team in the second tier (top 10) law firms in the area of Energy and Natural Resources.
(References: http://www.legal500.com/firms/14337/offices/18659)

For additional press coverage see also this link and this link.

Lina & Guia was selected by Helios Eastern Europe Limited to provide legal advice in relation to development, operation and divestment of its operations in Romania.

Helios Eastern Europe Limited is a successful property development and investment company with an active presence on the UK and European real estate market (commercial, mixed use and residential property markets).

Lina & Guia law firm is pleased to announce the appointment of two new Partners. Adrian A. Iordache and Cristian T. Guia have been made Partners in the firm, effective January 1, 2009.

Cristian T. Guia specialized in real estate law acting on a broad range of cross-border and domestic transactions with an emphasis on real estate acquisitions, lease agreements, construction law (including FIDIC regulated agreements), real estate finance and due diligence reviews. Prior to joining the Firm in 2008, Cristian practiced as a senior associate with the Bucharest office of Gide Loyrette Nouel.

Adrian A. Iordache is a NY and Bucharest qualified attorney, educated in the UK, Canada and France and advises on banking & finance, real estate and corporate matters, as well as EU and Romanian competition regulations. His work has involved advising on multilateral institution financing, structuring M&A transactions, as well as various corporate and other matters in Romania. Adrian joined the firms from Iordache & Iordache SCA, where he practiced as Partner and acting General Counsel to the developer Baneasa Developments. For additional press coverage, please also refer to this article.

Three new Associates join Lina & Guia boosting its capabilities in the Real Estate Corporate/M&A and Dispute Resolution practices.

Diana Balanescu is an experienced attorney, with strong credentials in dispute resolution, regulatory and corporate law in Romania. Diana joins the Lina & Guia team from Iordache & Iordache SCA. She holds an undergraduate degree in Laws from Spiru Haret University and a Masters from Nicolae Titulescu University. She speaks English, French and Romanian.

Ana-Maria Lupu-Otelea specializes in Commercial Real Estate and Corporate law. Ana-Maria has successfully assisted major commercial developers in Romania with contracting, commercial leasing and corporate work as well as in various regulatory aspects of Romanian law. She holds degrees in Laws from University of Bucharest and in Public Administration from SNSPA and she speaks English and Romanian.

Veronica Berzoi is advising primarily in the areas of Corporate, Real Estate and Regulatory law in Romania. Before joining Lina & Guia, she worked as an Associate Attorney with Iordache & Iordache SCA assisting with medium and large corporate clients in corporate, real estate and other areas of Romanian law. Veronica is a graduate of University of Bucharest and speaks English, Russian and Romanian.