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Type of firm

Law firm

Company description

Type of business

The Law Firm Domański Zakrzewski Palinka is the largest independent Polish law firm. It has a team of almost 200 experts advising in 9 practices across 40 specialisations. We have offices in Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław. Our clients include both Polish and foreign companies and investors representing almost all sectors of the economy. We advise clients in the following sectors: construction, energy and natural resources, financial institutions, real estate, retail chains and consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, public sector, technologies, media and telecommunications, and transport.

DZP's advisers are regularly awarded and recommended in national and international opinion-forming sector rankings organised by, e.g. Rzeczpospolita daily, Chambers and Partners and Legal 500.

Over 30 years, we have built up an extensive network of connections and relations with foreign law firms and advisory companies operating in over 90 countries. Thanks to our contacts with partner firms, we can actively use the most up-to-date legal advisory solutions from around the world.

Thanks to our many years’ experience, our support not only involves an interpretation of the law and case law, but also takes into account the business context. We guarantee our clients constant, direct contact with an adviser-relationship manager and the highest degree of discretion. We ensure personal engagement, availability and a full understanding of our clients' needs. We take a holistic approach to problems, thanks to which all matters are dealt with comprehensively by multi-task teams.

Relation to VC/PE industry

To support entities on the PE and VC market, we have a multi-disciplinary team of dozens of lawyers who are responsible for handling M&A transactions and providing regulatory advice to funds. For years, we have invariably ranked among the leading firms that carry out per year the highest number of M&A transactions and financing rounds (according to Mergermarket rankings).

Combining expert knowledge with extensive experience, we represent Polish and foreign entities on the public and private markets throughout the transaction process, also advising on raising financing and tax issues. Our clients include both financial institutions and private entities from all sectors of the economy, including technology companies.

ABOUT PE

Over many years we have been involved in some of the largest projects carried out in Poland by leading investment houses. We advise across the whole spectrum of regulatory and transactional needs and support both investors and recipients of capital.

Our advice includes structuring and formation of funds and investment vehicles, acquisition of companies for fund portfolios, corporate and sectoral advice, financing and restructuring, development of exit strategies through, e.g. MBO/LBO, sales to sectoral investors and IPOs.

ABOUT VC

Although our venture capital advice is relatively new, it is one of DZP's fastest growing advisory areas. Over the past few years, we have successfully combined high quality advice with active involvement in the startup and pioneering technology company community. In our work, we focus on supporting Polish founders and foreign VC funds investing in Poland and the CEE region.  We cooperate on a daily basis with organisations and entities that support investment in young companies – we carry out joint projects with the most active accelerators, co-run specialist courses and support university incubators.

Our work for clients does not end with merely providing professional expertise on their day-to-day operations or representation in investment rounds; it is also focused on networking, bringing together interested parties through a network of local and international contacts that we have built up over the years. We support entrepreneurs in raising capital, e.g. with the involvement of a club of business angels centred around DZP, and in cooperating with European technology brokers and leading international law firms specialising in serving the best VC funds, which have been our business partners for years. We firmly believe that this wide network of relationships gives us a competitive advantage.

The VC/PE funds that we advise include Apax Partners, ARX Equity Partners, BB Investment, Carlyle Group, Copernicus Finance,  Discovery Global Citizens Fund, Enterprise Investors, Gilde Equity Management Benelux B.V., InfraVia, InfraaVia Growth, Innova Capital, INVESCO, KKR Private Equity, Platinum, Polaris Capital, Renaissance Partners, Rubicon, Trinity Management.

Partners, key shareholders

Krzysztof Zakrzewski, Józef Palinka, Piotr Andrzejczak, Andrzej Foltyn, Marcin Krakowiak, Julita Zimoch-Tuchołka, Bogusław Kapłon, Marek Świątkowski, Paweł Grzejszczak, Paweł Lewandowski, Magdalena Skowrońska, Robert Niczyporuk, Tomasz Darowski, Bartosz Marcinkowski, Katarzyna Kuźma, Aleksandra Brożek, Lech Żyżylewski, Aleksandra Auleytner, Artur Nowak, Joanna Wierzejska, Rafał Hajduk, Paweł Paradowski, Wojciech Koczara, Rafał Grochowski, Agata Mierzwa, Łukasz Wojdalski, Paweł Pioruński