GESSEL as advisors to Argus Capital on its exit from the investment in the MILA supermarket chain

GESSEL provided comprehensive legal services to the private equity fund Argus Capital on sale of its shares in the controlling companies of MILA S.A. to the EUROCASH Group. In this way, GESSEL supported Argus Capital in yet another stage of its involvement with MILA (previously part of the POLOmarket chain), beginning with the fund’s initial investment back in 2012.

MILA currently owns 188 supermarkets, mostly in central Poland. Its retail network is represented in most administrative regions of the country, with the largest number of stores operated in Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Mazowieckie, Łódzkie, Lubuskie, Wielkopolskie, Świętokrzyskie, and Śląskie. The network’s aggregate sales for 2016 approached PLN 1.5 billion.

The EUROCASH Group is Poland’s largest wholesale distributor of foodstuffs, household cleaning products, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco (in short, FMCG). Its franchise and partnership network comprises almost 15,000 independent retailers.

The transaction is valued at PLN 350 million; it will be finalised pending antitrust clearance from the Office of Consumer and Competition Protection.

For GESSEL, the project was managed by Marcin Macieszczak, managing partner, Małgorzata Badowska, partner and by Michał Bochowicz, advocate.