GESSEL as counsel to Bank BNP Paribas

This time, GESSEL advised BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. on its investment in Asprod sp. z o.o. (a bakery and baked goods retail chain in Western Pomerania). Of the 15 deals closed by the Bank in Poland to date (7 of which involved GESSEL as counsel), this has been the largest. Asprod plans to apply the funds accrued from this transaction towards construction of a new bakery, doubling its output.

As always, GESSEL assisted its Client on many fronts, performing due diligence, drafting the requisite documentation and providing support at closing. Krzysztof Jasiński, senior associate and Mateusz Bąk, associate worked on the deal proper, and Michał Boryczka, managing associate attended to the due diligence. Overall supervision on GESSEL’s part was by Małgorzata Badowska, partner.

BNP Paribas is a leading European bank with a large international footprint, pursuing – through its various affiliates – operations in 74 countries, relying on a workforce of over 190,000 employees (including over 146,000 in Europe). It prides itself on being a strong local bank with global outreach; in 2017, it ranked seventh in Poland in terms of assets. For five years, its Polish branch has been operating an equity investments office – in effect a small fund through which the Bank invests in small and medium-sized Polish companies (12 to date, in some cases with more than one financing rounds).

Asprod has been in operation since 1991, producing bread and pastries and distributing them across the Western Pomeranian, Lubuskie and Wielkopolskie regions. In 2018, Asprod achieved a PLN 6.3 million net profit from revenue of PLN 104 million. Almost two-thirds of its sales are channelled through Asprod’s network of over 60 own retail points.