ROMANIA > TAX TIER 1
Biris Goran SPARL has a broad-based tax practice with a market-leading reputation for landmark disputes. The firm regularly represents some of Romania’s largest institutions, Banca Comercială Română being a notable example, on their confrontations with the tax authorities. The firm’s expertise covers direct and indirect taxes, and its lawyers are praised for their ‘good knowledge and understanding of the law’ and being ‘always willing to find a solution ‘. Key team members include founding partner Gabriel Biris, whose experience also extends to legislative reforms, and Ruxandra Jianu, who works within the firm’s tax consulting arm, Biris Goran Consulting. Support here includes advice on corporate tax structuring and M&A.
Leading individuals
Gabriel Biriș – Biris Goran SPARL
Ruxandra Jianu – Biris Goran SPARL
Practice head(s):
Gabriel Biriș; Ruxandra Jianu
Testimonials
‘The team is client and problem solving oriented. They understand clients’ needs and always look for a solution, also different ways to improve or to mitigate risks within legal limits.’
‘A good knowledge and understanding of the law. Always willing to find a solution’
Work highlights
Assisting Banca Comercială Română on a major multimillion Euro dispute with the tax authorities concerning transfer pricing, share transfers and assignment of receivables, as well as corporate income tax matters specific to financial institutions.
Legal advisor the largest Romanian energy distributor, Distribuție Energie Electrică in a complex tax dispute.
Provided tax assistance to River Development following the sale of one of its real estate developments.
ROMANIA > EU AND COMPETITION TIER 2
Biris Goran SPARL is popular with clients who commend its ‘swiftness combined with unquestionable professionalism’. The firm’s experience of competition and antitrust matters covers high level contentious and non-contentious mandates. The practice has a good track record on high profile cartel cases and investigations, and has achieved some notable successes on behalf of international clients such as Viessmann. This is coupled with a solid understanding of heavily regulated sectors such as financial services and life sciences. The ‘very helpful‘ founding partner Gelu Goran is praised for his ‘good and timely advice’. Senior associate Răzvan Bardicea is also singled out for praise.
Leading individuals
Gelu Goran – Biris Goran SPARL
Rising stars
Răzvan Bardicea – Biris Goran SPARL
Practice head(s):
Gelu Goran
Testimonials
‘Very proactive and knowledgeable.’
‘One of the most appealing aspects of the firm is its swiftness throughout the whole procedure of fulfilling a mandate, from the first contact until the mandate is completely performed. This swiftness combined with the highest level of professionalism on a wide range of legal fields resulted in that all of our co-operations were highly fruitful. Our main field of co-operation was competition law, specifically a Romanian merger clearance procedure, which is widely known for its strict deadlines and the requirement of precision and a deep understanding of different legal and business areas, and this firm was more than capable to correspond with these requirements.’
‘We have worked especially with Goran Gelu and Teodora Motatu. Both lawyers represented a distinguished level of understanding on their fields, competition law and M&A (another prominently complex field) respectively. Again, we must mention that their strongest aspect was their swiftness combined with unquestionable professionalism.’
‘Gelu Goran is very helpful and provides good and timely advice.’
‘Provide deep legal analysis, dedicated, focus on obtaining good results, good understanding of the business impact of the matters analyzed and appropriate adaptation of the legal opinion to respond to business needs and minimize any negative impact.’
‘Deep analysis combined with clear practical guidance, reliable, prompt’
‘Promptness, pragmatic/commercial approach, flexibility and, in general, ‘value for money’ and “out of the box” approach.’
‘Gelu Goran and Razvan Bardicea – Their experience in the specific area of competition matters provided a strong legal know-how and practical basis for dealing with any aspects/hurdles that could come in the course of the projects, both legally correct but also pragmatically and in a flexible manner. They were definitely efficient, responsive and very proactive, with a significant experience with the Romanian legislative initiatives environment and the Romanian authorities’
Work highlights
Ongoing assistance to Aon UK and its Romanian insurance brokerage affiliate, Aon Romania, in a Competition Council investigation into the aviation insurance market for alleged bid-rigging and price fixing.
Advising Viessmann, a manufacturer of heating and refrigeration systems, in a vertical price fixing investigation.
Advising UniCredit Leasing Fleet Management in an industry-wide information exchange investigation.
ROMANIA > REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION TIER 2
Biris Goran SPARL is a strong choice for major real estate transactions and development projects. The firm acts for a mix of domestic and international investors and developers, including corporate owners and investment funds. Complex transactions, often with a heavy corporate element, have featured prominently on the agenda in the past year, both in terms of divestments and acquisitions. The firm was also busy with several high profile mixed-use, industrial and logistics developments. Daniela Lazea has good expertise in transactional and contentious matters, while Sorin Aungurenci has a particular emphasis on zoning and related regulatory issues. Mariana Signeanu is the main contact for related project finance.
Rising stars
Mariana Signeanu – Biris Goran SPARL
Practice head(s):
Daniela Lazea; Sorin Aungurenci
Work highlights
- Assisted SIF Banat-Crișana on the indirect (via a share deal) acquisition of the land on which the IMGB Bucharest industrial platform is located, with an area totaling 540,000 square metres.
- Assisted Tubinox in the sale of 100,000 square metres worth of industrial land and related buildings in Bucharest.
- Assisted Zeus International in the financing and then acquisition of a portfolio of three hotels in Bucharest from Alpha Real Estate.
ROMANIA > COMMERCIAL, CORPORATE AND M&A TIER 3
Biris Goran SPARL represents an impressive mix of investment funds and corporates, and has seen an increasing amount of buyer-side mandates in the past year. The practice has especially good experience of cross-border corporate deals in with a heavy real estate component, such as SIF Banat Crisana’s acquisition of South Korea’s IMGB Doosan. Coupled with the firm’s ‘exceptional quality ‘ and ‘great strength in M&A’, is its ‘excellent knowledge of regulatory and tax structuring‘. The team is jointly led by Ana Frațian and the ‘pro-business and proactive‘ Teodora Moțatu , who ‘is always responsive’, and ‘has great entrepreneurial drive‘.
Practice head(s):
Teodora Moțatu; Ana Frațian
Testimonials
‘The firm offers full-service with great strength in M&A; every practice needed for our M&A deal was smoothly provided with exceptional quality.’
‘Teodora Motatu is the partner to got to in M&A Deals involving Romania. She is always responsive, has great entrepreneurial drive, is pro-business and proactive and anticipates the clients´ needs’
‘Excellent knowledge of regulatory and tax structuring. Commitment and high level of negotiation skills.’
‘360 degrees of M&A, covering all levels of the transaction. Highly skilled team with extensive national and international experience.’
Work highlights
- Assisted River Development, a real estate developer, in selling of a company owning The Light One office building to UNIQA Real Estate.
- Assisting Zeus International, a Greek hospitality management and restructuring company, in its leveraged acquisition of three Bucharest downtown hotels from Alpha Bank Romania.
- Assisted SIF Banat-Crișana, a major local investment company, on its acquisition of IMGB Doosan, a South Korean heavy machinery company that owns the largest industrial platform in Bucharest.
ROMANIA > DISPUTE RESOLUTION TIER 4
Biris Goran SPARL is renowned for its extremely strong tax litigation practice where it represents major domestic and international clients on some of their most high value claims. This feeds into broader strengths in administrative litigation, including antitrust and competition disputes, and appearances before regulatory agencies and tribunals. The team is praised for its ‘excellent knowledge of substantial and procedural laws‘, and ‘very extensive experience with courts and tax authorities‘. Practice head Mihai Nușcă brings ‘exceptional knowledge of handling cases’ and an ‘ability to foresee and prevent potential issues‘.
Practice head(s):
Mihai Nușcă
Testimonials
‘Excellent knowledge of substantial and procedural laws; Very extensive experience with Courts and Tax Authorities; multidisciplinary approach (legal, tax, transfer pricing, accounting).’
‘Mihai Nusca, Partner (Head of Litigation): exceptional knowledge of handling cases; proactive/ has the ability to foresee & prevent potential issues; effective communication with client; availability & direct involvement.’
Work highlights
- Assisting Banca Comercială Română in a major tax dispute.
- Representing the energy distributor, Distribuție Energie Electrică, in a complex tax dispute.
- Advising Viessmann, a global manufacturer of heating and refrigeration systems, in connection with a Competition Council investigation focused on vertical price fixing on the heating systems market.
