Poland
Katarzyna Wacławek
SociaShe understands our business and is focused on negotiating key objectives. She enjoys the fast pace and adrenaline of the negotiating room, but at the same time she has a lot of patience in explaining difficult legal concepts to us in a clear and digestible manner.
— Legal 500 EMEA 2024, Banking & FinanceAbout
Katarzyna is a finance lawyer, whose 16 years of experience encompasses all types of transactions including real estate finance, corporate finance and project finance deals, primarily in the renewable energy sector. She assists clients in structuring and negotiating credit facility agreements and security documents in domestic and multi-jurisdictional transactions, advising both financial institutions and borrowers.
Katarzyna has also advised on a multitude of DD analyses in the area of finance and real estate law.
Katarzyna has experience advising clients on regulatory issues, including the standardisation of internal documentation and the structuring of banking products. She was involved in a project to create the template Polish credit facility agreement, based on the standard agreement recommended by the Loan Market Association, which is now recommend by the Polish Bank Association.
She has the unique experience of representing financial institutions in several enforcement proceedings and pre-enforcement negotiations and loan restructurings.
Areas of FocusServicios financieros FinanzasFinancial Services RegulatoryEnergía y recursos naturales
Professional QualificationsAttorney-at-law (Radca prawny) registered with the Warsaw Bar Association of Attorneys-at-Law (Okręgowa Izba Radców Prawnych w Warszawie), 2014
EXPERIENCE
- Advising European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on financing to Resi4Rent group for financing development and operation of a pipeline of apartments for rent in Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Lodz and Poznan. The project is considered under the Resilience and Livelihoods Framework, a EUR 2 billion package which was adopted by the EBRD after the Russian invasion in order to support Ukraine and other affected countries (value of transaction: EUR50m).
- Advising PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. on financing from European Investment Bank for the modernization of distribution network infrastructure and integration with renewable energy resources, being largest financing transaction for a Polish company to date in the history of the EIB (value of transaction: PLN2bn).
- Advising Santander Bank Polska, the lender, in refinancing of portfolio of four existing student house assets belonging to Student Depot in Lublin, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław, and two student house to be developed by Griffin Real Estate in Warsaw and Gdańsk (approx. value of transaction: EUR41m).
- Advising Alior Bank, the lender, on financing of development of a multi-purpose investment including hotel, office and retail space and housing estate in Olsztyn, Poland by Inopa (approx. value of transaction: EUR31.4m).
- Advising the borrower an Asian welfare fund on the refinancing of Galeria Katowicka, quality shopping centre and Gdanski Business Centre C and D, prime office buildings in Warsaw by Standard Chartered Bank (approx.. value of transaction: EUR328m).
- Advising an Asian sovereign welfare fund, acting as borrower in multi-jurisdictional refinancing of two portfolios comprising of nine assets (logistics, office and data centre) located in four countries and coordinating legal assistance related to full real estate due diligence, a limited corporate due diligence, and finance law assistance in the process of granting new loan by Standard Charted Bank and two additional German lenders (approx. value of transaction: EUR293m).
- Advising Berlin Hyp on the financing of an acquisition of Sezam, office building in prestigious location in Warsaw by Liebrecht & Wood group (approx. value of transaction: EUR90m).
- Advising financial institution in developing and launching representative offices in 6 European cities.
- Advising a Chinese multinational bank on the granting of bilateral financing and a bank guarantee to Famur S.A., a leading global manufacturer of mining machinery and equipment.
- Advising the client on the acquisition of 100% of the shares in the mining company NRW Karbonia S.A. by way of the enforcement of security.
- Advising a major financial institution on possible scenarios for the enforcement of security and supporting it in the takeover of the shares of its business partner in a complex case concerning the recovery of funds resulting from unfair actions taken by the business partner.
- Advising an Asian investor on the refinancing of the acquisition of a controlling stake in City Logistics Łódź VI from Panattoni and Kajima by PKO BP.
- Advising Santander Bank Polska on the sale of its receivables to the Octava FIZAN investment fund (the Elliott group) and on the granting of financing to the fund for the purpose of purchasing a portfolio of 11 office and retail properties from BPH TFI funds.
- Advising one of the largest banks in Poland on financing for the construction of a wind farm consisting of three wind power plants with an electric capacity of 3,650 MW each.
- Advising a large, international bank on the financing of four wind power plants with a total capacity of 12.5 MW.
- Advising Bank Polska Kasa Opieki S.A. on financing of 25 photovoltaic farm projects carried out by Wento Group companies.
- Advising Bank Ochrony Środowiska as a lender on the financing of construction of 55 MW PV portfolio in Poland.
Languages
- Polish
- Inglés
- French
- Italian
Education
- University of Warsaw, Master of Laws, 2008
Awards
- Recognised as a Notable Practitioner in Banking & Finance – Legal 500 EMEA 2024
- Recognised as a Rising Star in Banking & Finance – The Legal 500 EMEA 2020-2023
- Recognised as Notable Practitioner in Banking – IFLR1000 2023
- "Katarzyna Wacławek and Klaudia Lorent are both extremely capable, responsive and professional." – The Legal 500 EMEA 2024
- "Katarzyna Wacławek is our main contact in Poland and has always gone above and beyond to provide a high-quality service. She is able to provide commercial advice that is relevant to our client and meet difficult deadlines and demands. She is a great representative and is one of the reasons we continue to use DLA for legal matters." – The Legal 500 EMEA 2024
- "We have worked with Katarzyna Wacławek for a number of years now, so she understands us very well. She helped us with a very complicated cross-border deal recently involving six jurisdictions, and her coordination skills and keeping all the teams in line was much appreciated." – The Legal 500 EMEA 2024
- "Katarzyna Wacławek is a newly appointed partner with whom we usually work. She is a great listener and has excellent analytical skills. She understands our business and is focused on negotiating key objectives. She enjoys the fast pace and adrenaline of the negotiating room, but at the same time she has a lot of patience in explaining difficult legal concepts to us in a clear and digestible manner." – The Legal 500 EMEA 2024
- "Katarzyna is one of the best lawyers I ever worked with, she is an expert in financial and civil law, she thinks and converts her ideas into a high standard of legal drafting that is easy to understand even for non-lawyers." – The Legal 500 EMEA, Banking & Finance 2023
- "Katarzyna Wacławek is a very experienced lawyer with a focus on closing deals, and above all, a very nice and intelligent person to work with." – The Legal 500 EMEA, Banking & Finance 2021
- "They actually listen and try to accommodate to what we and our clients need. Katarzyna Wacławek and her team actually listen to us." – Legal 500 EMEA, Banking & Finance 2021
- "Katarzyna has notable transactional and regulatory experience" – The Legal 500 EMEA 2020
- "Katarzyna is a pragmatic, experienced and responsive lawyer with business approach and ability to get things done in a timely and professional manner" – The Legal 500 EMEA, Banking & Finance 2020
- Singled out as "a great co-operator, has knowledge, experience and professionalism" – IFLR1000 2017
Seminars
- Running seminars concerning enforcement of security
My latest insights
Connect
Phone
+48 22 540 74 89
(Work, Warsaw)
