Baker & McKenzie has advised Alfa group on its EUR202.5 million deal with the Bank of Cyprus on the acquisition of Ukrainian assets of BOC, including its Ukrainian subsidiary PJSC Bank of Cyprus, its Ukrainian loan portfolio and certain loans of former Laiki Bank (Cyprus).

"We are proud to be part of the client's biggest acquisition in Ukraine so far and we are glad that the deal has been a good bargain for the client. The complex nature of this acquisition demanded sophisticated structuring with differing documentation and process required for different parts of the transaction," commented Olyana Gordiyenko on the transaction, who is a partner in the Kyiv office of Baker & McKenzie and who led the transaction.

The Baker & McKenzie team also included  Zoryana Matviychuk and other associates from M&A, Banking & Finance, Real Estate and Litigation practice groups of the Kyiv office; partners James Richards and Simon Morgan (Moscow); and senior associate Ron Kirschner (London).

PJSC "Alfa-Bank" is a Ukrainian universal commercial bank headquartered in Kyiv. The bank offers a full range of banking services to corporate and retail customers. The bank is also active in both money and capital markets. The bank’s immediate parent is ABH Ukraine Limited. The bank is a part of the international banking group, which is one of the largest privately owned investment groups, with interests in commercial and investment banking, asset management, insurance, retail trade, water utilities, as well as special situation investments.

According to the official National Bank of Ukraine statistics, as of 1 January 2014, the Bank of Cyprus was the 67th largest bank in Ukraine in terms of total assets among 180 commercial banks registered in the country. The bank had 42 branches, which provided services to retail and corporate customers, with 71 percent of the loan portfolio consisting of corporate customers.