K&L Gates and Arzinger & Partners have advised CDRL S.A. on its December 27, 2018 acquisition of 90% of the shares of Belarus-registered Handlowo – Przemyslowa Grupa West Ost Union Sp. z o. o. o., which owns a chain of shops with children's goods in Belarus operating under the brand Buslik, from the EBRD and four private individuals. Closing occured on January 1, 2019.
According to K&L Gates, CDRL "is the owner of a chain of retail stores involved in the creation and maintenance of shops selling products under the Coccodrillo brand and other assortment offered by CDRL S.A. Currently, the sales network consists of almost 500 stores. There are 242 stores in Poland, with the remaining ones in Austria, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Slovakia, Romania, the Baltic States and Hungary. In 2018, the first store under the Coccodrillo brand name was opened in Germany. Outside the European Union, Coccodrillo brand stores can also be found in Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, Libya, Kazakhstan, and Brazil."
The K&L Gates team was supervised by Partner Michal Pawlowski and led by Associates Magdalena Trzepizur and Piotr Miller (who left the firm in October 2018) and included Counsels Rafal Wozniak and Lech Najbauer and Junior Associate Paulina Galewska.
The Arzinger & Partners team in Belarus was headed by Partner Alexander Korsak and included Partner Dmitry Viltovsky and Associates Aleksey Mikhailov and Nikolay Gorelik.
