Krogerus advises Hartwall Capital on the disposal of shares in Sponda

Krogerus is advising Hartwall Capital Ltd in a voluntary recommended public tender offer for all the shares in Sponda Plc made by Polar Bidco S.à r.l., a corporation owned by funds advised by affiliates of the Blackstone Group L.P.

Prior to the announcement of the tender offer, Hartwall Capital was the second largest shareholder of Sponda with 10.06% of all the shares and with the post-bid market value of some EUR 177 million.

Hartwall Capital is a Finnish family-owned investment company investing in listed and non-listed companies. Hartwall Capital's investment scope is focused on the Nordics with its primary focus on Finland.

Sponda is a property investment company specialising in commercial properties in the largest cities in Finland. As at 31 March 2017, the fair value of Sponda’s properties was approximately EUR 3.8 billion and the leasable area was approximately 1.2 million square meters.

Blackstone has been a global leader in the real estate sector since 1991. Funds advised by affiliates of Blackstone have approximately USD 102 billion of real estate funds under management. Since 2015, Blackstone has acquired control of over EUR 4 billion of properties in the Nordic region, over EUR 1 billion of which are located in Finland.

The Krogerus team is led by partner Mårten Knuts. He is mainly assisted by associate Antti Luhtala.