On 5 February 2018 CMS’s Warsaw office was joined by new partner Rafał Zwierz, who will be responsible for the development of the capital markets practice and will bring 17 years of transaction experience to our team. Rafał is the fourth partner in CMS Warsaw’s M&A team, which comprises nearly 30 transactional lawyers.

From the beginning of his career, Rafal Zwierz was associated successively with the New York, London and Warsaw offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, where he advised on the largest IPOs and mergers and acquisitions on the Polish market, as well as on cross-border transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. Rafał's experience includes advising on IPOs of companies such as Polski Holding Nieruchomości, Wirtualna Polska, CD Projekt, Stelmet, Alumetal, Prime Car Management, New World Resources, Opoczno, bmp AG and PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA.

Rafał combines his experience in the area of capital markets with transactional practice in the field of mergers and acquisitions, with a particular emphasis on clients operating in the energy sector. He advised on acquisitions by PKN ORLEN, Petrolinvest, CEZ and transactions related to ownership changes, including in Sfinks Polska, Ruch and Farutex. He also participated in successful restructuring projects.

""Strengthening the team is another element of the strategy of development of our transactional practice. Rafał's experience in the field of capital markets and mergers and acquisitions perfectly complements the expertise of our team, which is considered one of the leading in Poland in the field of transaction services for private equity funds. By joining forces with a new partner, we plan to strengthen our position on the transaction market in Poland and in the Central and Eastern Europe region,"" emphasizes Marek Sawicki, managing partner of CMS.

CMS was ranked first in terms of the number of transactions carried out in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe in 2017 according to Mergermarket data. As the most frequently chosen law firm, CMS supported its clients in the last year with 15 transactions in Poland and 32 acquisitions in the region. The Polish transaction team advised on almost half of the transactions announced last year on Central European markets.

CMS’ mergers and acquisitions and corporate team is currently made up of about 30 lawyers and is considered one of the leading practices in Poland in the international Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 rankings (ranked second). Marek Sawicki, managing partner of the team in Warsaw, was qualified by Chambers & Partners to the highest Band 1 group as part of individual nominations in the Private Equity category. Also, in the PE category, CMS is recognized as one of the best law firms in Poland (Band 2) and the best law firm in Central and Eastern Europe in the Corporate/M&A category (Band 1).

Rafał Zwierz is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw and Harvard Law School. He has the professional qualifications of a legal advisor in Poland and England. He is also an attorney in New York State.