10th IBA “M&A in Russia and CIS” Conference

• Christian Herbst, Conference Co-chair, Partner, Schoenherr 

Participants of the session will discuss the M&A market in general – Russian and foreign perspective – the bankers and investors view. They provide an insider’s look of the financial, economic and business factors affecting the M&A.

• Key drivers of Russian and CIS M&A markets: dynamics, trends and industry-specific aspects.

• Key investment priorities in the long and medium term: where to find the sources of growth.

•  Investment attractiveness of Russian companies in the global context.
  

• Expansion or contraction of Russian companies’ interests outside Russia.
  

• M&A vs. IPO as exit routes for shareholders of Russian companies.
  

Moderator:

• Dmitri Sedov, Managing Direcotor, Co-Head of Goldman Sachs 

Speakers:

• Dmitry Kononov, Director of Investor Relations & M&A, MegaFon
• Tim Lassen, Member of the Supervisory Board of JSC ER-Telecom Holding, Director of foreign legal affairs of PFP-Group Ltd
• Yulia Barinskaya, Senior M&A Execution manager, Luxoft
  
• Georgy Suzdaltsev, Director, Strategic Projects & Analysis, MTS

The panelists will discuss the latest trends and developments in M&A deals in Russia and, in particular, will share their experience and insights on such issues as:

• Comparison of options, indemnities, warranties and representations under Russian law, English law and European civil law.
• Structuring and protecting M&A transactions in light of sanctions.
• Blockchain in M&A transactions.
• Initiative to introduce disproportionate voting: pros and cons.
  
• Brexit considerations in M&A deals.

Moderators:

• Alan Kartashkin, Partner, Debevoise & Pimpton 
  
• Cornelia Topf, Partner, Gleiss Lutz 
  

Speakers:

• Nik Kutnaks, KMP Advisors
• Peter Gloushkov, Advisor to the General Director on international legal matters, PJSC Tatneft
• Aleksey Vostokov, Director Legal Afairs, Polyus
• Konstantin Kolesnik, Senior Legal Counsel, Lukoil
• Vera Schelokova,  Executive Director, Department of legal support of corporate transactions and M&A projects, Sberbank
• Elizaveta Koryagina, Head of M&A practice, MegaFon

• Current corporate strategies: organic growth vs. M&A.
  
• Procurement of legal services (M&A in particular) – current trends. Delegation to the procurement department - is it an advantage or disadvantage?
  
• What is the ideal level of expertise in the legal department and, in the ideal case, what type of projects would be outsourced?
  
• Effect of international sanctions on the organization and functions of legal.
  

Moderators:

• Andrei Dontsov, Partner, White&Case
• Aleksey Nikiforov, Head of Legal, SIBUR

Speakers:

• Dmitry Donov, General Counsel, NLMK
• Andrey Popov, Director of Legal and Corporate Afairs and the Property Complex, The State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM
• Yuri Shumilov, Deputy CEO, Head of Operations & Legal, ESN Group
• Valery Sidnev, General Counsel of EuroChem Group AG
  

• Offshore versus Onshore structures in M&A deals: new tax realities.
• To purchase and restructure: tax restructuring aspects of the acquired group of companies.
• Change of law enforcement practice after closing: seller’s or buyer’s risk?
• Tax if there’s no tax: how to pay taxes with an offshore structure?
• What changes are required: new tax regulations to facilitate M&A deals.

Moderators:

• Alexander Zharskiy, Partner, ALRUD Law Firm
• Mikhail Filinov, Partner, International tax and private wealth structuring, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
  

Speakers:

• Anastasia Pavlova, General Counsel, RTP Global
• Tatiana Safonova, Head of Tax, Russian Direct Investment Fund 
• Kirill Vikulov, Partner, Baker McKenzie
• Andrey Tereschenko, Partner, Pepeliaev Group
  

In the format of a case study: negotiating a dispute resolution clause for a Russian M&A transaction.

This session will be held in the form of a mock case, where Russian and foreign counsel will be discussing the pros and cons of applying Russian law (as opposed to English law) in M&A transactions, as well as various dispute resolution options available to parties of M&A transactions.

Moderator:

• Vladimir Khvalei, Partner, Baker McKenzie 

Speakers:

• Anton Samokhvalov, Partner, KIAP

• Sergey Petrachkov, Partner, ALRUD

• Artem Doudko, Partner, Osborne Clarke 

• Dmitry Davydenko, ICAC at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  

• Theo Parperis, Partner,  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)