Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has won three out of the 15 awards presented during the Lawyers’ Gala event organized by Ziarul Financiar on the 16th of June 2010.

The firm has been awarded for winning the most important Litigation and Arbitration case in 2009, based on the successful representation of Romania in the EDF Services Ltd. v. Romania international arbitration case with compensations being claimed in excess of USD 132,000,000 and initiated before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington D.C.

The firm has also won an award for the biggest transaction in the Energy sector, having assisted CEZ Group in a EUR 220,000,000 acquisition of the minority shareholding owned by Fondul Proprietatea in CEZ Distribuţie and CEZ Vânzare, based on a call-option right exercised in accordance with the provisions of the privatization agreement concluded with Electrica Oltenia S.A. in 2005. Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii also assisted CEZ in the negotiations with Electrica for the buy-out of the minority shareholding in CEZ Distribuţie and CEZ Vânzare, following a EUR 145,000,000 transaction.

More so, Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii was awarded for having posted the highest revenues in 2009, based on the rankings compiled by Ziarul Financiar.

This year, our firm’s expertise in various areas of practice has once again been highly regarded by Chambers & Partners’ editors who praised Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii for having earned market recognition for its involvement in significant transactions.

The firm came first in the latest Chambers Europe 2010 guide in the following areas of expertise:

• Competition/Antitrust: "the firm`s lawyers act on many of the country’s key competition matters, supported by its deeply experienced practitioners and strong client relationships"
• Corporate/M&A: "in addition to its excellent expertise, the group stands out for its entrepreneurial aspiration and success" 
• Energy & Natural Resources: "this outfit’s ability to cover an array of energy and natural resources matters has seen it attract a noteworthy clientele of leading energy players"
• Projects: "when you approach them with a problem, they can anticipate your needs; you can always rest assured that they will have the necessary resources"
• Restructuring/Insolvency: " the firm benefits from its reputation as an upwardly mobile outfit and also draws advantages from its impressive standing within the disputes arena"

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii has been recognised as Romania's top law firm in four areas of practice, including Litigation and Arbitration, Energy and Natural Resources, Mergers and Acquisitions and Finance and Banking. The awards were announced at FinMedia's Gala held on the 14th of June 2010 in Bucharest, marking the publication of the third edition of the Top Lawyers of Romania report.

More so, Nistorescu, Şomlea & Asociaţii, which operates in association with Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii, with offices in Cluj-Napoca, has received two special recognitions for the work handled in Litigation and Arbitration and Real Estate.

"The year 2009 was very good in terms of financials, and this is the result of both our flexible policy that we have initiated starting with the fall of 2008 when we have designed a complex strategy for managing the economic crisis, and also because we were given the opportunity to successfully finalize complex projects in energy and large-scale litigation and arbitration cases. We have definitely been fortunate to be involved in some of the most significant projects of last year, but we owe much of our recent successes to the firm’s lawyers efforts, admirable skills, competence, spirit of cooperation and determination”, said Gabriel Zbârcea, Managing Partner of Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii. 

In the area of Litigation and Arbitration, the firm was awarded for winning the most important litigation and arbitration case in 2009, based on the successful representation of Romania in the EDF Services Ltd. v. Romania international arbitration case with compensations being claimed in excess of USD 132,000,000 and initiated before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington D.C.

The transaction for the acquisition by CEZ of the minority shareholding held by Fondul Proprietatea and Electrica in CEZ Distribuţie and CEZ Vânzare also secured an award for the largest Merger & Acquisition transaction of the year 2009 worth EUR 375,000,000.

Another award in the Energy field was presented by FinMedia in recognition of the firm’s involvement in the drafting of successive amendments to the Law No. 220/2008 for establishing the promotion system for producing energy from renewable energy sources.

The successful completion of the merger through absorption between BCR Fond de Pensii and Omniforte, OTP Pensii and Prima Pensie was recognized by FinMedia as one of the most important projects in the area of Finance and Banking.

Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii tops IFLR rankings again, with editors commenting that the firm has "a reputation for solid expertise" in multiple areas of law.

The guide to the world's leading financial law firms ranks Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii first in the following categories:

• Capital Markets
  
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Project Finance
  

The firm also ranked second in Banking.

The guide names Ştefan Damian, Florentin Ţuca and Gabriel Zbârcea as Leading Lawyers.