Selmer is well recognised for its strong relationship with savings banks and as a market leader in regulatory advice. A client says of the firm: "Most Norwegian law firms tend to be very technical....
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Selmer is well recognised for its strong relationship with savings banks and as a market leader in regulatory advice. A client says of the firm: "Most Norwegian law firms tend to be very technical. They [Selmer] are commercial, creative and find solutions that make business sense not just legal sense," adding: "We work on projects involved in more than one time zone and these guys are available around the clock. Reaching them is never a problem." The firm recently hired partner Ingar Solheim from Steenstrup Stordrange whom peers describe as a "rising star."
Deals
One of the firm's stand out banking deals saw Einar Grette and Vegard Steine act for Nordea Bank Norge in connection with the provision of NKr1.2 billion (€164 million) in facilities provided for the refinancing of Kistefos's debt and the rights issue of Rederi AB Transatlantic.
Grette also acted alongside Tor Herdlevær, Espen Tørvold Guldbrandsen and Katriina Kekkonen advising Bank of Scotland on the refinancing of global real estate fund DUKE Real Estate.
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Selmer has a reputation for its strong academic approach and a close relationship to the Oslo Stock Exchange. However clients also favour the firm's practical legal approach with one client saying: "Thommessen and Selmer have the commercial sense and are the two firms I would use the most....
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Selmer has a reputation for its strong academic approach and a close relationship to the Oslo Stock Exchange. However clients also favour the firm's practical legal approach with one client saying: "Thommessen and Selmer have the commercial sense and are the two firms I would use the most." One competitor described Einar Grette as "a very good lawyer especially in real estate transactions and bond loans."
There has been a fair amount of movement in the first quarter of 2012. In January Selmer poached partners Robert Sveen and Ingar Solheim from Steenstrup Stordrange. This was followed a month later by the departure of market leading lawyer Dag Erik Rasmussen for competing firm Wikborg Rein. "It will be interesting to see the effect this has on the practice. It is hard to say," says one peer.
Another client describes Selmer as: "A fantastic firm. Very knowledgeable regarding Norwegian matters but also very good at multi-jurisdictional issues. We use them for all of our securities issues as they are very good at identifying and dealing with the international issues"
Per Arne Dæhli has also been singled out for praise as "a very good lawyer. He's a responsive, knowledgeable and a commercial guy".
Deals
One highlight of 2012 saw Lars Knem Christie, Per Arne Dæhli and Jon Fredrik Johansen join the banking and finance team to instruct Pareto Securities on a combined private placement of equity ($325 million) and high-yield bonds ($350 million) by international mining company Northland Resources, which is dual listed on the Toronto and Oslo Stock Exchange.
Knem Christie has also been at the helm of a team advising SpareBank 1 SR-Bank ASA on a NKr1.5 billion (€205 million) guaranteed rights offering and NKr130 million employee offering which are intended to strengthen the bank's financial position in preparation for regulatory change.
At the time of going to publication, the firm had received the mandate to assist Norway's largest real estate company Selvaag Bolig, a long-term client, on an IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange and a secondary sale by its current major shareholder Selvaag Gruppen, with expected proceeds of between NKr500 – 800 million worth of new shares.
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It's been a year of change for Selmer. The department which is led by Marius Juul Møller hired two respected partners from rival firm Steenstrup Stordrange in January 2012 (Ingar Solheim and Robert Sveen) which is expected to strengthen the firm's private equity practice....
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It's been a year of change for Selmer. The department which is led by Marius Juul Møller hired two respected partners from rival firm Steenstrup Stordrange in January 2012 (Ingar Solheim and Robert Sveen) which is expected to strengthen the firm's private equity practice. In February the firm suffered a major blow when they lost partner Dag Erik Rasmussen, who competitors expect to take some major clients.
That said, the firm has managed to accrue an inflow of prestigious new clients. One client says of the firm "we use them for all our transactions. They have the best complete package of knowledge and a thorough experienced approach...personable lawyers with hands on senior partners."
Deals
In one of the largest non oil & gas transactions in Norway over the last 12 months, Are Herrem and Camilla Magnus assisted the sellers of Norway's second largest data and telecom provider Ventelo Holding to leading equity fund EQT. The €232 million transaction closed in February 2012 following a large auction sales process.
In addition the firm has been busy on the buyers side straddling a range of sectors. In food retail Herrem and Magnus advised Lagopus Eiendomsutvikling (partially owned by Norgesgruppen) in the acquisition of the real estate portfolio of Ica Maxi Norge. Still to close on publication the deal involved complex structuring to a tight deadline.
In March 2012, another standout deal saw Robert Sveen and Ingar Solheim instruct Nordic capital Fund VII on its acquisition of Norway's leading mixed discount retailer Europris Norge.
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