First-ever Foreign Sponsor-driven LBO in Russia
Russian Private Equity Market Set to Grow

London, Moscow, October 15, 2007 ... White & Case advised mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners Goldman Sachs International and UniCredit Markets and Investment Banking and mandated lead arranger VTB Bank Europe plc in connection with the debt financing for Lion Capital's acquisition of Russian juice drinks provider Nidan Soki. Lion Capital is a private equity firm that specialises in branded consumer product businesses. Nidan Soki, which recorded a turnover of approximately $270 million in 2006, has a 17 percent market share, making it the fourth largest juice producer in Russia. The company employs 2,500 staff and has factories in Moscow and Novosibirsk in Siberia.

"The Russian private equity market is relatively small, with little foreign involvement to date," commented White & Case partner Christopher Kandel. "This transaction is an important step as it paves the way for other international private equity firms looking to make major investments in Russia using Western LBO technology."

The White & Case team advising on the deal was led by partner Christopher Kandel in London and partner Irina Nesvetova in Moscow, working closely with partner Irina Dmitrieva and associate Maxim Kobzev in Moscow and partners Rob Mathews and Brian Conway, counsel Jonathan Weinberg, associates Kathryn Ng, Oya Bozgeyik and Anja Mahon and trainee solicitors Richard Esteves-Mills and Iva Philipova in London.

White & Case's Moscow office comprises nearly 80 lawyers, including 11 partners. White & Case was named Russian Law Firm of the Year by the International Financial Law Review in 2005 and by Who's Who Legal in 2006.

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