Krista Rekola

Associate, Helsinki

Biography

Rising star in Banking and Finance: Krista Rekola
The Legal 500 EMEA 2023

Overview

Krista Rekola advises Finnish and international clients in corporate and financial transactions, representing lenders as well as corporate clients. Krista's debt finance experience includes acquisition finance, real estate finance, project finance and general bank lending.

Krista joined White & Case in 2015 after her graduation from law school.

Education
LLM
Faculty of Law
University of Helsinki
MSc
Economics and Business Administration
Aalto University School of Business
MSc
CEMS MIM
Aalto University School of Business
Languages
English
Finnish

Experience

Representation of F-Secure Corporation, a Finland-headquartered consumer cyber security company, on the financing of its US$223 million acquisition of the mobile consumer security business from Lookout, a US-based cloud security and data protection company.

Representation of Danske Bank A/S, Nordea Bank Abp, OP Corporate Bank plc, DNB Bank ASA, Handelsbanken AB (publ) and Swedbank AB (publ) on the corporate reorganization of Stockmann plc, a Finnish retailer.

Representation of Nordea Bank Abp, as coordinator, and the other syndicate lenders consisting of Nordea Bank Abp, Swedbank AB (publ), OP Corporate Bank plc, Danske Bank A/S, Finland Branch and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) as original lenders on the amendments to Finnair Oyj's existing €175 million revolving credit facility providing for, among other matters, gearing covenant relief. This representation was part of the broader mandate in relation to Finnair's recapitalization plan, where White & Case also advised the joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners and joint lead managers on the fully underwritten approximately €510 million rights offering of Finnair Oyj, the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland.

Representation of Evolver Equity Ltd., a Finnish private equity investor specialized in Nordic small-cap buyouts, and certain of its subsidiaries in the financing relating to the acquisition of Arktis AS, Nolliplan AB and Micro Aided Design Oy in three parallel transactions from private sellers. All three companies are specialized providers of open-source building information modelling (Open BIM) tools and solutions for architecture, engineering and construction industries. Through the transaction, Evolver establishes a group that has a product portfolio, a range of competencies and a geographic footprint that enables provision of unique customer benefits and reinforces the companies' positions as market leaders within the Open BIM market.

Representation of Starwood Capital Group, a leading global private investment firm, in connection with the financing for the acquisition (through a controlled affiliate) of a Finnish rental residential portfolio of approximately 2,200 units in partnership with Avara Oy, Finland’s leading residential real estate investment and asset management company, and related refinancing. The portfolio consists of 73 assets located in 16 cities, with 50% of the portfolio value in the Helsinki region.

Representation of Nordea Bank Abp, Swedbank AB (publ) and LocalTapiola as lenders in relation to the EUR 190 million refinancing of, and related financing for the acquisition of three additional properties by, Cibus Grocery 1 Oy, a portfolio company of Cibus Nordic Real Estate AB (publ). The facilities consist of two separate tranches: a EUR 143 million committed facility and a EUR 47 million uncommitted facility.

Representation of Technopolis Plc, a modern real estate company providing shared office space and related services, and certain of its group companies in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Lithuania in connection with its approximately EUR 930 million euro, Norwegian krone and Swedish krona denominated senior secured facilities and mezzanine secured facilities. The facilities are to be used for, among others, the refinancing of Technopolis and its group companies’ existing indebtedness and the financing of certain existing and future organic growth projects.

Representation of Fingrid Oyj, a Finnish national electricity transmission grid operator, in relation to its EUR 100 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The EIB financing will support Fingrid’s investment programme, which aims to rehabilitate and develop the Finnish electricity transmission network, including the implementation of a centralised information exchange system (“data hub”) for the electricity retail market.

Representation of Nordea Bank Abp, Swedbank Ab (publ) and Aktia Bank plc as lenders in relation to the EUR 142,000,000 financing of an acquisition of six daily-goods properties in Finland and related refinancing of Cibus Retail 2 Oy, an affiliate of Cibus Nordic Real Estate AB (publ).

Representation of Technopolis Plc, a modern real estate company providing shared office space and related services, in connection with its EUR 518 million refinancing arrangement with three Nordic financial institutions. The financing arrangement consists of four secured facilities: (i) EUR 150 million term loan facility for refinancing existing debt, (ii) EUR 100 million committed capex facility, (iii) EUR 100 million committed revolving credit facility and (iv) EUR 168 million guarantee facility.

Representation of The Blackstone Group, a US-based private equity firm, in relation to the EUR 1.6 billion refinancing of Sponda Plc’s group companies carried out in connection with Blackstone’s tender offer for Sponda Plc shares. Sponda Plc is a Finland-based property investment company specializing in commercial properties in the largest cities in Finland. In the refinancing, the group’s financing structure was changed from primarily unsecured financing to secured financing involving extensive security over the group’s real estate assets.

Representation of The Blackstone Group L.P., a US-based private equity firm, in its recommended public tender offer for all shares in Sponda Plc, a Finland-based property investment company specializing in commercial properties in the largest cities in Finland.