The Legal 500 EMEA 2025 edition has ranked all the researched Castrén & Snellman’s services in Tier 1 and 2.
26.3.2025
Castrén & Snellman top-ranked in the Legal 500 EMEA 2025: ‘Top expertise, straightforward approach to essential issues, no legal jargon.’
Tags
Banking and finance, Commercial, corporate and M&A, Dispute resolution, Employment, EU and competition, Intellectual property and TMT. Our Tax, Capital Markets, Real Estate and Construction and Maritime & Transport services were placed in Tier 2.
A total of 38 of our experts were recognised for the exceptional work they do in their own fields. The Legal 500 ranks law firms and lawyers throughout the world and is one of the most prestigious publications in our line of business.
The rankings are largely based on interviews with clients. Here are some quotes from our clients:
Dispute resolution, Tier 1
The practice is extremely client-focused, and they deliver an exceptional approach to solving difficult project issues. They offer clear advice which clients can readily understand and direct their course of actions with confidence.
Employment, Tier 1
The team has a wide practice and covers almost all aspects of employment relationships. We have worked with the team for years and never encountered a situation in which the team has not been able to help us. Skilled, responsive and creative are words that come to my mind when I think of Castrén’s employment team.
Banking and finance, Tier 1
The C&S team has the relevant capabilities when it comes to financing agreements. The team consists of people with different types of knowledge in varying industries. In my opinion they have the best team in town.
EU & Competition, Tier 1
Top expertise, straightforward approach to essential issues, no legal jargon. Cooperation and communication is uncomplicated. Atmosphere is friendly, with a good sense of humour.
Tax, Tier 2
The team is very responsive and equipped with versatile experience. Especially the tax litigation work provided by the team has been consistently excellent.
TMT, Tier 1
Eija Warma-Lehtinen and Kim Parviainen are both excellent in what they are doing, and you can feel the experience right away. They can understand the client’s business and the special questions related to it, including questions outside of legal matters. They work as a team with the client, and as a client, you can always be confident that the matter will be handled with excellent experience and on time.
Intellectual property, Tier 1
It is very easy to work with the Castrén team. They respond very quickly and offer the best expertise in relation to all the questions we might have.
Real Estate and Cosntruction, Tier 2
C&S’s real estate practice itself provides legal services with exceptional quality. The practice is the best choice for anyone requiring legal advice on complex real estate transactions or development projects with difficult substance law questions. They can do it.
Capital Markets, Tier 2
They have a no-nonsense approach which is based on extensive experience dealing with their counterpart on an almost weekly basis.
Maritime and Transport
Rickard Langenskiöld and Jerker Pitkänen both display tremendous experience and problem-solving skills in complex shipping and maritime law issues.
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Latest references
Neste – A EUR 250 million 10-year loan with NIB
We advised Neste as it signed a EUR 250 million 10-year loan with NIB. The loan will finance Neste’s investments related to research and development (R&D) in processing lower-quality feedstocks into high-quality renewable products; as well as the liquefied waste plastics (LWP) investment at Neste’s refinery in Porvoo, Finland. The R&D activities supported by the loan focus on the development of renewable solutions. These include, for example, expanding feedstock capabilities and technologies that enable the processing of new and lower-quality waste and residues into high-quality renewable end products. Part of the financing supports Neste’s liquefied waste plastics investment in Porvoo, related to upgrading low-quality plastic waste into high-quality feedstock at an industrial scale. The investment contributes to advancing circular economy solutions by enabling the use of hard-to-recycle plastic waste as a replacement for virgin fossil raw materials. The unit has an annual capacity to process up to 150,000 tonnes of liquefied waste plastic. Production ramp-up commenced in 2026.
Case published 19.8.2026
Aspo – Demerger and finance matters
We advised Aspo Plc, ESL Shipping Ltd and AtoBatC Shipping AB in relation to finance matters in connection with the demerger of Aspo, by which all the shares in ESL Shipping Ltd held by Aspo, together with the related assets and liabilities, will be transferred to a new independent company to be named ESL Shipping Group Plc. Aspo intends to apply for the shares of ESL Shipping Group to be admitted to trading on the regulated market of Nasdaq Helsinki. It is further intended that Aspo be renamed Telko Group Plc.
Case published 19.8.2026
Lenders and Export Credit Agencies – EUR 514.4 million green project financing for Easpring Finland New Materials’ CAM plant
We acted as Finnish law legal adviser to the lenders and the export credit agencies in connection with the EUR 514.4 million green project financing for the development and construction of Easpring Finland New Materials Oy’s cathode active material (CAM) manufacturing plant in Kotka, Finland. The borrower, Easpring Finland New Materials Oy, is a joint venture owned by Beijing Easpring Material Technology, Finnish Minerals Group and LG Energy Solution. The financing was provided by six international commercial banks, with Société Générale acting as financial adviser and mandated lead arranger together with Natixis as co-mandated lead arranger, and DNB, ICBC, ING and Standard Chartered participating as lenders, with support from the export credit agencies Finnvera and Sinosure. The project represents a significant milestone for Finland and the European battery value chain by strengthening Europe’s domestic supply of cathode active materials, a key component in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage applications. Once the first phase of the project is operational, the Kotka facility is expected to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of cathode active material annually, making it one of the largest CAM production plants in Europe and supplying leading battery manufacturers across Europe.
Case published 21.7.2026
Delta Capacity – Acquisition of BESS Project
We acted as Finnish legal advisor to Delta Capacity in connection with its acquisition of the ready-to-build Karppio battery energy storage system (BESS) project from Helios Nordic Energy. The acquisition was made and the project will be implemented together with Strioga Family Foundation. The Karppio BESS project is located in Teuva, Finland, and has a capacity of 125 MW / 300 MWh. Delta Capacity will lead the remaining development of the project through to commissioning, planned for 2027, and will serve as long-term asset manager. Delta Capacity is a Swiss-based developer of utility scale battery storage systems. The acquisition adds to Delta Capacity’s growing Nordic portfolio.
Case published 20.7.2026