6.5.2021

Partner Merja Kivelä Nominated as One of the IFLR1000’s Women Leaders 2021

IFLR1000 has once again named Partner Merja Kivelä as one of the Women Leaders for this year. The IFLR1000 Women Leaders selects the leading female transactional lawyers in the world, who are consistently recommended by clients and peers for the quality of their advice and service.

Merja is one of Finland’s most experienced capital markets lawyers and she co-heads our Capital Markets & Financial Regulation service. She’s also a trusted advisor in private M&A transactions and she chairs the shareholders’ meetings of numerous listed companies and institutions.

Each year the IFLR1000 research evaluates lawyers and firms on the basis of transactional experience and market feedback. During the process the research team evaluates thousands of submissions and survey data of thousands of client referees and peers, and conducts hundreds of interviews before nominating individuals for Women Leaders.

See the rankings in detail on www.IFLR1000.com.

Latest references

We advised Neste Corporation on the refinancing of its EUR 500 million term facility by way of two EUR 250 million bilateral term facilities provided by OP Corporate Bank plc and Danske Bank A/S, Finland Branch.  Each term facility has a maturity of three years with extension options.
Case published 25.11.2025
We are assisting Prisma Properties AB in a sale and leaseback arrangement with Kesko Oyj comprising ten grocery retail properties. The transaction value is approximately EUR 59 million, and the properties are located in Sastamala, Jyväskylä, Lappeenranta, Vihti, Oulu, Saarijärvi, Liminka, Imatra, Loviisa, and Eurajoki.  As part of the arrangement, the properties are leased back to Kesko Oyj under lease agreements with a weighted average lease term of 11.6 years. The portfolio includes well-known store concepts such as K-Citymarket, K-Supermarket, and K-Market.
Case published 20.11.2025
We advised the urban developer and construction company YIT on the drafting and negotiation of two construction agreements with the leading algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets for the development of two data centres in Kajaani, Finland, which are part of XTX Markets’ data centre complex. The first agreement, valued at approximately EUR 100 million and signed in December 2024, marked the commencement of the construction of the first data centre facility in Kajaani, establishing Kajaani as a strategic hub for high-performance computing infrastructure.  Building on the success of this collaboration, YIT and XTX Markets entered into a second agreement in August 2025 to commence construction of a second data centre facility. This phase includes the delivery of the shell and core of the new building.
Case published 20.11.2025
Castrén & Snellman acted as legal advisor to Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. in its capacity as sole lender and hedging bank providing senior financing to Olana Energy for a Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) portfolio in Finland. Our advice included preparing a legal due diligence report on the projects as well as advising on the negotiation of the various finance and project agreements. Olana Energy is a management-owned fast-growing independent power producer with an international pipeline of over 1 GW. The diversified portfolio of assets ranging from 5 to 30 MW reinforces the Finnish grid at a granular level.
Case published 18.11.2025