28.6.2021

Women in Business Law Awards Europe 2021: Castrén & Snellman Scandinavian Law Firm of the Year

Castrén & Snellman received the award for Scandinavian Law Firm of the Year at the Women in Business Law Awards Europe 2021. In addition, the firm was awarded as the best national firm in the Mentorship Programme category, and Partner Merja Kivelä received the award for Equity Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year.

Castrén & Snellman is committed to promoting gender equality, and over half of our lawyers are women. Our work to promote diversity and support personnel’s work-life balance are part of our overall sustainability programme, which took some major steps forward in 2020.

‘Gender equality is a core principle at C&S. We are very proud of these achievements, but it is important that we not rest on our laurels and also remember that equality goes beyond equality between the genders. It is vital that we treat everyone equally and ensure all of our employees have equal opportunities to advance in their careers and develop their expertise’, says Managing Partner Sakari Lukinmaa.

The Women in Business Law Awards Europe celebrates the efforts and achievements of law firms across Europe in helping women to advance in the legal profession and spotlight the most impressive achievements by women lawyers.

Best Mentorship Programme – Easing Day-to-Day Family Life

We support our employees in balancing family life and work, for example, by offering mentoring to employees’ returning from parental leave. This mentoring takes the form of peer support and sharing of best practices on how to balance the demands of work and family. The mentors are mothers or fathers who have also recently returned to work from parental leave.

Our firm also supports personnel in continued academic study, professional training, work-experience and through a wide-range of internally organised training, mentoring and coaching opportunities.

Merja Kivelä – Equity Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year

One of the Finland’s most experienced capital markets lawyers, Partner Merja Kivelä, received the Equity Capital Markets Lawyer of the Year award. Merja was recently recognised as one of the Women Leaders 2021 by IFLR1000. One of the most significant cases that Merja has led recently is the merger of Cargotec and Konecranes, where C&S acted as advisor to Cargotec.

See all the winners on the IFLR website.

The awards are organised by Legal Media Group, which contains IFLR, ITR and Managing IP. The winning individuals and firms are decided by senior Euromoney Legal Media Group editorial staff following an extensive research process.

Latest references

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
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. 
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We advised Swedbank AB (publ) on the refinancing of a large Finnish retail real estate portfolio owned by Trophi’s Finnish subsidiaries. Trophi is the leading Nordic real estate company focusing on grocery anchored retail properties, with 278 properties across Sweden and Finland. Finland is a market that continues to develop and is also strategically important for Trophi, accounting for approximately 30% of Trophi’s letting and property value.
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We are acting as Finnish legal advisor to HANZA in connection with its acquisition of Fortaco Finland’s heavy mechanics and assembly business. The transaction is structured as a combined asset and share acquisition and includes Fortaco Finland’s heavy mechanics and assembly operations in Finland, as well as shares in two Estonian and two Polish subsidiaries. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Founded in 2008, HANZA is a Swedish mechanical engineering and electronics contract manufacturing company listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm main list. HANZA has approximately 5,000 employees and annual sales of SEK 10 billion. We advise HANZA on this transaction in collaboration with the Swedish law firm Lindahl.
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