Freja Väyrynen

Senior Associate, Member of the Finnish Bar

Services

Contact details

I advise our clients on assignments relating to private equity and funds. I have experience in e.g. fund formation, joint venture arrangements, fund investments and secondary transactions. In addition, I regularly work on mergers and acquisitions as well as with general corporate and contract law.

Prior to joining Castrén & Snellman, I worked as a partner at a Nordic private equity firm, where I was, in addition to legal tasks, responsible for fundraising and investor relations for our international fund manager clients. I have also worked for another leading Finnish law firm, where I advised clients on assignments relating to fund formation and investment management. What’s more, I have gained work experience from abroad, as I have lived and worked in Stockholm and Madrid.

Due to my background, I am familiar with both legal and commercial market practices and business needs of the industry. I am fluent in three languages and, thanks to my experience from abroad, I have a good understanding of international markets.

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Latest references

Exsitec – Acquisition of M-flow Finland

We advised Exsitec Holding AB in a transaction whereby it acquired all the shares in M-flow Finland Oy. M-flow Finland Oy is a Finnish company engaged in reselling Medius B2B standard S2P software-as-a-service solutions in Finland. Exsitec Holding AB is a Swedish company part of the Nordic Exsitec group, which has over 20 offices in the Nordics. Exsitec delivers digital solutions to improve its customers’ businesses.

OP Finland Infrastructure – EUR 45 million investment in ESL Shipping

We acted as legal advisor to OP Finland Infrastructure LP in its investment in ESL Shipping Ltd, a Finnish shipping company. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company co-invested in the company. The investment was made against new shares in ESL Shipping, and the EUR 45 million co-investment corresponds to a 21.43 % holding in the company. The aim of the investment is to accelerate ESL Shipping’s green transition. ESL Shipping Ltd is a Finnish shipping company. Its main shareholder is Aspo Plc. OP Finland Infrastructure is a fund investing in Finnish infrastructure. The fund is managed by OP Financial Group. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company is a Finnish pension insurance company. In September 2023 the value of its investment portfolio amounted to EUR 57.5 billion.

Sanok Rubber Company – Acquisition of Teknikum Group

We are advising Sanok Rubber Company S.A. on the acquisition of Teknikum Group Ltd. Teknikum Group is a European polymer technology company serving industrial customers in need of reliable rubber, plastic, silicone, polyurethane, and foam solutions. The group has approximately 600 employees and operates four production plants in Finland and one in Hungary, and a sales office in Germany. Sanok Rubber Company S.A. is the European leader in the field of rubber products, rubber-to-metal articles and combination of rubber with other materials for the automotive, construction, agriculture, pharmacy and household appliances. Sanok Rubber Company S.A. is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and employs more than 3,000 people in Europe and North America. The completion of the transaction, conditional on regulatory approval, is expected to take place in the first half of 2024.

Mérieux Equity Partners – Acquisition of Labquality

We acted as the legal and ESG advisor to Mérieux Equity Partners on the acquisition of a majority stake in Labquality through a leveraged buyout by its buyout fund, Mérieux Participations 4. Existing shareholders of Labquality, including Cor Group and the management, will reinvest a portion of their proceeds into the company in connection with the transaction. Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Labquality is a Nordic player specialized in EQA, CRO activities and regulatory affairs, with a strong local presence in Central and Eastern Europe. The company provides a comprehensive array of services for the healthcare, medical technology, and pharmaceutical industries. The company, employing over 120 professionals and supported by a network of more than 150 external experts and consultants across its offices in Finland, Germany, and Poland, serves a diverse clientele of over 8,000 customers, including major pharmaceutical companies in over 60 countries. Mérieux Equity Partners (MxEP) is an AMF-accredited management company dedicated to equity investments in the Healthcare and Nutrition sectors. MxEP actively supports entrepreneurs and companies with differentiated products and services, giving them privileged access to its sector expertise and international network. The transaction will enable Labquality to pursue its buy & build strategy in Europe to accelerate its CRO activities while continuing strong and recurring growth in the EQA segment. Labquality will benefit from MxEP’s sector expertise and financial resources to achieve its ambition of becoming a leading European CRO and EQA platform, with fully integrated regulatory consulting capabilities to serve major customers across Europe.

eQ Community Properties Fund – Acquisition of a property portfolio

We advised eQ Community Properties Fund in its acquisition of a property portfolio comprising a health centre in Espoo, a daycare property in Vantaa, an elementary school in Helsinki, and a parking facility property in Helsinki from Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company. The lettable area of the first three properties is approximately 13,900 sq.m., while the parking facility offers 120 parking spaces. The portfolio’s tenants include the City of Helsinki, the City of Vantaa, the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, and Aimo Park Oy. In connection with the transaction, Ilmarinen invested in eQ Community Properties fund as per 31 December 2024.

Finnish manufacturing company – Arbitration proceedings under the SCC rules

We successfully represented a Finnish manufacturing company in arbitration proceedings under the SCC rules against a global construction company. The dispute was governed by Finnish law and the seat of arbitration was Stockholm, Sweden. The dispute mainly concerned the termination of an erection contract and the right to compensation for delays of the project and for cost increases due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The main questions in dispute were the lawfulness of the termination of the erection contract as well as the consequences of the termination such as the right to costs to complete the project after termination, the right to liquidated damages for delay of the project and adjustment of contract price due to cost increases. The total value of the dispute exceeded EUR 15 million.

Korkia Oy – Renewable energy loan agreement

We advised Korkia Oy in its loan agreement with Nordic Environment Finance Corporation. The financing will support the development and international scale-up of Korkia’s pipeline of solar energy, battery energy storage system (BESS) and onshore wind projects. Korkia is a dedicated investor in renewable energy operating in nine countries. It has a robust development pipeline of over 20 GW in renewable energy and energy storage projects.

Commerzbank – Vessel construction financing for Meyer Turku

We acted as the Finnish law legal advisor to Commerzbank AG, which served as the coordinator, bookrunner, documentation agent, facility agent and security agent of an international banking syndicate. This syndicate provided an ECA-covered construction financing facility of more than EUR 1 billion for the Finnish shipyard company Meyer Turku Oy. The loan facility will be used on the construction of one new passenger cruise ship. The newbuilding is the third of the ICON class. According to Meyer Turku Oy the ICON-class ships are the world’s most advanced and the most environmentally friendly cruise ships of their owner, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

Get to know our other experts in the field

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+358 50 560 1130 jarno.tanhuanpaa@castren.fi

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+358 45 128 4070 jussi.makikangas@castren.fi

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