Jutta Nieminen

Counsel, Member of the Finnish Bar

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I am an experienced and business-oriented attorney with a demonstrated working history in the area of employment law and HR-advisory covering the entire employment life cycle from recruitment to termination and all in-between, including workplace data privacy issues.

My particular knowledge covers challenging employment matters related to, for example, employment and executive-level agreements, consultation obligations, reorganisations and other change situations in employment relationships, redundancies, business immigration, international assignments as well as employment-related issues in corporate transactions. In addition, I regularly counsel employers on various employment-related data protection matters, such as limitations related to the processing of employee personal data, background checks and technical employee monitoring as well as employers’ obligations related to privacy policies and whistleblowing channels.

Although my work experience mainly consists of working in several Finnish major law firms, I have also gained valuable, business-driven experience from two secondments as an in-house lawyer, first in a publicly listed Nordic food company and second in a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics company.

Working life and ways of working have undergone great changes over the past years. My role is to bridge clients’ business needs and the requirements derived from employment and data protection law in this rapidly changing environment by creating solutions that help clients to reach their strategic objectives. I am genuinely passionate and curious about employment law issues and eager to provide added value to clients. My working approach is systematic and very pragmatic.

In addition to legal assignments, I regularly provide tailored in-house training and workshops for clients on employment law or data protection law topics of all kinds and I enjoy speaking to an audience.

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Latest references

Avesco – Acquisition of Vatupassi Törmälä

We advised Avesco AG in a transaction whereby it acquired all the shares in Vatupassi Törmälä Oy. We also advised Avesco AG in the corporate structuring following the transaction. Vatupassi Törmälä Oy is a Finnish equipment rental company specialising in the rental of construction equipment. It has offices in five locations in Central Finland. Avesco AG is a family owned, leading machinery rental company in Switzerland. The company employs over 1,100 employees in Switzerland, Austria, Finland and the Baltics. Avesco AG is also the official partner of machinery manufacturer Caterpillar. After the transaction Avesco Rent Oy and Vatupassi Törmälä Oy will be merged and the operations are continued under the Vatupassi brand.

Oomi – Partial demerger

We advised Oomi Oy in a partial demerger where Oomi’s solar power business for corporate customers demerged and formed a new independent company, Oomi Solar Oy. As part of the partial demerger process, we assisted Oomi in pre-emptive discussions with the tax authorities where the tax treatment of the restructuring was confirmed. Oomi Solar, the demerged company, focuses on implementing solar power plants for real estate properties, ground-level solar power plants and industrial solar power parks and supports companies and entities in their transition towards renewable energy. Oomi Solar started operations on 1 January 2024.

Triton-backed Geia Food – Acquisition of Topfoods companies

We acted as the Finnish legal advisor for Geia Food, a portfolio company of Triton Smaller Mid-Cap Fund II, in its acquisition of Topfoods Finland Oy and TFR Topfoods Retailing Oy. With this acquisition , Geia Food is expanding its footprint in the Nordics and expands on the Finnish foodservice and industrial product market. Geia Food is the leading supplier of food concepts in Scandinavia with approximately 120 employees and has offices in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. Since its establishment in 1997, Triton has sponsored ten funds, focusing on businesses in the industrial tech, services, consumer , and healthcare sectors. The companies currently in Triton’s portfolio have combined sales of around EUR 18 billion and employ around 105,000 employees. Triton Smaller Mid-Cap Fund II applies Triton’s proven investment strategy to lower mid-market companies in the same core sectors of Services, Healthcare, Industrial Tech and Consumer, using Triton’s in-house operational capabilities and resources to help management teams to sustainably expand their companies’ market position and to implement their growth strategies. Topfoods companies have an annual turnover of approximately 30 million EUR and employ a total of 15 employees.

Otso Gold – Restructuring Proceedings

Otso Gold Oy, an ore exploration and mining company, filed an application for initiating restructuring proceedings to the Oulu District Court on 3 December 2021. At that time, the company owned the Laivakangas gold mine, which is located in Raahe, Finland, on one of the biggest gold deposits in the Nordic countries. The company’s restructuring proceedings commenced on 17 February 2022, and the District Court ordered Attorney Pekka Jaatinen to serve as the administrator. At the time of commencement of the proceedings, the company was part of the Otso Gold group, whose Canadian parent company Otso Gold Corp is listed on the Toronto stock exchange. Due to the cross-border nature of the group, simultaneous restructuring applications were filed in Finland, Sweden and Canada. Otso Gold needed to carry out a financing and ownership arrangement in order to safeguard the continuation of its business and the fulfilment of its restructuring programme. Through the restructuring proceedings, Otso Gold was able to carry out a corporate transaction whereby the restructuring and the related proceedings were based on the sale of the company’s entire share capital to Pilar Gold Inc., a Canadian gold mining company. Simultaneously, Otso Gold was provided with financing for the implementation of the restructuring programme. Creditors representing over 93% of all debts of Otso Gold supported the restructuring programme based on the transaction concerning the entire company. The District Court of Oulu affirmed the one-day restructuring programme in October 2022 and appointed Attorney Pekka Jaatinen as supervisor of the programme. The restructuring programme and its payment programme were carried out in their entirety approximately one week later, and the restructuring programme ended successfully on 17 November 2022.

Boreo – Divestment of Russian operations

We advised Boreo Plc in a transaction in which it sold its 90% shareholding in the electronic component distribution business in Russia (“YE Russia”) to companies controlled by Mr. Yrjö Pönni, current General Director and 10% shareholder of YE Russia. The transaction was executed on 9 August 2022. Boreo is a company listed on Nasdaq Helsinki that creates value by owning, acquiring and developing B2B businesses in Northern Europe. Boreo’s business operations are organised into three business areas: Electronics, Technical Trade and Heavy Machines. The net sales from the Group’s continued operations in 2021 amounted to EUR 122 million and it employs over 300 people in seven countries.

Rudus – Acquisition of stone aggregates business

We advised Rudus Oy in the acquisition of TerraWise Oy’s stone aggregates business. Rudus Oy is the leading specialist in the market of stone-based building materials and solutions operating in Finland’s building product industry. This business acquisition supplements the stone aggregates business of Rudus while strengthening and expanding its offering, particularly in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Since 1999, Rudus has been a part of the Irish CRH Group, a global operator in the building materials industry. CRH operates in 28 countries and has 71,000 employees in approximately 3,155 locations. CRH is the largest building materials company in North America and the second largest in the world.

Hanza – Acquisition of Suomen Levyprofiili Oy

We advised Swedish company Hanza Holding Ab (publ) in its acquisition of Suomen Levyprofiili Oy. The deal is an important step in HANZA’s ongoing work to expand the group’s development clusters. Suomen Levyprofiili Oy is a successful Finnish manufacturer of sheet metal mechanics. Suomen Levyprofiili has just over 100 employees and operates in a modern production facility in Joensuu, close to HANZA’s other factories in Finland. The sellers are investors connected to Finnish investment company Helmet Capital Oy. HANZA is a knowledge-based global manufacturer that modernises and streamlines the manufacturing industry. HANZA was founded in 2008 and in 2020 had sales exceeding SEK 2 billion. The company has production units in seven countries: Sweden, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic and China. HANZA is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main list. HANZA will take over Suomen Levyprofiili immediately and will work to develop and integrate the factories in Finland in close collaboration with existing customers during 2021.

Founders – Establishment of a Foundation for the Conservation of the Paimio Sanatorium Designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto

We advised the Hospital District of Southwest Finland and other founders in a pro bono assignment to establish a foundation dedicated to the development and conservation of the Paimio Sanatorium designed by Alvar and Aino Aalto. The foundation will conserve the internationally renowned architecture and significant cultural capital of the properties of the tuberculosis sanatorium. The task of the foundation is to preserve the complex formed by the buildings and furnishings. ‘Castrén & Snellman’s wide expertise and excellent service were of great help to us throughout the project from start to finish. In the course of establishing the foundation, we came across issues that we had not fully anticipated, but with Castrén & Snellman’s experts we were able to find feasible solutions‘, said Heikki Aalto-Alanen , member of the board of directors of the foundation. ‘We truly appreciate that they chose to support us pro bono and make their expertise available to this project. The conservation of the Paimio Sanatorium is a project of exceptional importance even on an international scale ’, Aalto-Alanen continues. Plans are for the sanatorium to host, amongst other things, a variety of cultural events in the future. The foundation was established by the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, the State of Finland, the Alvar Aalto Foundation and the cities of Paimio and Turku. The former owner of the sanatorium, the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, transferred the sanatorium properties, including all buildings and furnishings, to the foundation. The establishment of the foundation is the result of an inquiry into the future of Paimio Sanatorium launched by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of the Environment in 2019.

Get to know our other experts in the field

Tomi Kemppainen

+358 40 354 2204 tomi.kemppainen@castren.fi

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+358 40 775 4171 laura.hayrinen@castren.fi

Senior Associate

+358 40 745 6784 ville.kukkonen@castren.fi

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Mari Kulmakorpi

+358 20 776 5016 mari.kulmakorpi@castren.fi

Werner Laitinen

+358 50 556 3751 werner.laitinen@castren.fi

Sofia Seppänen

+358 50 550 1274 sofia.seppanen@castren.fi

+358 20 776 5011 veera.ylitalo@castren.fi

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