Sara Laitinen

Senior Associate, Member of the Finnish Bar

Services

  1. Restructuring & Insolvency
  2. Corporate Governance
  3. Private Wealth & Family Office

Contact details

I advise clients in various assignments concerning insolvency law. I have participated in various bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings acting as the administrator, assisting the administrator and representing creditors.

In addition to restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings, I have experience in voluntary liquidation of companies.

I started my career at Castrén & Snellman as a trainee. Before that, I worked as a trainee at another business law firm.

I have a Master of Laws degree from the University of Helsinki.

Latest references

Life Finland – Administration of bankruptcy estate
Life Finland Oy, a retailer of natural products, other health-related products and cosmetics, filed for bankruptcy on its own initiative in June 2025, and our attorney, counsel Elina Pesonen was appointed administrator of the bankruptcy estate. Life Finland Oy was part of the international Life Group, and its parent company Life Europe AB was declared bankrupt in Sweden in June 2025. When declared bankrupt, Life Finland Oy had over 30 operational stores and almost 170 employees across Finland. In addition to the premises of the operational stores, the company had several other leased premises, such as retail premises it was vacating as well as office and warehouse spaces. The bankruptcy estate organised clearance sales in all of the company’s stores. The shutdown of the stores and the clearance sales were efficiently carried out in approximately two weeks in cooperation with the company’s country manager, regional managers and sales staff. The clearance sales yielded a significant liquidation result, and consumers bought nearly the entire inventory. The administration of the bankruptcy estate has required expertise in many areas. The proceedings have dealt with specialised issues such as cash pooling arrangements, intellectual property, franchising agreements, employment relationships and consumer creditors. In addition, the proceedings are notably international, as the estate administrator has organised the shutdown of operations and the liquidation of assets in close cooperation with the estate administrators of the Swedish Group companies. The cooperation has included, among other things, exploring opportunities for selling the business, the sale of intangible rights and the coordination of intra-group agreements.
Case published 9.12.2025
European Battery Technologies – Sale of assets of bankruptcy estate
Our partner Pauliina Tenhunen acts as the administrator of the bankruptcy estate of European Battery Technologies Oy. The bankruptcy estate sold all assets of the bankrupt company, including its battery factory equipment and IP rights related to the operations. The equipment sold was the first of its kind in the 2010s and the factory was the first in Europe to produce LFP batteries. The buyer is Estonia and Germany-based Skeleton Technologies, a global developer and manufacturer of energy storage solutions. The buyer will continue operations in the premises rented by the bankrupt company in Varkaus, Finland. The owner of the premises is Keski-Savon Teollisuuskylä Oy, a company owned by the city of Varkaus. The bankruptcy administration is very pleased with this outcome as the continued operation of the battery factory was a priority also for the bankruptcy estate.
Case published 26.5.2023
Relacom Finland – Administration of bankruptcy estate
Relacom Finland Oy was declared bankrupt in 2019 upon the company’s own application. Relacom Finland Oy was one of the leading telecommunication services companies in Finland, and it had activities across Finland. The company offered, for example, installation and maintenance of telecommunication networks and power grids. When bankruptcy was declared, the company had around 400 employees. The bankruptcy proceedings were concluded in approximately three years, and the creditors approved the final settlement of accounts in December 2022. Attorney Pekka Jaatinen served as the administrator of the bankruptcy estate. After the beginning of the bankruptcy, the bankruptcy estate examined the company’s unfinished projects and finished them to the extent that was profitable. The rest of the projects were shut down in a controlled manner and handed over to the customer. Some of the projects were also socially important. The bankruptcy estate hired 112 of the company’s employees for fixed-term employment to finish projects and to ensure that the shutdown was carried out in a controlled manner. However, the bankruptcy administration did not continue the company’s business. The company’s fixed assets and inventories consisted of, among other things, various tools, equipment and several vehicles. The bankruptcy estate identified different options for efficient ways to liquidate assets, and selling was carried out in cooperation with an external liquidator. The liquidation result from finishing projects and selling the company’s movable property was significant and higher than the book value. Unsecured creditors accrued approximately 41% disbursements in the bankruptcy.
Case published 11.1.2023
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.
Case published 29.12.2022
Brothers Clothing – Administration of Bankruptcy Estate
Menswear retailer Brothers Clothing Oy applied for bankruptcy on its own initiative in April 2020. At the time it was declared bankrupt, the company had a total of 12 stores and about 70 employees across Finland. The bankruptcy proceedings were concluded briskly in about one and a half years, and the creditors approved the final settlement of accounts in December 2021. Attorney Pauliina Tenhunen served as the administrator of the bankruptcy estate. After bankruptcy was declared, the bankruptcy estate began clearance sales in five stores in Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, Raisio and Vaasa. The clearance sales were organised in cooperation with the company’s store staff, and the bankruptcy estate hired about 20 of the company’s employees for fixed-term employment. The liquidation result from the clearance sales was significant. Unsecured creditors accrued over 50% disbursements in the bankruptcy. In addition to insolvency experts, the team managing the bankruptcy estate included taxation and employment law experts.
Case published 18.1.2022
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
Swedbank – Refinancing of Trophi’s Finnish retail real estate portfolio
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.
Case published 17.7.2026

Get to know our other experts in the field

Pauliina Tenhunen
Position: Partner
Primary service Restructuring & Insolvency
 +358 40 046 8114
Elina Pesonen
Position: Counsel, Partner Elect
Primary service Restructuring & Insolvency
 +358 40 717 4294
Christer Svartström
Position: Counsel
Primary service Restructuring & Insolvency
 +358 40 511 3303
Mikaela Rintakoski
Position: Senior Associate
Primary service Restructuring & Insolvency
 +358 50 347 7782
Ella Talso
Position: Associate
Primary service Restructuring & Insolvency
 +358 44 254 4686