OREANDA-NEWS. November 09, 2011. The Financial Times and The Mergermarket Group have yet again shortlisted law firm SORAINEN for the "Baltic Legal Advisor of the Year" award in the European M&A Awards 2011 competition, reported the press-centre of SORAINEN.

This is the fifth time that The Financial Times, a leading global source of business news, and Mergermarket, a leading world-wide M&A intelligence database, are organising the annual European M&A Awards to recognise the accomplishments of dealmakers in both the legal and financial fields. However, it is only the second time that winners are being picked for the Baltic region. It is already three years ago that for the first time SORAINEN won the first and so far the only "Baltic Legal Advisor of the Year" award given by The Financial Times & Mergemarket for advising on the largest number of M&A transactions and for the largest total value in the Baltics in 2008.

The Financial Times and The Mergermarket Group have yet again shortlisted law firm SORAINEN for the "Baltic Legal Advisor of the Year" award in the European M&A Awards 2011 competition.

"This year the M&A market is busier again after recession, more deals are being finalised and clearly developing the Baltic region is being more carefully considered by the European community. We are delighted to be again chosen as a finalist by the organisers based on our track record in 2011," comments Toomas Prangli, regional head of the SORAINEN M&A and Private Equity Team.

Thanks to its integrated regional teams, know-how base and quality management system, SORAINEN's value-added is much appreciated by regional clients, exemplified in recent transactions advising on such acquisitions as Unilever acquiring Ingman Ice Cream subsidiaries in the Baltics and Belarus, Bidvest Group in the Baltics and LEONHARD WEISS in Estonia, Finland and Lithuania. Additionally local highlights last year included advising Hitachi on a nuclear power plant project in Lithuania, Citycon in its EUR 105 million acquisition of Estonia's second largest shopping centre and Baltkom in Latvia in one of the largest private equity transactions in the region in 2011.

SORAINEN has also always been at the forefront of the M&A industry in the Baltics by initiating and leading the first Baltic M&A Deal Points Study, which was repeated again this year; publishing the first Baltic M&A and Private Equity Transaction Guide in 2011; and initiating the first Baltic M&A and Private Equity Forum – opening in 2010 in Riga, followed by the second forum this year in Vilnius with a third forum planned for next year in Tallinn – that has become the main meeting point for Baltic M&A industry.

The European M&A Awards are designed to recognise excellence in corporate, private equity, banking and legal M&A expertise. The winners are chosen through a unique selection process which employs both empirical data and independent expert opinion to form a reasoned and substantiated selection. Winners will be announced on 8 December 2011 during the European M&A Awards 2011 gala in London. More information available from European M&A Awards homepage.