February 7, 2011 - Danone-Unimilk deal was shortlisted as M&A deal of the year for the prestigious IFLR Europe awards 2011. The merger, creating the new leader for dairy products in the CIS area, was advised by EPAM and members of the CIS Leading Counsel Network, the first pan-CIS “best friends” legal network.

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Danone and Unimilk have finalized the merger of their Fresh Dairy Product businesses in Russia and other CIS member countries in November 2010. The new entity would span the operations across Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine as well as create opportunities for further expansion and will account for around 21% of the total market with currently estimated sales of over USD 2.4bn. The deal resulted in Russia becoming Danone's largest market.

Danone’s legal advisers in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Azerbaijan were member firms of the CIS LCN, a network of leading law firms providing integrated legal advice across the CIS region: Vlasova, Mikhel & Partners (Belarus), Aequitas (Kazakhstan), RULG (Ukraine) and FINA (Azerbaijan). Other members of the CIS LCN were involved in relation to the merger control and compliance check in CIS jurisdictions, namely Kalikova & Associates in Kyrgyz Republic, Turcan & Turcan in Moldova and Ameria CJCS in Armenia.

The CIS LCN is a professional network of the leading law firms across the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) economic region offering clients integrated multijurisdictional legal advice. Founded in 2009, the network brings together law firms in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine, and combines highest international professional standards with a unique local insight in the regions, which are increasingly attracting international investments.

Danone/Unimilk deal showed all the benefits of the pan-CIS “best friends” alliance for the domestic and international clients in providing seamless and high quality service across borders. In case of jurisdictions not involved in the deal directly the resources of the network were employed to conduct merger clearance and compliance checks on the CIS-wide scale.

Press release: The CIS Leading Counsel Network advises on Danone-Unimilk merger creating the new leader for dairy products in the CIS area