REDCLIFFE Partners

Redcliffe Partners (ukr. Редкліфф Партнерз) is an independent Ukrainian law firm, founded in December 2015 in Kyiv through the transformation of the Kyiv office of the international law firm Clifford Chance.

Redcliffe Partners is among the top 5 best law firms in Ukraine according to the IFLR Europe Awards  and the top 7 best law firms in Ukraine according to The Lawyer. It is a Tier 1 firm in Ukraine according to The Legal 500 EMEA in practices:


 * Banking, Finance, Capital Markets
 * Corporate, Commercial, M&A
 * Energy

It is a Tier 1 firm in Banking and Finance according to the IFLR1000 ranking and a leading firm in the Antitrust/Competition, Corporate and M&A and Banking and Finance according to Chambers Europe.

History
In 2008, Clifford Chance, the first law firm from the "Magic Circle" of five prestigious international firms headquartered in London, opened its office in Ukraine.

In the summer of 2015, due to the unstable economic situation in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the war in the east of Ukraine, Clifford Chance decided to stop working in Ukraine, and the Clifford Chance office in Kyiv was reorganised into Redcliffe Partners on December 1, 2015. The firm was headed by Olexiy Soshenko and Dmytro Fedoruk, who previously worked at Clifford Chance. Rob Shantz and Zoryana Sozanska-Matviychuk also joined Redcliffe Partners as partners.

Clifford Chance has entered into a "best friends" agreement with the reorganised Redcliffe Partners, and the lawyers who formerly comprised Clifford Chance's core Ukrainian team continued to work at Redcliffe Partners.

Operations after a full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022
Redcliffe Partners remains fully operational throughout the war. Having relocated some of the personnel abroad, the firm is able to continue working on deals despite the power shortages in Ukraine as a result of Russian missile attacks on the country's critical infrastructure.

During this time, the firm gained a recognised expertise in the issue of compensation for damages caused by the Russian aggressor, which is one of the strategic areas of the company's work.

Social responsibility
Redcliffe Partners strongly supports and fosters the growth of young professionals. To help students learn from experts, the firm's lawyers regularly participate in events where they share their expertise.

The firm is constantly involved in pro bono projects, both globally and in Ukraine. Notably, they provide free legal assistance to Ukrainian volunteer foundations.

Notable transaction
Redcliffe Partners acted as Ukrainian legal counsel to the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on a USD 480 million financing to MHP, one of the largest food and aggrotech groups in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, to refinance its Eurobonds, sustain its operations and enhance its capacity for sustainable power generation, reducing its carbon footprint. The transaction was recognised as the deal of the year by the 2023 CEE Deal of the Year Awards.

Redcliffe Partners has scored a courtroom victory for the Nordic Investment Bank, the international financial institution of the Nordic and Baltic countries, at the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, whose ruling in this case sets one of the most resounding and important court precedents in the context of cross-border finance deals.

In January 2021, Redcliffe Partners advised US investors Aspect Energy and SigmaBleyzer in connection with the 18-month negotiation and successful signing of a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) with the State of Ukraine. These are the first US investors to invest via PSA since the exit of Chevron from Ukraine in 2014.

In April 2020, Redcliffe Partners played a key role in facilitating Ukraine's first-ever product enhancement contract (PEC) signed by UkrGasVydobuvannya.

In the spring of 2019, Redcliffe acted as a Ukrainian legal adviser to J.P. Morgan Securities Plc as debt coordinator in connection with financing of the construction of the first phase of a 250 MW wind power plant near Syvash Lake, in the Kherson Region of Ukraine. The signing ceremony occurred at the World Economic Forum in Davos in the presence of the President of Ukraine, Mr. Poroshenko. The deal was included in the list of the best deals of 2020 by the IFLR Europe Awards.

In 2018, Redcliffe Partners acted as a legal counsel to the Saudi Agricultural & Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) in acquiring the assets of Mriya Agro Holding. This is one of the most anticipated and complex transactions in the Ukrainian agribusiness sector to date. The transaction was recognised as the deal of the year by the 2018 CEE Deal of the Year Awards.