Linas Sabaliauskas

Linas’s expertise in various legal aspects of the alternative asset management and fund management industry has been recognized by the EBRD, as he was chosen to educate Baltic GPs and LPs in the team of other illustrious European PE experts, such as Tim Jenkinson (Oxford Professor of Finance), Humphrey Battcock (ex-Managing Partner of Advent) and Jonathan Blake (UK pioneer of private equity law) under the EBRD’s Capacity Building Programme for Baltic State GPs and LPs in 2017.

Clients are usually impressed with Linas’s pragmatism and focus on solutions, which are based on his in-depth knowledge and experience. Linas is one of the few transaction experts in Lithuania with such an impressive international education (including Harvard Business School, University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, as well as studies in Finland, Germany, and Lithuania). His final thesis on PE development in the Baltic States earned the Said prize (2014) at The University of Oxford.

Linas is a very experienced professional who has handled transactions worth more than two billion euros over the years of his practice. His leadership in such projects is extremely valuable because of his business-minded approach, which comes from his experience as a board member at various investment companies and business groups. As a strategist and a lawyer, he is invaluable to his clients in structuring the transactions, and he assists clients in developing joint venture structures, fund structures, and management models, as well as advising them on company acquisitions, MBOs, LBOs, convertible debt/bond and quasi-equity investments, management of due diligence, drafting of term sheet, LoI/MoU, SPA and SHA and transaction documents, general corporate law, and finance aspects.

Key highlights of his experience include:

• Legal assistance to Antin Infrastructure Partners, one of the largest investment companies in Europe, on acquisition and financing of Idex Baltic, one of the largest independent heat producers in the Baltics.
• Legal advice to a listed Israeli investment company on acquisition and financing of Bitė, a leading mobile communication company in the Baltics.
• Assistance to leading German utility company Danpower, on the acquisition of several district heating, CHP, and energy companies and consolidation of those into Danpower Baltic, a leading private energy company in the Baltics.
• Consulting to EnBW-Energie Baden-Würtenberg, on various legal aspects of the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant in Lithuania.
• Legal advice to Stadtwerke Leipzig, a leading German municipal utility company, and VNG-Verbundnetzgas AG, on the acquisition and disposal of various district heating, CHP, and energy companies in Lithuania.
• Legal representation of No.1 LegalTech Lithuanian start-up Oberlo on the establishment, development, and subsequent sale of the company to Shopify, a listed Canadian e-commerce company.

He has been ranked as a leading Private Equity lawyer since 2008 by Chambers Europe. His expertise has also been noted by the international legal directory Best Lawyers since 2012, where he is a recognized practitioner of Corporate and M&A Law, Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice, and Energy Law.

Linas also holds honourable positions in various industry-related organizations and working groups. He is an arbitrator of the Vilnius Court of Commercial Arbitration.

His clients include Baltic VC funds, including Practica Capital and Open Circle Capital, as well as the most successful Baltic start-ups, including Vinted, Oberlo, TRAFI, TransferGo, Interactio, Oxipit, GoRamp, Millo etc.

Moreover, Linas is a great activist and philanthropist. He was awarded with the Order pro Merito Melitensi by the ambassador of Sovereign Military Order of Malta for special merits in promoting charity, volunteering, humanitarian values, and support for the sick, poor and suffering.