Musat & Asociatii celebrates 20 years of legal practice, during which period it has made a paramount contribution to the establishment and development of the Romanian legal market, has pioneered new areas of expertise and has trained several generations of attorneys who may be found at present amongst the most reputed figures of the business law practice in Romania.
Established in 1990 by Gheorghe Muşat, the firm has grown with each year, thus becoming one of the most prestigious and revered law firms in Romania. Our performance has been confirmed by numerous international legal publications, which are constantly ranking the firm as leader in 11 areas of expertise as well as commending many of the firm’s attorneys as the elite of the Romanian business law practice.
In its 20 years of practice, Muşat & Asociaţii has been committed to advising an impressive range of clients, both in respect of numbers, and of the prestige of their names: banks and financial institutions, investment funds, multinational corporations, domestic business companies, private investors, Government institutions, regulatory agencies. Counting over 100 practitioners with a comprehensive expertise in all areas of business law and an impressive list of successful transactions, many of which have set a landmark for the Romanian legal practice, Muşat & Asociaţii holds a portfolio of over 2,500 sound clients which it has assisted throughout the time in various transactions and investment projects carried out in Romania.
Among its most recent transactions and projects, it is worth mentioning that the firm has advised on Enel’s investment projects in Romania, such as the development of Unit 3 and 4 of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, the brownfield project for the refurbishment of the 800 MW power plant located in Brăila, as well as a significant number of acquisitions in the energy & utilities sector: Electrica Muntenia Sud, Electrica Banat, Electrica Dobrogea etc. Also, Musat & Asociatii assisted Rompetrol Group on the acquisition of the remaining free float of Rompetrol Rafinare, amounting EUR 90,000,000, and the mandatory public offering for Rompetrol Well Services, the acquisition of the majority stock in Bere Azuga by SABMiller, the indirect takeover of Sanofi Aventis by Zentiva or the exploration and exploitation of the mining site Rosia Montana (a USD 4 billion investment). Musat & Asociatii also advised important international companies such as Intel Corporation, Group Generali in their acquisitions in Romania, provided legal assistance in the restructuring of the EUR 1 billion debts owed by Termoelectrica and assisted SN Poşta Română (The National Post Company) in its restructuring process, as a first step towards its privatization. Furthermore, Musat & Asociatii represented The Romanian Government against Noble Ventures (U.S.) in a complex ICSID arbitration, with aggregate claims exceeding USD 350,000,000 and a Swedish investor against the Romanian State in relation to a complex ICSID arbitration, with aggregate claims of more than EUR 450,000,000 and coordinated many other major international arbitrations.
At the anniversary reception, Gheorghe Muşat, the founder of the firm, stated on this occasion: “My associates and I would like to thank all of you who accepted our invitation to join us in our 20 years’ anniversary celebration of Muşat & Asociaţii, Attorneys at Law. These 20 years have been both exciting and rewarding, in spite of all difficulties inherently caused by the transition period, be they legislative instability, governmental bureaucracy, corruption or inconsistencies within the judicial system.
They were exciting since in 1990 we started with but a few young graduates and one assistant, whereas at present Muşat & Asociaţii is employing over 100 attorneys and counsels, all of them young, enthusiastic and committed to their profession and, most importantly, trained right here, at “Muşat & Asociaţii School”. They were rewarding since our attorneys played a role in the successful outcome of many important projects and transactions that have been carried out in Romania. It is a great pride for us that such transactions have bend deemed by the specialists as milestone achievements for the Romanian business community.
All these achievements were possible due in the first place to our clients, be they Romanian or foreign. In fact, no law firm can make it if it is not for the trust, loyalty and support of its clients. We, at Muşat & Asociaţii, are grateful to our clients for their trust and excellent cooperation insofar. Nonetheless, success is not everlasting, especially on the Romanian legal market, where competition consists of over 20 foreign law firms and a number of remarkably strong local law firms. Enduring success requires a continuous adjustment to the needs of our clients, which require innovative legal services, in line with the international practice and standards. We assure all of our clients that we are aware of such requirements, the most important guarantee in this respect being that Muşat & Asociaţii has continued to hold a leading position throughout all these years, having remained one of the pillars of the Romanian business law practice. We aim to strengthen this position and to remain a reliable support for the business community and private investors, whether Romanian or foreign, for the left- or right-winged government, for the state institutions and government agencies, for all our local clients”.
The cocktail party has been attended by the representatives of numerous businesses, public and private companies, government institutions and agencies, as well as politicians and journalists.