Rusandra Sandu is a Partner in the Bucharest office and Co-Head of the local Corporate M&A Service Line.

She has extensive experience structuring major foreign investments in Romania, from M&A transactions, joint ventures, complex regulatory procedures and restructurings to the structuring of greenfield investments.

Rusandra is also an expert in competition law, including merger control, cartel and infringement proceedings, competition compliance, and state aid. Her broad experience encompasses a range of industries, including automotive, retail, and pharma & healthcare.  

RECENT ENGAGEMENTS INCLUDE ADVISING*

M&A

• RHEINMETALL GROUP on the acquisition of a majority stake in military vehicle maker Automecanica Medias and its fully owned subsidiary Atelierele Speciale Autocamioane Medias and assistance in FDI notification and merger control clearance
• MARESI, part of the VIVATIS Group, on the acquisition of a Romanian wholesaler of various household products and assistance with the merger control procedure
• CLAAS on the acquisition of its major dealer, Serv Class, and assistance in the merger control procedure.
• WIRECARD on the sale Wirecard Romania to European payment services provider SIBS
• SAINT-GOBAIN on the acquisition of the Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian subsidiaries of a Benelux-based building materials manufacturer
• BAUER MEDIA GROUP on the sale of its Romanian publishing business to Ringier and advice on exiting the Romanian market by winding-down its Romanian entities
• KATHREIN SE on the sale of its mobile network antenna business to Ericsson, involving complex asset deal structures and assistance in foreign direct investment screening
• DAIMLER/INTELLIGENT APPS on the acquisition of Clever Taxi

State Aid & Greenfield Investment Projects

• DAIMLER on an EUR 200 million investment in Romania and state aid project for the establishment of a new production unit with around 320 employees
• PREMIUM AEROTEC/AIRBUS GROUP on an EUR 90 million greenfield investment in Romania and state aid project of more than EUR 19 million for a production facility for aircraft parts with around 500 employees
• UNIVERSAL ALLOY CORPORATION on assistance on a state aid project of approximately EUR 37.4 million for an investment exceeding EUR 120 million in a major production facility for the aircraft industry with more than 650 employees in Maramures
• STADA ROMANIA on assistance obtaining state aid of EUR 21 million from the Romanian government for a greenfield investment of around EUR 50 million in a new production facility in Turda, Cluj County
• SAINT-GOBAIN on assistance obtaining state aid of approximately EUR 10.1 million for an investment of more than EUR 45 million in a new production facility in Turda, Cluj County

Competition Law

• AN AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY MANUFACTURER on matters relating to a cartel investigation followed by court proceedings challenging the sanctioning decision issued by the Romanian Competition Council
• A MAJOR EUROPEAN RETAIL CHAIN on a high-profile price-fixing investigation of the retail market, which resulted in the client being cleared of all allegations
• A DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY GROUP on obtaining an exemption from the standstill obligation granted by the Romanian Competition Council for a joint venture
• LIDL on obtaining merger clearance from the Romanian Competition Council in respect of its acquisition of the Romanian retail chain Plus from Tengelmann—the first referral case from the European Commission to the Romanian Competition Council, followed by an ex-post review by the competition authority on the food retail market

*Experience prior to joining Kinstellar.

EDUCATION

• 1999: University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages (German-English), Bachelor of Philology
• 1998: University of Bucharest, Romania, Faculty of Law, Bachelor of Law

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION

Bucharest Bar Association

LANGUAGES

Romanian, German, English