Since opening our Kyiv Office in 1992, our core practice has been in the area of corporate and investment law, and mergers and acquisitions, where we have acted primarily on behalf of foreign investors in Ukraine. Our lawyers have advised on a variety of matters, ranging from complex multinational business transactions to counseling on the reorganizations of local enterprises. We have advised on the establishment of more than 550 legal presences in Ukraine, including joint ventures and wholly-owned subsidiaries, in the form of both limited liability companies and joint stock companies, as well as representative offices. Our experience, which we have acquired as a result of this work, is extensive and, among other things, has provided us with insights into the forms of legal presences which are best suited for specific types of businesses.
Baker & McKenzie has established a leading reputation in M&A transactions throughout Europe and the CIS. In Ukraine, our Kyiv Office has developed considerable know-how in advising on, structuring, and implementing a wide range of multinational and domestic transactions. With considerable capabilities in the areas of corporate and commercial transactions, capital markets and securities, banking and finance, anti-monopoly and competition law, and taxation, our M&A lawyers have acted as lead counsel to numerous foreign investors on major acquisitions, divestitures, and reorganizations of Ukrainian enterprises, including in the areas of telecommunications, manufacturing (including automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturing), banking, broadcasting, agroindustry, consumer goods, and beverages.
These matters have primarily taken the forms of acquisitions or divestitures of majority shareholdings or participatory interests in joint stock companies and limited liability companies. Such transactions have also included share subscriptions in capital raisings, as well as asset acquisitions, including the acquisition of production facilities and businesses as going concerns. Additionally, we have advised on and implemented corporate restructurings involving the disposal of assets and group reorganizations.