Risto Agur

Founding Partner
+372 55 40002
risto.agur@lumilex.ee

Profile

Risto Agur is the Founding Partner and Attorney at Law of LUMILEX. He is a very experienced transactions and project attorney, whose main practice areas are Corporate, M&A, Banking & Finance, Real Estate & Construction and Compliance. He has also substantial experience in Data Protection, Intellectual Property and Information Technology practices. In several of these practice areas he has been regularly acknowledged as a leading lawyer by such international legal directories as The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners.

Risto has an LL.M. degree from Georgetown University and has practiced law for over 20 years in various top tier law firms. Before establishing LUMILEX he was Partner and Head of Transactions at NOVE. Prior to that he was Founding Partner of KPMG Law in Estonia and as Managing Partner led the firm to be one of the leading law firms in Estonia. Before establishing KPMG Law in Estonia, he practiced for a long time in SORAINEN as an Attorney at Law and Head of Corporate Advisory & Employment (2006-2007) and Restructuring & Insolvency (2009-2010) practices. Based on this Risto has a long term, diverse and successful experience in management and business development that he always brings also in to his legal advice in order to add additional value to his clients.

Education

Georgetown University Law Center, USA (LL.M., Securities and Financial Regulation), Fulbright award (2007-2008)

Georgetown University Law Center, USA (Foundations of American Law and Legal Education), Fulbright award (2007)

University of Tartu, BA in Law (officially equivalent to MA) (1999-2003)

Work experience

LUMILEX Advokaadibüroo, Founding Partner, Attorney at Law (2020-)

Advokaadibüroo NOVE, Partner and Head of M&A and Banking & Finance. Attorney at Law (2020)

Advokaadibüroo KPMG Law, Founding Partner, Attorney at Law (2013-2020)

Advokaadibüroo SORAINEN, Attorney at Law, Head of Practice (2000-2013)

Selected matters

• Advising a majority shareholder of a real estate company on a highly leveraged management buyout with deal value of approx. 10 MEUR.
  
  
• Advising a shipping company on a highly leveraged corporate acquisition with deal value of approx. 25 MEUR.
  
  
• Advising a shareholder of an agricultural company on a highly leveraged buyout with deal value of approx. 10 MEUR.
  
  
• Advising a global media company on the acquisition of an Estonian media agency with deal value in excess of 5 MEUR.
  
  
• Advising a financing institution on the sale of business with value over 10 MEUR.
  
  
• Advising a public financial institution on the financing and acquisition of a company on the verge of insolvency.
  
  
• Advising on the sale and purchase of various companies/businesses from restructuring, enforcement and bankruptcy proceedings.
  
  
• Advising on the acquisition of a qualifying holding in a fund management company with hundreds of millions of euros under management.
  
  
• Advising one of the largest groceries trading companies in Estonia on the sale of shares and on the establishment of a joint venture.
  
  
• Advising one of the largest waste management companies in Estonia on acquiring a stake in another company in the same sector.
  
  
• Advising one of the largest telecommunications companies in Estonia in relation to a merger. 
  
  
• Advising a significant insurance broker on the sale and acquisition of holdings.
  
  
• Advising a large electronics trading company on a management company buyout transaction.
  
  
• Advising the largest insurance companies in Estonia in relation to Pan-Baltic cross-border mergers.
  
  
• Advising several large corporations on takeover of shares of minority shareholders for monetary consideration (squeeze-out).
  
  
• Advising an investment bank in acquiring a shareholding in a road construction company.
  
  
• Advising a large number of global investment banks on a wide range of large-scale financing and collateral transactions with Estonian companies.
  
  
• Advising an international private equity investor on the restructuring of loans of a distressed shopping center operator, taking over and selling the collateral.
  
  
• Advising several telecom companies on applying for payment institution licenses.
  
  
• Advising several financial institutions on applying for credit institution licenses.
  
  
• Advising several credit institutions in relation to their liquidation proceedings.
  
  
• Advising a credit institution on compliance of its investment services.
  
  
• Advising several foreign credit institutions on starting, restructuring and terminating business activities in Estonia.
  
  
• Advising several financial institutions on applying for a credit provider’s and credit intermediary’s license.
  
  
• Advising the financial regulatory proceedings for acquisition of qualified holding in a credit institution and a fund management company.
  
  
• Advising a bank on separation of its deposit taking and lending activities.
  
  
• Advising a foreign investor on financing a large-scale M&A transaction.
  
  
• Advising real estate developers on large-scale financing transactions and their restructuring.
  
  
• Advising an investment company on developing its compliance function.
  
  
• Advising various credit providers on large-scale bond issues and their restructuring.
  
  
• Advising an industrial company in a large-scale and cross-border trade financing transaction.
  
  
• Advising a listed company on various financing transactions and compliance with financial regulation. 
  
  
• Advising banks and other financial institutions on compliance with AML regulation, including compliance audits, risk appraisal and assessment and rules of procedure.
  
  
• Advising banks and other financial institutions on all types of collateral transactions with shares, rights, claims, accounts, real estate, ships, fuel, railcars and other movables.
  
  
• Advising insurance companies on cross-border restructuring of their organisations, activities and on regulatory issues. 
  
  
• Advising an international IT corporation on protection of its IP and sale of shares.
  
  
• Advising a wide range of financial institutions in preparing AML risk assessments, risk appetite statements and internal procedures.
  
  
• Advising many large Estonian companies on carrying out a cross-functional and cross-border data protection compliance assessment in the following business sectors, among others: shipping, media, IT, retail, telecom, healthcare, horeca, postal services, automotive, cleaning services etc.

• „Agur’s ability to assess the big picture and attention to detail are invaluable“; „Practice head Risto Agur has the ability to analyse each situation like a professional entrepreneur“. – The Legal 500 (Commercial, Corporate and M&A).
  
  
• „Sharp and business-savvy’ managing partner Risto Agur is the key contact, providing „a holistic business solution on a cross-border basis“. – The Legal 500 (Banking, finance and capital markets).
  
  
• Clients describe him as „very pleasant and commercially smart“ with a „hands-on approach“. They also appreciate his ability to „Take the lead on the Project“ and „make sure everything runs smoothly“. – Chambers Europe (Corporate and Commercial).
  
  
• “Very customer-orientated” “very accessible, who always seeks to get the best outcome for his clients”, “high-quality and spot-on advice”; “He provides very business-focused advice that you can really use and always aims to meet or exceed clients’ expectations”. – The Legal 500 (Banking, Finance & Insurance; Corporate, M&A; Dispute Resolution & Insolvency and Construction, Real Estate & Environment).
  
  
• According to the Legal 500 2020 rankings, Risto Agur is also a leading individual in IP, IT and Telecoms, where he and his team received the following testimonial from clients: „Competent team, strong legal expertise, thorough knowledge of their field, and the reputation of a trustworthy law firm.“