Alexander Kleschev

Partner, Advocate, Solicitor in England and Wales

Phone

Biography

Recent work

Publications and Insights

Rankings and awards

Alexander is a dual-qualified Partner in the Corporate / M&A practice, admitted as an Advocate in Russia and as a Solicitor of England and Wales.

Alexander specialises in complex cross-border and Russian corporate transactions involving mergers and acquisitions, establishment of joint ventures, corporate reorganisations, re-domiciliation of companies, private equity transactions. He advises clients active in the areas of corporate governance, strategic investments, the insurance and brokerage business, and to financial organizations.

Over the past year, Alexander has been actively advising international and Russian clients on complex sanctions and counter-sanctions issues in such areas as corporate restructuring, management buy-out, and auction sales of foreign investors’ assets in Russia.

Alexander graduated with honors from Kutafin Moscow State Law University and earned a master’s degree in law from the University of London.

In 2019-2020, Alexander completed his secondment at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York, one of the largest international law firms, and gained extensive experience in cross-border transactions under US and English law.

Alexander is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA) and a member of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Includes advising and representing:

Siemens Healthineers AG

a global provider of healthcare services and solutions, on the acquisition of Varian Medical Systems Inc., for more than US$16.5bn — the world's second-largest deal in healthcare sector in 2020.

Innovex Downhole Solutions group

a leading provider of critical well centric products and technologies for the oil and gas industry in connection with acquisition of Rubicon Oilfield International group, one of the major market players of upstream oilfield technology sector.

Royal DSM

global science-based company in nutrition, health and sustainable living in connection with acquisition of Erber Group for an enterprise value of €980m.

Siemens AG

within the framework of coordination with the FAS Russia and the Government Commission for the Control of Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation, of a transaction worth US$17bn with Alstom S.A., a leading French rolling stock manufacturer.

Bayer AG

on the acquisition of Monsanto Company, a publicly-traded, American multinational agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation.

CEFC China Energy Company Limited

on the acquisition of 14.16% shares in a Russian oil company.

Mitek Systems

publicly traded US company and a global leader in mobile capture and digital identity verification solutions built on the latest advancements in AI and machine learning, on the acquisition of ID R&D group, leading identity and biometric solution provider across the world.

Samolet Group PJSC

publicly traded Russian leader of the development market in connection with acquisition of 100% shares of “Input Lab” LLC, managing multiapartment buildings in Russia.

Uber Technologies Inc.

in its asset merger deal with Yandex Taxi, Russia’s largest online taxi-booking services.

SICPA

on the establishment of a joint venture in Russia to conduct business on labeling pharmaceutical products in Russia.

ClickHouse

on the establishment of a joint venture with participation of Yandex N.V., Benchmark Capital and Index Ventures for purposes of development of open-source code ClickHouse.

Purchaser

on the acquisition of Russian businesses of Willis Towers Watson, one of the biggest and publicly traded insurance brokers in a world.

ManpowerGroup

a global HR consulting firm, on withdrawal from its CIS business.

Winoa

a group headquartered in France, specializing in the preparation, treatment and transformation of metal surfaces, manufacturing of steel shot and grit, stainless steel abrasives and cut wire on the exit from Russian market and sale of 2 (two) major production plants and facilities in Russia.

Rodenstock GmbH

one of the leading eyeglass-lens makers on the sale of its Russian businesses to a local management, including advising on structuring matters of post-disposal supplies to CIS market countries.

A decision was made to soften the terms of payment of dividends to foreigners

On August 23, 2023, the extracts from the minutes of the meeting of the Sub-commission of the Government Commission for Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation No. 182/5 dated August 09, 2023, were published. (“Extracts No. 182/5”). The said Extracts No. 182/5 show that the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Russia have decided to ease the previously established restrictions on payment of dividends to foreign persons provided they make investments in the Russian economy. Under the terms of the Extracts No. 182/5, the payment of dividends (distribution of profits) to foreign persons can be carried out without any restrictions, but its volume may not exceed the amount of investments made by such persons in Russia. In addition, one of the prerequisites for payment of dividends is that foreign creditors make investments in the Russian economy after April 01, 2023, including expansion of production volumes in Russia and development of new technologies. Previously, the dividend payment could not exceed 50% of the total net profit for the previous year provided that the certain set KPIs have been fulfilled. The full version of Extracts No. 182/5 could be found on the website of the Ministry of Finance (in Russian only) with translation attached1. You can read the translation of the Extract by clicking here.

24 August 2023

Andrey Zharskiy, Alexander Zharskiy, and Alexander Kleschev spoke at the conference «M&A Deals in Russia: Through Difficulties to "Completion"», organized by AEB with the support of ALRUD

On May 23, 2023, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) held a conference «“M&A Deals in Russia: Through Difficulties to 'Completion'». The conference was organized by the AEB Finance and Investments Committee, chaired by Andrey Zharskiy, Partner of Corporate and M&A Practice in ALRUD, with the sponsorship support from ALRUD. Alexander Zharskiy, Partner, Head of Corporate and M&A Practice in ALRUD, moderated the first session which focused on the M&A market results, trends, and forecasts for 2023. Alexander Kleschev, Senior Associate of Corporate and M&A Practice in ALRUD, spoke at the second session on financial issues in M&A transactions. More information about the event can be found here.

24 May 2023

ALRUD experts held the webinar "Foreign Business in Russia: How to manage your divestment in 2023?"

On February 9, experts of Corporate/M&A Practice held the webinar 'Foreign Business in Russia: How to manage your divestment in 2023?' It has been almost a year since foreign companies started divestment of their Russian assets. During this period ALRUD has been successfully steering the clients through complex and ambiguous legal landscape providing full service legal support at every stage of exit process. Alexander Zharskiy, Partner and Head of Corporate and M&A Practice, Sergey Khanaev, Partner of Corporate and M&A Practice and Alexander Kleschev, Senior Associate of Corporate and M&A Practice, discussed: Key trends of divestment transactions during 2022 and estimations for 2023 Overview of transaction participants (i.e. potential bidders, financing parties, GR, IBs, appraisers) Genesis and snapshot of Russian counter-sanctions regulations applicable to exit scenarios Specifics of M&A transaction documents and lessons to learn for 2023.

09 February 2023

ALRUD experts held the webinar “Foreign Business in Russia: Practical Aspects of Exit Strategies. Impact of latest Russian counter-sanctions regulations”

On October 6, 2022, experts of Corporate/M&A and Competition/Antitrust Practices held the webinar “Foreign Business in Russia: Practical Aspects of Exit Strategies. Impact of latest Russian counter-sanctions regulations”. Alexander Zharskiy, Partner and Head of Corporate and M&A Practice, Sergey Khanaev, Partner of Corporate and M&A Practice, German Zakharov, Partner of Competition/Antitrust Practice, Alexander Kleschev, Senior Associate of Corporate and M&A Practice and Anna Grosheva, Associate of Corporate and M&A Practice summarised recent market experience for strategies and options considered and implemented by foreign investors in Russia. The speakers gave overview of legal and practical aspects that should be taken into consideration, including the following: Exit strategies and options; Payment of dividends; Using cash of Russian companies; Liaising with Russian authorities and examples of consents; Key aspects and legal effect of Presidential Decree No. 618; Legal regime under the Presidential Decree No. 618 and Presidential Decree No. 520; Legal and practical consequences of Presidential Decrees violation. Legal initiatives. The webinar was a great success with the audience.

06 October 2022

	Best Lawyers 2022 recommends Alexander Kleschev for Corporate Law.