– PRESS RELEASE –
August 2023 – The Luxembourg and Polish offices of the global law firm DLA Piper have assisted the Polish Ministry of National Defence, the Polish Development Fund (PFR), and PFR Ventures in their investment within the NATO Innovation Fund.
The inauguration of the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) was officially announced during a pre-summit session at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, held on 11-12 July 2023. The NIF is the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund, with 23 NATO Allies, including Luxembourg, as investors. The fund will make direct investments into start-ups located in any of the 23 participating Allied nations, developing cutting-edge technological solutions to address critical defence and security challenges, as well as indirect investments into deep tech funds. The fund’s headquarters is located in Amsterdam, with additional offices in London and Warsaw. Its official registered office is in Luxembourg.
The NIF is a standalone EUR 1 billion venture capital fund with a Polish contribution close to 5% of this amount (EUR 42 million / PLN 190 million). PFR, acting on behalf of Poland, facilitated this investment through PFR Ventures, under the consultation of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Defence.
DLA Piper’s work in this project comprised two key phases:
1. Advising the Polish Ministry of Defence on the optimal legal and tax structure of investments in NIF
2. Advising PFR and PFR Ventures in negotiating the final versions of the limited partnership agreement and the authorisation for the fund’s general partner to enter into the limited partnership agreement on behalf of the NATO allies.
DLA Piper’s multidisciplinary and international approach was led by Łukasz Dynysiuk, Partner at DLA Piper in Warsaw. The international team included lawyers from DLA Piper’s Warsaw and Luxembourg offices. In Luxembourg, the clients were assisted by Caroline Pimpaud, Bahya Bouharati, and Johanna Fournier, on investment fund aspects while Luis Muñoz and Cyril Poels, focused on Luxembourg tax issues.
About DLA Piper
DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world.
Contact
Stephanie Leclercq, Senior MBD Manager; stephanie.leclercq@dlapiper.com, +352 621 751 517
