Landslog – Law Offices — Iceland

About

The firm: Landslog – Law Offices has an extremely strong presence in Iceland and comes highly recommended. The firm provides clients with high-level one-stop legal services. The firm’s lawyers are well recognised in the Icelandic market for their fine-tuned expertise and personal services. Landslog has one of the strongest presences in Iceland in dispute resolution and has recently handled many of the largest transactions in Iceland over the past years. The legal landscape in Iceland has slowly been emerging over the past years, shifting from legal work pertaining to insolvency, restructuring, insurance, creditor composition and other “clean-up work” following the banking crisis in 2008, over major transactions, M&A work, banking advice, industry specific transactions and corporate work. ### Areas of practice Banking and finance: In August 2019 Hagar hf. (Iceland´s largest retail chain and one of Iceland’s largest companies), a listed company, retained Vidar Ludviksson, partner at Landslog, to handle the prospectus and legal issues in relation to the company’s bond issue in the amount of 8 bn ISK, i.e. around 53 million GBP. The issue, which was completed in February 2020, was the first asset-backed bond issue in Iceland since the crash in 2008. Landslog currently does work for all the major banks in Iceland on various assignments and the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority. Landslog has advised Kaupthing bank hf. on various issues relating to the bank’s winding-up, regarding bankruptcy law, derivatives, set-off and other issues. The firm represented Islandsbanki in a case regarding the legality of indexation provisions on consumer loans and numerous other cases. Landslog advised Landsbankinn in its negotiations with the ‘old’ Landsbanki Íslands hf. and on drafting the necessary agreements in relation to the compensation instruments for the assets which were transferred to Landsbankinn following the collapse of the ’old’ Landsbanki Íslands hf. in 2008. M&A: Grimur Sigurdsson, partner at Landslog, acted as a legal advisor for HS Orka when its largest shareholder, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. sold its entire shareholding to Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets for approx. US$305m in March 2019. Partner Aslaug Arnadottir worked for Iceland’s third biggest retail chain Samkaup on their merger with parts of the retail chain Basko. The deal involved Samkaup buying 14 stores from Basko, all “Iceland” stores in Iceland and 7 10-11 stores. The Icelandic Competition Authority was notified of the merger in June 2018. The Icelandic Competition Authority approved Samkaup’s acquisition of 12 stores in the Reykjavik area from Basko verslanir in late 2018. In May 2019, however, the Icelandic Competition Authority annulled a merger, which concerns Samkaup’s acquisition of two stores owned by Basko verslanir in Akureyri and Reykjanesbær. Landslog also performed a due diligence review in relation to the merger. Vidar Ludviksson was sole legal advisor to FAST-1 slhf. in the signing of heads of terms for the sale to Reginn hf. (a listed company) of two real-estate companies with an enterprise value of €185m. This was the single largest real estate transaction since the banking crisis in 2008. Vidar Ludviksson advised Vodafone Iceland (i.e. Fjarskipti hf., listed on the Icelandic Nasdaq stock exchange) on the purchase of almost all assets and operations (including TV content agreements with foreign providers) from 365 midlar hf. This is the largest telecom and broadcasting asset purchase transaction ever in Iceland, with a value of around €69m. Vidar Ludviksson and Jona Bjork Helgadottir advised Hagar hf. (Iceland’s largest retailer – listed on the Icelandic Nasdaq stock exchange) on the purchase of all shares in the oil company Oliuverzlun Islands hf. – a landmark in M&A deals in Iceland. The value of the deal is around €133m. Vidar Ludviksson advised SMI ehf. on the purchase of all shares in Korputorg ehf. (the owner of the 45,000m sq Korputorg Shopping Center in Reykjavík). Bankruptcy, reconstruction, receivership and more: Landslog specialises in bankruptcy and reconstruction and the courts have repeatedly appointed Landslog’s attorneys as receivers to manage many of the largest bankruptcy and reconstruction cases in Iceland, such as Milestone, Mosaic Fashion, V&Þ and numerous others. Furthermore, one of the largest bankruptcy estates in the world, Kaupthing bank hf., hired Landslog to take around 50 rescission cases to court on behalf of the estate. Corporate and commercial: Landslog has acted for the largest companies in Iceland. Clients include Hagar, Iceland Prime Contractors, various ministries in Iceland, the National Power Company in Iceland, the Reykjavik Power Company, Bauhaus, Norvik Group, HB Grandi and various municipalities in Iceland, including Reykjavik. Dispute resolution: the Icelandic government instructed partner Johannes Karl Sveinsson to represent it in various disputes in the wake of the Icelandic banking crises. English insurers hired Vidar Ludviksson to handle claims made against them under D&O policies purchased by Landsbanki Islands hf., which entered under winding-up proceedings following the banking crash in 2008. The ongoing cases (which were lodged in 2011 and 2012) are landmark cases with regard to D&O insurance practice in Iceland and are among the largest and most complex in Icelandic civil procedure. They have been followed closely by the U.K. insurance market. Landslog successfully defended the insurance company Tryggingamidstodin hf. in several legal proceedings pertaining to D&O policies. Landslog handles a 250-participant class action, lodged in October 2015, the first of its kind in Iceland, against the former largest owner of the Landsbanki Islands bank. EEA, competition and state aid: Landslog represented the Icelandic government in state aid cases before the EFTA Surveillance Authority regarding the restructuring of the Icelandic banks. Landslog represented Kortathjonustan (a card acquirer in Iceland) in the largest civil settlement relating to competition in Iceland which was reached on the payment of damages to Kortathjonustan due to Valitor‘s (VISA Iceland) and Borgun’s (MasterCard Iceland) breaches against the Icelandic competition/antitrust rules. Data protection and IT law: Landslog is the leading Icelandic law firm on issues pertaining to processing of personal data and the EU Data Protection Directive. One of Landslog’s partners was Iceland’s Data Protection Commissioner from 2013 to 2014. Landslog specialises in IT-related issues, including IP, telecommunications, software procurement contracts and electronic forensics. Among Landslog’s clients are Advania, Iceland Post and The Icelandic Data Protection Authority. ### Languages - Danish - English - German - Icelandic - Norwegian - Swedish ### Staffing Figures - 20 Number of lawyers

Office locations

Practice areas

Lawyers in this office

Aslaug Arnadottir

Partner. · Corporate / M&A

Gardar Gardarsson

Partner. · Corporate / M&A

Grimur Sigurdsson

Partner. Recent work: Grimur acted as a legal advisor for HS Orka when its largest shareholder, Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. sold its entire shareholding to Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets for approx. 305 million USD in March 2019. · Bankruptcy

Hlynur Halldorsson

Partner. · Technology Law

Hordur Helgi Helgason

Partner. Recent work: Hörður Helgi was the Data Protection Authority's (DPA's) first Chief Legal Counsel and was Iceland's Data Protection Commissioner from 2013 to 2014. He has assisted several of the country's largest companies, governmental institutions and free associations in their ongoing compliance efforts regarding the GDPR, including Iceland's largest universities, the country's leading cancer research institute, larger municipalities and their companies, the Directorate of Internal Revenue, and the country's district magistrates, premier automobile retailers, and The State Alcohol and Tobacco Company, in addition to a slew of smaller companies and public and private entities. Hörður Helgi has guided several municipalities on successfully complying with the DPA's stringent requests following a multi-year audit by the authority into processing of personal data on school children. He has drafted a number of privacy policies and similar documents for Icelandic companies, in compliance with EU and US privacy requirements. Hörður has assisted a major energy producer in responding to a multi-million USD chief officer's fraud, which concluded with recovery of the majority of the funds in question. Hörður advised Iceland's leading credit card company and one of the three major banks in negotiating the adoption of the Apple Pay payment scheme. Hörður assisted a major European software producer in its participation in public procurement of an information system for the capital city, Reykjavik. · Data Protection & Privacy

Ivar Palsson

Partner. · Real Estate

Jóhannes Bjarni Björnsson

Partner. · Corporate / M&A

JK

Jóhannes Karl Sveinsson

Partner. · Corporate / M&A

Jóna Björk Helgadóttir

Partner. · Competition & Antitrust

Viðar Lúðvíksson

Partner at Landslog Law Offices. Main focus on Corporate and Commercial Law, M&A, Insurance and Tort. Recent work: - In August 2019 Hagar hf. (Iceland´s largest retail chain and one of Iceland’s largest companies), a listed company, retained Vidar Ludviksson, partner at Landslog, to handle the prospectus and legal issues in relation to the company’s bond issue in the amount of 8 bn ISK, i.e. around 53 million GBP. The issue, which was completed in February 2020, was the first asset-backed bond issue in Iceland since the crash in 2008. - Vidar was sole legal advisor to FAST-1 slhf. when the company signed Heads of Terms for its sale to Reginn hf. (a listed company) of two subsidiaries, which owned a significant number of real-estate in Iceland, among them one of the largest office buildings in Iceland. The enterprise value of the transaction is EUR 185,000,000, which is the largest single real-estate transaction in Iceland since the banking crash in 2008. - Vidar advised SMI ehf. when SMI ehf. purchased all shares in Korputorg ehf., which is the owner of the Korputorg Shopping Center in Reykjavík. Korputorg is over 45 thousand square meters and is one of the largest commercial buildings in Iceland. In the fall of 2016 SMI ehf. sold all shares in Korputorg ehf. to Kristinn ehf. Vidar Ludviksson at Landslog was SMI ehf.'s sole legal advisor on both transactions (purchase and sale). - Vidar advised Vodafone Iceland (i.e. Fjarskipti hf., which is listed on the Icelandic Nasdaq stock exchange) on the purchase of most all assets and operations (including TV content agreements with foreign providers) from 365 midlar hf. Among the purchased assets and operations are all telecom, Internet, TV and radio broadcasting operations (including the television stations Stod 2, Stod 2 Sport, Stod 3 and Biorasin Movie Channel, and the radio stations Bylgjan, FM957 and X-id) and the news and sports website visir.is. Vidar also supervised the legal due diligence review on 365 midlar hf. and was Vodafone Iceland's sole legal counsel in relation to the purchase agreement and other relevant documents pertaining to the transaction. Landslog also manage the notification of the transaction to the Competition Authorities. This is the largest telecom and broadcasting asset purchase transaction ever in Iceland, with a value of around 69 million Euros. - Vidar advised Hagar hf. (which is listed on the Icelandic Nasdaq stock exchange and which is Iceland’s largest retailer) on the purchase of all shares in the oil company Oliuverzlun Islands hf. The value of the deal is around 133 million Euros. Landslog also carried out the due diligence review of the target and manage the notification of the transaction to the Competition Authorities. The deal is considered a landmark in M&A deals in Iceland and marks the potential beginning of retailers moving into the gas and oil market in Iceland, as several similar (but much smaller deals) followed. - English insurers hired Vidar Ludviksson to handle claims made against them under D&O policies purchased by Landsbanki Islands hf., which entered under winding-up proceedings following the banking crash in 2008. The ongoing cases (which were lodged in 2011 and 2012) are landmark cases with regard to D&O insurance practice in Iceland and are among the largest and most complex in Icelandic civil procedure. They have been followed closely by the U.K. insurance market. Vidar has provided legal services for several foreign companies and law firms, such as Apple Inc., Barlow, Lyde and Gilbert LLP and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, USA. Vidar has also worked with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, London, on numerous issues, many of which pertain to the administration of Heritable bank and Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander in England. Vidar was in the team of three attorneys at Landslog hired by the Ministry of Finance in 2009 to assist in the restructuring of the “new” Icelandic banks and to assist in the negotiations between the “old” banks and the newly incorporated state-owned banks on the compensation for the transferred assets and liabilities. · Corporate / M&A