Katja Perätalo and Erik Stenman Nominated as Partners (Elect); Joakim Frände and Katja Heikkinen Appointed Specialist Partners in Helsinki

Hannes Snellman is pleased to announce that Katja Perätalo and Erik Stenman have been nominated Partners (Elect) in Helsinki, joined by Joakim Frände and Katja Heikkinen as Specialist Partners in Helsinki.

“These nominations demonstrate our focus on a full-service offering on the Finnish market and solidify our firm’s position in the respective fields of expertise of the nominees. Importantly, they will also contribute to our strategy as Hannes Snellman is envisioning the future of our 115-year legacy”, says Riikka Rannikko, Managing Partner, Helsinki.

The appointments of Katja Perätalo and Katja Heikkinen further strengthen Hannes’ market-leading Real Assets practice. The Real Assets practice covers projects involving real assets, including green transition investment and industrial and energy development projects and transactions.

LL.D. Katja Perätalo specialises in large-scale industrial construction projects, capturing all phases from earliest stages of contract negotiations to implementation and navigating through strategic issues with contentious interfaces during and after execution. Her experience ranges from complex standalone investment projects to advising on construction aspects in a transactional context, dispute resolution processes, and contracts & claims management.

“The green transition has brought forward a drastic increase in the demand for legal services in industrial construction. Being able to credibly advise clients in this sector requires a profound understanding of the exceptionally context driven market practices in the various sub-areas of the industry. Katja has considerable experience in leading these types of projects and excels in this work; we could not be happier about her nomination”, says Maria Landtman who heads Hannes Snellman’s Projects & Construction practice.

Katja Heikkinen specialises in energy and infrastructure transactions and development projects. She has extensive experience in complex large-scale renewable energy and infrastructure transactions, joint ventures, and other cooperation arrangements, especially in the fields of onshore and offshore wind and solar power.

“We are extremely pleased to promote Katja Heikkinen to her new role as Specialist Partner as a part of our growth strategy within green transition. Katja’s track-record and ability to manage high-end assignments from large-scale auction processes to complex contractual arrangements is outstanding” says Tapio Teräkivi, Head of Real Assets.

Erik Stenman has more than a decade long track-record in the private equity environment serving foreign and domestic financial sponsors as well as corporations in various M&A transactions and private equity investments. Erik Stenman’s extraordinary skillset and hands-on approach has made him a respected member of the Finnish private equity market.

”Erik is a brilliant lawyer and trusted advisor with a broad international experience. He is known for his dedication to the team and no-nonsense approach in handling transactions of high complexity” testifies Mikko Heinonen, Head of M&A.

LL.D. Joakim Frände specialises in the taxation of private individuals. His practice focuses on advising Finnish entrepreneurs, families and business leaders in their personal wealth matters which often have complex international dimensions and involve coordination in several jurisdictions. 

“Hannes Snellman has a market-leading tax practice in Helsinki and Joakim has had an elemental role in the shaping of our team to what it is today. His profound understanding of the law and dedicated approach to both tax planning and tax dispute resolution has greatly worked to the benefit of securing the legal rights of prominent Finnish taxpayers”, comments Heikki Vesikansa, Head of Tax.

Further information:

Riikka Rannikko, Managing Partner (Helsinki), tel. +358 40 731 1611

Mikko Heinonen, Partner, Head of M&A (Helsinki), tel +358 40 527 8818

Tapio Teräkivi, Partner, Head of Real Assets (Helsinki), tel. +358 40 769 8273