Peeter Viirsalu

Peeter Viirsalu

Partner
Co-Head of Real Estate Practice Group
Tartu, Tallinn; Estonia

Peeter Viirsalu specialises on intellectual property, insolvency, construction and real estate. According to international legal directory Legal 500, Peeter Viirsalu is "very professional", and is recommended for his "dedication".

‘Peeter Viirsalu is our first contact in all legal questions that we may have. This is because of his exceptionally good response time and his ability to give his first view on the problem very quickly. We also value that he is very honest with us, he has never misled us or given us false hope in difficult situations. In our sector we value quick and straight to the point advice and the fact Peeter is always available and well in touch with all our cases even if he has delegated the work.’ - Legal500

Recommended Lawyer v2. Koik practice area juhid    iflr 44

  • About

    Peeter Viirsalu specialises on insolvency, construction and real estate. In the field of insolvency, he primarily represents and advises bankruptcy trustees and creditors in initiating bankruptcy proceedings, participates in the work of bankruptcy committees and represents clients in bankruptcy disputes. He also advises clients on all areas of intellectual property, including copyright, trademark, licensing, industrial design and domain name usage.

    He is an experienced litigator having represented and advised clients in several public interest civil law disputes that have shaped the Estonian legal landscape. He also has extensive experience in construction, commercial and contract law disputes.

    Peeter has been involved in conducting several high-profile and complex legal audits; for instance, a large-scale legal audit for the SOE Eesti Energia, analysing the liabilities of the management board with regard to the Enefit280 shale oil plant; a legal and construction analysis for the Supervisory Board of the SOE Port of Tallinn regarding the lawfulness of the management board’s actions regarding the construction of berth No 17 at the Muuga container terminal, and a legal audit of the City of Tallinn on matters that are under investigation in the criminal case against the former mayor of Tallinn.

    Peeter Viirsalu is the National Correspondent for INSOL Europe (Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals), the European Insolvency Regulation Case Register for Estonia. He has published articles on bankruptcy and reorganisation and given insolvency seminars to various companies, including Swedbank, Nordea Pank, SEB Pank, Enterprise Estonia and KredEx. He has been a lecturer at the University of Tartu since 2010.

  • Major Projects
    • 24.10.2023

      TGS Baltic advised the private equity fund BaltCap on the acquisition of VKG Elektrivõrgud

      TGS Baltic advised BaltCap, the leading Baltic private equity fund on entering into the agreement for the acquisition of VKG Elektrivõrgud. VKG Elektrivõrgud is the second largest regulated distribution network in Estonia after the state-owned Elektrilevi.

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    • 27.09.2023

      Partners Chirag Mody and Peeter Viirsalu successfully represented a client in Harju County Court

      Harju County Court fully satisfied our client’s claim to have their valuable immovable property returned to them. The dispute, which lasted more than six years, focused on whether an immovable property worth EUR 1,600,000 belonging to our corporate client was unlawfully transferred to a third party.

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    • 27.02.2022

      TGS Baltic advised Open Air Group AB

      TGS Baltic advised Open Air Group AB, a holding company focusing on products for hunting and outdoor, currently active in Finland, Sweden and Norway in a transaction, where Open Air Group AB acquired Aclima, the leading manufacturer of professional and outdoor merino wool clothing in the Nordics.

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    • 10.01.2022

      TGS Baltic advised the City of Tartu and Tartu 2024 Foundation on granting support concerning the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme

      TGS Baltic is proud to announce that we advised the City of Tartu and Tartu 2024 Foundation on organising the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme. TGS Baltic’s team consisting of Triinu Järviste, Triin Kaurov, Mari-Liis Orav, Peeter Viirsalu, and Katri Paas-Mohando advised Tartu 2024 Foundation and the City of Tartu on preparing for and carrying out the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 project support.

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    • 04.10.2021

      Advising the Ministry of Environment

      Advising the Ministry of Environment on a wide range of legal aspects related to planning and financing the construction of new environmentally friendly office premises to the ministry, its subordinate institutions and the Estonian Museum of Natural History. The new building is planned as state of art sample of Estonian wooden architecture, encompassing many innovative and sustainable construction methods.

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    • 28.01.2021

      TGS Baltic Scored Victory in Trademark Dispute for Estonian Punk Rock Band Vanemõde

      On 26 January, the court rendered a significant judgment regarding the Estonian music industry by denying Andrus Kerstenbeck’s action and finding that Kerstenbeck, who had left the band, had no right to prevent others from registering “Vanemõde” as a trademark.

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    • 09.04.2020

      TGS Baltic advised a producer of precast concrete products AS Framm on the acquisition of AS Lasbet Tootmine, an undertaking operating in the same field

      With the help of TGS Baltic team, a producer of concrete elements and products AS Framm entered into a transaction by which it acquired an undertaking operating in the same field AS Lasbet Tootmine, making AS Framm the largest producer of concrete elements and products in Estonia.

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    • Advising Luminor as a creditor in a bankruptcy proceeding

      Advising the leading independent main financial services provider in the Baltics, Luminor (Nordea Bank Finland Plc Estonian branch), as a creditor in a bankruptcy proceeding.

    • Representing TEA Kirjastus in its reorganisation proceedings

      Representing TEA Kirjastus, one of the largest and oldest publishers in Estonia, in its reorganisation proceedings.

    • Advising Merko Ehitus Eesti in a landmark shareholders’ dispute

      Advising Merko Ehitus Eesti, part of Merko Ehitus – the leading construction company in the Baltics listed on the NASDAQ Tallinn, in a landmark shareholders’ dispute concerning one of its subsidiaries that included planning and carrying out a complex action plan, which finally enabled the management of the company to be taken over from the minority shareholder.

    • Representing the former shareholders of the BLRT Group in a dispute

      Representing the former shareholders of the BLRT Group and the financial advisor Keystone Advisers in a dispute concerning the sale of the BLRT Group stock.

    • Delivering a legal audit to the Tallinn City Council and City Administration in the criminal case of Tallinn’s former mayor

      Delivering a legal audit to the Tallinn City Council and City Administration on matters that are under investigation in the criminal case of Tallinn’s former mayor Edgar Savisaar. The firm’s assignment was to investigate procurements, a legal dispute and transactions from administrative and civil law point of view and to determine possible infringements and deviations, risks for further legal disputes and to give recommendations for necessary actions and proceedings.

    • Conducting an analysis for the Supervisory Board of the Port of Tallinn

      Conducting a high-profile legal and constructional analysis for the Supervisory Board of the Port of Tallinn with the aim of examining allegations made in the State Audit Offices’ report to the Management Board in the matter of constructing berth No. 17 of the Muuga container terminal.

    • Conducting a large-scale legal audit for Eesti Energia

      Conducting a large-scale legal audit for the state-owned company Eesti Energia that analyses the liabilities of the management board regarding exceeding the originally planned 190 MEUR budget for the construction of the Enefit280 shale oil plant by 90 MEUR as well as the plant’s profitability.

  • CV

    Memberships

    2014
    INSOL Europe
    2007
    Estonian Bar Association

    Professional career

    Since 2018
    Associate Partner, law firm TGS Baltic
    2017–2018
    Senior Associate, law firm TGS Baltic (formerly Varul)
    2011–2017
    Senior Associate, law firm Varul
    2007–2011
    Associate, law firm Varul
    2006–2007
    Lawyer, law firm Varul

    Education

    2007
    University of Tartu, Faculty of Law, MA
    2005
    University of Tartu, Faculty of Law, BA
  • Publications