Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, Member of the Regional Chamber of Legal Advisors in Warsaw (OIRP) and Head of International Business Development & Strategy. He also heads JDP Canadian and English Law desks.
George is a Canadian and a corporate and banking lawyer with broad experience of working on cross-border M&A and financing transactions. Prior to moving to Poland in 2012, George worked at Linklaters LLP in London where he worked in the Corporate and Banking departments (and was awarded international secondments to the Linklaters Warsaw and Moscow offices).
He has represented domestic and international clients regarding their cross-border M&A activity, private equity / venture capital transactions, as well as lenders and borrowers on secured and unsecured investment grade, leveraged and emerging market financings (syndicated, club and bilateral loans), mezzanine as well as debt restructurings.
George is a Board Member (Treasurer) of the Polish Canadian Chamber of Commerce and President of the Supervisory Board of Hermes (Association of Greek Entrepreneurs in Poland).
Selected projects
Largest transactions
- advising a large UK-based multinational oil and gas company on a USD 4.5 billion pre-export financing of oil from Angola and Azerbaijan (awarded Emerging EMEA Loan (Deal) of the Year 2010 by IFR (International Financing Review);
- advising US VC fund Learn Capital (a VC concentrating on the global education technology sector) on its USD 80 million Series D investment in Polish founded online learning platform Brainly (the world’s largest online learning platform) and Polish unicorn. The second largest ever VC transaction involving Poland and the wider CEE region;
- advising TDJ Pitango Ventures Sp. z o.o. as lead investor on a USD 4 million investment into CallPage, a Poland-based system enabling direct contact with a potential client within 28 seconds. One of the biggest venture investment rounds in CEE in 2018.
Financing transactions
- advising Partners for Growth (San Francisco-based global loan fund) on an international venture debt transaction worth USD 25 million;
- advising Caffé Nero on a GBP 140 million refinancing;
- advising AASA Polska S.A. on a EUR 15 million loan from Mezzanine Management;
- advising Meta Ventures on a USD 2 million financing round for the Car Scanner portfolio company in Canada;
- advising the senior lenders on the EUR 12 billion restructuring of a large German manufacturer of ball bearings.
Investment transactions
- advising the Aasa group in connection with a EUR 30 million investment by Novator Partners and the Olympia Group into the Aasa group. AASA group is headquartered in Estonia and operates non-collateral consumer credit businesses in several countries including Finland, Poland, Czech Republic and Sweden;
- advising Interactive Travel Holdings Sp. z o.o. (shareholder of Fru.pl S.A) on the completion of a EUR 5 million investment from 3TS Capital Partners;
- advising LATAM Fintech Holding OU on a transaction involving an investment by Estonian entities in its portfolio company (involved in online consumer lending) located in Brazil;
- advising Alfabeat ALFA Sp. z o o. SKA (a Polish venture capital fund) on its investment in Recruitment Smart Technologies Ltd., a London based company that utilises artificial intelligence for recruitment purposes (i.e. using machine learning to match CVs and job specifications at blinding speed and with stunning accuracy);
- advised Alfabeat ALFA Sp. z o o. SKA (a Polish venture capital fund) on its investment in PromoRepublic Oy, a Finnish based company that operates a social media marketing platform utilising artificial intelligence to manage multiple accounts for small businesses, agencies and freelancers.
Corporate finance
- advising the arrangers on a USD 1.2 billion multi-currency revolving and swingline facility agreement for an Irish based pharmaceutical company;
- advising the arrangers on a USD 2.3 billion term loan facility agreement for a state owned Russian bank;
- advising a market leading Polish EV charge point manufacturer on a EUR 170 million facility agreement secured for the purposes international expansion, a distribution agreement, and general commercial and corporate matters;
- advising a UK borrower and its Polish subsidiary on an up to EUR 30 million cross-border secured term loan facility agreement with a US based financial institution;
- advising the senior lenders on a multi-jurisdictional security uptake in relation to a senior secured revolving facility agreement for a large UK based multinational oil and gas well management company;
- advising the lenders on a multi-currency revolving facility agreement for a Swiss based biopharmaceutical company;
- acting the lenders on the restructuring of mid cap sponsor-backed leveraged facilities agreement for an English based fashion retailer.
Professional experience
- since 2025 JDP Drapała & Partners
- 2024-2025 LSW (Warsaw)
- 2012-2024 B2R Law (Warsaw)
- 2005-2012 Linklaters LLP (London, Warsaw and Moscow)
Education
- 2013 Admitted as a Member of the Regional Chamber of Legal Advisors in Warsaw (OIRP)
- 2009 Admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales
- 2004-2006 Nottingham Law School, Legal Practice Course
- 2003-2004 Nottingham Law School, Graduate Diploma in Law
- 2001-2003 Edinburgh Law School, Faculty of Law (LLB)
- 1998-2001 University of Ottawa, Criminology
