Practices

Employment

Languages

Finnish, English

Assistant

Krista Järvimaa
A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair wearing a light blue dress stands against a purple background, smiling and resting her chin on her hand with her other arm crossed.

Sanna Honkinen

Partner Employment

A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair wearing a light blue dress stands against a purple background, smiling and resting her chin on her hand with her other arm crossed.

Practices

Employment

Languages

Finnish, English

Assistant

Krista Järvimaa

Sanna heads our firm’s Employment Practice and is a broadly experienced employment law specialist.

She advises clients on the full spectrum of employment law matters, ranging from day‑to‑day HR advisory to complex restructurings, executive management contractual matters, terminations of employment and cross‑border employment issues. Her core expertise lies in planning and implementing complex redundancy procedures and reorganisations, as well as conducting change negotiations. She has successfully led numerous global restructuring and reorganisation projects.

A significant part of Sanna’s practice focuses on internal investigations. She regularly advises clients in planning, conducting and managing investigations relating to workplace misconduct, non‑compliance, whistleblowing reports and breaches of internal policies.

Sanna also advises clients on incentive and retention arrangements, transfers of businesses, outsourcings and other transactional employment matters. She has in‑depth experience in various employee participation structures, European Works Councils and employee involvement in European Companies.

Sanna is ranked among the leading Finnish legal experts in the field of employment by all major directories, including Chambers Europe, Who’s Who Legal and Legal 500.

Selected References

Parties:

Oriola Corporation

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman is advising Oriola Corporation in the development of a highly automated, state-of-the-art distribution centre located in Järvenpää, Finland, in total valued at EUR 110-120 million. Construction of this facility is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2026, with the relocation of operations from Espoo to Järvenpää anticipated to start by the end of 2027.

Value:

EUR 110-120 million

Role:

Counsel to Oriola Corporation

Contacts
  • A man in a black suit and white shirt sits against a light purple background, looking thoughtful with one hand touching his chin and the other holding his arm.

    Matti Lajunen

    Partner +358 40 720 7036 matti.lajunen@hannessnellman.com
  • A man wearing glasses, a blue suit, and a light blue shirt stands against a plain green background, looking at the camera with a neutral expression.

    Mikko Heinonen

    Partner +358 40 527 8818 mikko.heinonen@hannessnellman.com
  • A woman with shoulder-length blonde hair wearing a light blue dress stands against a purple background, smiling and resting her chin on her hand with her other arm crossed.

    Sanna Honkinen

    Partner +358 40 745 6618 sanna.honkinen@hannessnellman.com
  • A woman wearing glasses and a dark suit stands with arms crossed, looking to the side, against a plain light purple background.

    Piia Ahonen

    Specialist Partner + 358 44 520 8801 piia.ahonen@hannessnellman.com
  • A woman with short blonde hair wearing a black long-sleeve top and black pants stands in front of a plain light purple background, smiling gently with her hands clasped in front of her.

    Lisa Tihlman

    Senior Associate +358 40 079 9382 lisa.tihlman@hannessnellman.com
  • A man in a dark suit, white shirt, and light blue tie stands against a plain beige background, looking confidently at the camera with one hand in his pocket.

    Eemi Piirainen

    Associate +358 40 484 9299 eemi.piirainen@hannessnellman.com
  • A man in a dark suit, white shirt, and patterned tie stands against a green background, smiling slightly with his hands in his pockets.

    Semmi Seljavaara

    Associate +358 40 773 7058 semmi.seljavaara@hannessnellman.com
  • A man in a dark suit, white dress shirt, and maroon tie stands in front of a solid teal background, looking at the camera with his hands clasped in front of him.

    Jussi Herrainsilta

    Specialist Partner +358 40 676 1547 jussi.herrainsilta@hannessnellman.com
  • A woman with long blonde hair in a black dress stands against a plain lavender background, smiling gently with her hands clasped in front of her.

    Sofia Ropo

    Senior Associate +358 40 545 2866 sofia.ropo@hannessnellman.com

Parties:

AAC Technologies Pte. Ltd., Dispelix Oy

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman is advising AAC Technologies Pte. Ltd., a world-leading smart device solution provider, in its acquisition of the shares and other equity securities in Dispelix Oy, a technology leader in diffractive waveguide displays for augmented reality (AR). The transaction is expected to close within the first half of 2026 and upon completion Dispelix will become a subsidiary of AAC.

Value:

Not public

Role:

Counsel to AAC Technologies Pte. Ltd.

Contacts

Parties:

Helen Oy, Väre Oy

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman advised Helen Oy in the acquisition of Väre Oy from Savon Voima Oyj, Kuopion Energia Oy, Alva-yhtiöt Oy, Lappeenrannan Energia Oy and Kymenlaakson Sähkö Oy. Väre is an energy service company serving consumer and business customers nationwide. Its business consists of electricity retail sales and other energy services that support the use of electricity.

Value:

Not public

Role:

Counsel to Helen Oy

Contacts

Parties:

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd), NestAI

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman advised Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) in the investment in NestAI. NestAI is an AI research and development lab.

Value:

Not public

Role:

Counsel to Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd)

Contacts

Parties

Enity Holding AB (publ)

Transaction

Hannes Snellman acted as counsel to Enity Holding AB (publ) in connection with its initial public offering and listing on Nasdaq Stockholm.

Role

Counsel to Enity Holding AB (publ)

Contacts

Parties:

Fazer (Seller), Finnish Food Factory Oy (Buyer)

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman advises Fazer in the business transfer of gurt production to Finnish Food Factory. In connection with the business transfer, Finnish Food Factory becomes a contract manufacturer for Fazer gurts.

Deal Value:

Not public

Role:

Counsel to Fazer

Contacts

Parties:

ABO Energy, Fortum Oyj

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman advised ABO Energy on the disposal of a majority stake in its Finnish wind farm development pipeline to Fortum Oyj. The portfolio comprises approximately 4.4 GW of onshore wind power development projects at various stages.

Update 1 December 2025: The transaction, announced on 23 July 2025, has now been completed.

Deal Value:

Value not public

Role:

Counsel to ABO Energy

Contacts

Parties:

MariaDB Plc, Codership Oy

Transaction:

Hannes Snellman advised MariaDB Plc in the acquisition of Codership Oy. Codership Oy is a technology company that specialises in data replication and clustering solutions for open-source databases.

Deal Value:

Not public

Role:

Counsel to MariaDB Plc

Contacts

Counsel to a company in the gaming industry on the closure of the operations in Finland and related employment law matters.

Contacts

Parties:

Cushman & Wakefield, REnium Advisors Oy

Transaction:

Cushman & Wakefield's acquisition of REnium Advisors Oy

Deal value: 

Value not public

Role:

Counsel to Cushman & Wakefield

Contacts

Counsel to a multinational corporation in an internal workplace investigation.

Contacts

Rankings

  • "Sanna Honkinnen is an exceptional lawyer – brilliant legal advice, extremely high commitment, and incredibly responsive. She has deep legal knowledge and always suggests a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach. Our joint clients enjoy her calm authority even in high-pressure situations.";"Sanna Honkinen is a true star when it comes to Finnish employment law experts. She always has a practical and well-articulated solution to every issue and has provided invaluable help to me for many years. In particular, I appreciate her practical and to-the-point advice.", Legal 500, Employment, 2026
  • "Sanna is very responsive and hands-on. Her knowledge about Finnish employment law is very good, so she always has a practical answer for any question.", Chambers Europe, Employment, 2026
  • Ranked as a "Next Generation Partner", Legal 500, Employment, 2026
  • Ranked as “Highly Recommended", Employment & Labor, Lexology Index: Client Choice, 2026
  • Ranked as a Thought Leader in Lexology Index – Labour, Employment & Benefits, 2025
  • "Sanna Honkinen has vast knowledge with both collective and individual employment matters, and she can give practical advice and cares for the clients’ success." Legal 500, Employment, 2025
  • Ranked in Employment, Chambers Europe, 2024-2026
  • Ranked as Thought Leader in Who’s Who Legal, Labour, Employment & Benefits — Finland, 2024-2025
  • “Sanna Honkinen is my go-to lawyer, when employment law related advice is needed. She delivers every time and answers questions we even don’t realise to ask. The expertise, quality of drafting and professionalism in communicating is always top-notch.” Legal 500, Employment, 2024
  • “Sanna Honkinen is a very impressive lawyer who gives great advice and is very responsive.” Chambers Europe, Employment, 2024
  • Ranked as Recommended Lawyer in Labour & Employment and Pensions & Benefits in Finland by Who's Who Legal, 2024-2025
  • "She is very alert and responsive." Chambers Europe, Employment, 2024

Memberships and Positions of Trust

  • Member of the Finnish Bar Association
  • Member of the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA)
  • Member of the Finnish Labour Law Association

Professional Background

  • Partner, Hannes Snellman, 2024–
  • Castrén & Snellman, 2012–2024

Education

  • Master of Laws, University of Helsinki, 2012
  • Master of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, 2010