Tokushev and Partners has advised Intercapital Property Development REIT on its initial public offering of company shares worth over BGN 24 million.

Georgiev Todorov & Co. has advised Bulgaria's Office Sgradi EOOD on the purchase of 50% of the shares of Medical Center-On Clinic Bulgaria AD from the Netherlands-based On Clinic Advanced Medical Institute B.V. The seller was reportedly advised by Israel's Epstein Rosenblum Maoz.

On June 9, 2020, almost 3 years after the start of the public discussions procedure, the new Food Act (the “Act”) was promulgated in the State Gazette, issue no. № 52. It repeals the old law, in force since 1999, and aims to harmonize Bulgarian legislation with European legislation, introducing new concepts, new registration obligations and higher sanctions. In the text below you will find some of the more important legislative changes.

CMS has advised KEXIM, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, on a USD 36 million financing deal with Grain Terminal Holdings — a Singapore-based joint venture between Posco International and the Orexim Group. Posco International was advised by South Korea's Jipyong law firm, and the Orexim Group was advised by Harneys' Cyprus office.

CMS has advised OTP Bank, DSK Bank, and Eurobank on the EUR 110 million refinancing of the Business Park Sofia with Arco Capital Corporation. Reed Smith and Wolf Theiss advised Arco Capital on the transaction, which was signed on July 8 and closed on July 31, 2020.

Schoenherr is reporting that the United Group's EUR 1.2 billion acquisition of Vivacom (Bulgarian Telecommunications Company EAD), the largest telecom operator in Bulgaria — the deal that was signed in November 2019 and won CEE Legal Matters' 2019 Deal of the Year for Bulgaria — has closed. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison acted as lead English counsel to the United Group, while CMS and Kambourov & Partners were, respectively, English and Bulgarian counsel to the sellers.

Оn 10 July, 2020, just over two years after Bulgaria formally announced its intention to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) and the Banking Union, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) announced two very important decisions:

Separate teams from Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski have advised both EnduroSat and Freigeist Capital on the latter's investment into the former. Lacore Rechtsanwalte was German counsel to Freigeist Capital. 

We decided to lighten the mood this time around by asking our Law Firm Marketing experts from across the region a non-law-firm related question: “What did you most want to be when you were little?”

Over the past few years CMS advised the OTP Bank Group on an extensive series of acquisitions across Bulgaria, Moldova, and former Yugoslavia. This series of separate deals was shortlisted for CEE Legal Matters’ CEE Deal of the Year in each of the countries involved, actually winning the 2018 Deal of the Year for Bulgaria and the 2019 Deal of the Year Award for Montenegro. We reached out to Eva Talmacsi, who led CMS’s multi-jurisdictional team, to learn more about the firm’s impressive work on OTP’s behalf.

Boyanov & Co has successfully represented Organic Land Corporation EOOD, a Bulgarian subsidiary of Tradin Organic B.V., in litigation against an unidentified company operating in the agricultural business. 

Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. has advised Team.blue on its acquisition of the Bulgarian web hosting company SuperHosting. The Vladimirov Kiskinov law firm advised SuperHosting on the deal.

Iliana Byanova, the former Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at the First Investment Bank, has joined Sopharma Trading as its Chief Legal, Risk, and Compliance Officer in Sofia.

DLA Piper and Bulgaria's Sabev & Partners law firm have advised the Government of Bulgaria on the concession agreement and the tender procedure for the Sofia Airport in Bulgaria. As previously reported, Kinstellar advised the winning SOF Connect Consortium, which was led by Meridiam and included Munich Airport and Strabag.

Eurolex Bulgaria and CMS have advised Trace Group Holding and Balkantel — both members of the Plovdiv Railway Project Consortium — on their successful participation in a tender for a EUR 45 million railway public procurement project in Bulgaria.

Stay informed about the latest developments in competition law in Central and Eastern Europe with Schoenherr's multi-jurisdictional newsletter. Each issue offers insight into developments in merger control, anti-trust, as well as public and private enforcement in the region.

Georgiev, Todorov & Co. has successfully represented Sofia's Acibadem City Clinic Multidisciplinary Hospital for Active Treatment Tokuda EAD in a claim against Bulgaria's National Health Insurance Fund for payment for medical care provided by the hospital to health-insured persons above the limits set by the NHIF.

Former Dimitrov, Tchompalov & Todorova partner Katya Todorova has joined CMS Sofia as Head of Capital Markets.