On July 11, 2022, Kinstellar announced that KBC Bank’s acquisition of Raiffeisenbank in Bulgaria (reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 25, 2021) had closed.
As previously reported, Kinstellar and E+H advised Belgian KBC Group subsidiary KBC Bank on its EUR 1 billion acquisition of Raiffeisen Bank International’s Bulgarian subsidiary Raiffeisenbank, with Wolf Theiss advising the seller.
According to Kinstellar, "the transaction also includes Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria’s fully owned subsidiaries Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria, Raiffeisen Asset Management (Bulgaria), Raiffeisen Insurance Broker, and Raiffeisen Service."
Earlier this year, this transaction won the 2021 CEELM Deal of the Year Award for Bulgaria (as announced on April 7, 2022). In-depth coverage of the deal is available in the CEE Legal Matters DOTY special issue.
Kinstellar’s updated team was led by Partners Diana Dimova and Nina Tsifudina and Counsel Svilen Issaev and included Of Counsel Dessislava Fessenko, Managing Associate Georgi Kanev, Senior Associate Denitsa Kuzeva, and Associates Nikolay Gergov and Gabriela Ivanova.
The E+H team was led by Partners Alric Ofenheimer and Josef Schmidt and included Partner Laurenz Liedermann and Associate Johannes Helm.
The Wolf Theiss team included Vienna-based Partners Andrea Gritsch and Claus Schneider and Counsel Zeno Grabmayr, as well as Sofia-based Partners Richard Clegg and Katerina Kraeva.