Boyanov & Co., working alongside Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, has advised the Concord USA owners on Bulgarian aspects of the sale of company to H.I.G. Capital.  McDermott Will & Emery and Wolf Theiss, provided U.S. and Bulgarian advice, respectively, to H.I.G. Capital.

Kambourov & Partners, Latham & Watkins, Shearman & Sterling, NautaDutilh, Noerr, and Bar & Karrer advised private equity firm Silverfleet Capital on its acquisition of a majority stake in the entity resulting from the recent merger of Bulgarian software company Bulpros and German CRM company ec4u. Financing was provided by Ares, which was represented by Ashurst.

For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked Tax experts: What are the most important changes to the Tax laws in your country since January 2020 and what has their impact been? 

In general, a medicinal product can be placed on the Bulgarian market after obtaining a marketing authorisation / certificate for registration issued under the Bulgarian Medicinal Products in Human Medicine Act or after completing the "centralised procedure" under Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency ("Regulation 726/2004").

On December 15, 2020 CEELM gathered legal experts from across the region for its annual Year-in-Review Round Table conversation. In a wide-ranging discussion, participants shared opinions and perspectives on their markets, on strong (and less-strong) practices across the region, and the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on both, as well as on how technology is changing the legal industry, and what the industry will look like in 2021.

CMS has advised Vier Gas Transport GmbH on its successful participation in a tender for a commercial dispatching center technical consultant for the Interconnection Greece-Bulgaria project and enhancement of the IGB network code. 

Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov has advised the founders of tech start-up MYX AD on EUR 350,000 invested into the company by a group led by New Vision 3 Fund KD.

Schoenherr has advised the Liechtenstein Group on an unspecified investment in PV-Invest, a renewable energy company active in Austria and Southern and Southeastern Europe.

For our Checking In feature, we reach out to partners and heads of practice across CEE to learn how specific practice areas are faring in their jurisdictions. This time around we asked Data Protection experts: Overall, how compliant would you say economic agents are with relevant local regulations on data protection, and what are the main gaps that have yet to be addressed?

Amendments to the Competition Protection Act ("CPA") came into force on 26 February 2021. On paper, the changes look good and are another step towards competition rules that are aligned with European regulations. In particular:

Tsvetkova Bebov Komarevski, working with lead counsel Gianni & Origoni, has advised Alperia S.p.A., Dolomiti Energia Holding, and Finest S.p.A. on the sale of PVB Power Bulgaria AD and five hydropower plants along the Iskar River in Bulgaria to Akuo Energy, a French renewable energy independent power producer. Spasov & Bratanov advised Akuo Energy on the deal.

Schoenherr and Kambourov & Partners have advised the United Group on the acquisition of Sofia's Net1 telecom operator. Schoenherr also advised the United Group on the acquisition of Digital Cable Television, a telecommunications operator in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, operating under the brand name N3. Dimitrov & Partners advised the sellers of N3 on that deal.

Kinstellar has advised the KBC Group N.V. and its Bulgarian subsidiary DZI-Life Insurance EAD, on their successful EUR 77.7 million bid for NN’s Bulgarian pension and life insurance businesses. The deal, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the course of 2021.

Former Senior Associates Donka Stoyanova and Pencho Stanchev have been promoted to Partner at Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.

Schoenherr has advised Germany's Osram GmbH on the sale of its Bulgarian business to the Sanmina Corporation. Hogan Lovells and Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov advised Sanmina Corporation on the deal.

It has been a challenging year for the Bulgarian M&A market, with limited activity, just like in 2019. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for the slowdown is that business is overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic. Many acquirers abandoned expansion plans in order to focus on protecting both their financial stability and their employees, while waiting to assess the market environment and evaluate potential next steps. Many planned or already-started deals were cancelled at early stages (such as following a letter of intent or during preliminary due diligence) as uncertainty about the fulfilment of potential goals made the transactions risky.

The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative is one of the most ambitious development projects since the turn of the century. Through thousands of individual projects implemented under the BRI umbrella, China intends to develop land and sea corridors to support economic trade and development, integrate various regions of the world, and facilitate policy coordination, connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial services, and the connection of people. The BRI was launched in 2013, and last year was revamped with a new set of objectives.

On November 18, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Gugushev & Partners had helped Fr. Lurssen Werft GmbH & Co KG, part of Northern Germany's Lurssen shipyard group, win a public tender for the supply of two multipurpose modular patrol vessels to the Bulgarian Navy. CEEIHM spoke with Dirk Malgowski, Managing Director at Fr. Lurssen Werft, to learn more about the matter.