Category: Bulgaria

Boyanov & Co has appointed Borislav Notovsky and Stela Sabeva to Partner.

Notovsky specializes in corporate, commercial, and real estate. He has been with Boyanov since 2014 when he joined as a Senior Associate. Prior to that, he was a Senior Legal Associate with Deloitte Legal, between 2006 and 2014, and a Legal Adviser with Address Real Estate, between 2005 and 2006.

Sabeva, who is the Head of the IP Department at Boyanov & Co, has been with the firm since 2005, first joining it as an Associate. In 2014 she was appointed to Senior Associate and then to Principal Associate and Head of IP Department in 2019 (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 21, 2019).

Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners, working with Herbert Smith Freehills, has advised the First Investment Bank on establishing its EUR 100 million debt issuance program and issuing two tranches of AT1-qualifying notes under it.

According to the firm, the debt issuance program is aimed at the establishment of Perpetual Non-Cumulative Additional Tier 1 Capital. Established in 1993, First Investment Bank, also known as Fibank, is a Bulgarian public company.

The Tsvetkova Bebov & Partners team included Managing Partner Nikolay Bebov, Partner Damyan Leshev, Counsel Maria Karacholova, and Senior Associate Petar Ivanov.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team included Partner Amy Geddes, Senior Associate Omar Shafi, and Associate Matthew Oliver.

Editor’s Note: This article erroneously reported that the size of the debt issuance program was EUR 1 billion, rather than EUR 100 million. The text has been amended to correct the error.

CMS has successfully represented ASM-BG Investicii and Consult Solar before the Sofia Court of Appeal in the renewable energy sources (RES) recovery procedure.

According to the firm, the dispute concerned the collection of the 20% fee withheld from renewable producers in 2014, in favor of Korean renewable energy investors. The final repayment took place in February 2022, after winning before the Sofia Court of Appeal in late 2021.

ASM-BG Investicii and Consult Solar operate photovoltaic power plants exceeding 25-megawatt peak.

CMS previously represented ASM-BG Investicii in a dispute with ESO EAD (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 20, 2020).

The CMS team was led by Managing Partner Kostadin Sirleshtov and included Senior Associate Borislava Piperkova, Associate Elena Yotova-Yordanova, and Trainee Diyan Georgiev.

Kinstellar has advised Remix Global on long-term leases of office space in Business Garden Office X and a warehouse close to Sofia.

According to the firm, the leased assets include 2,300 square meters of office space in Sofia and a warehouse covering more than 30,000 square meters in the capital’s vicinity.

Sofia-headquartered Remix Global operates an online resale platform for second-hand and outlet fashion. The company offers clothing and accessories in nine countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.

Last year, Kinstellar also advised on ThredUp’s acquisition of Remix Global (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 17, 2021).

The Kinstellar team included Partner Antonia Mavrova and Senior Associate Simeon Vachev.

War-related concerns have put the new government’s plans and a number of business transactions on hold, according to Schoenherr Local Partner Ilko Stoyanov.

“In terms of the political situation, right now, I don’t envy the government that came into power around two months ago,” Stoyanov says. “Before that, in Bulgaria, a regular cabinet was not functioning, as the parties were unable to form a majority. At the moment, the coalition consists of political parties with very diverse political views, including technocratic, democratic, populist, and the former communist party. It is relieving that, eventually, we have a functioning government, but on the other hand, the politicians do not have any experience on how to deal with the world.” According to Stoyanov, the government’s own agendas such as attracting FDIs and improving business opportunities, are completely off the table, replaced by the new war-related concerns.

“Interestingly, the government has an openly pro-Western and pro-NATO policy,” Stoyanov adds. “Recently, a Minister of Defence was fired due to the fact that he referred to Ukrainian events as a ‘special operation,’ rather than ‘a war’.”

“Another major political issue is reforming the judicial system and prosecutor’s office,” he points out. “They have been accused of being dependent on the ruling party, imposing selective justice, and rendering favorable decisions for government-affiliated individuals. Bulgaria has also been criticized by the EU Commission for the absence of high-level corruption cases.” 

With regards to the business world, Stoyanov says that “the past 3 months, as well as the entire year of 2021, marked a good period in terms of M&A transactions. In 2020, many transactions were put on hold and it created momentum for the following year.” According to him, the energy and TMT sectors have seen a particularly large number of transactions.

“However, in the past period, several deals were suspended, mainly due to the war,” Stoyanov adds. “It is hard to predict how businesses will develop, considering uncertainty and the rising inflation. There is a purely emotional moment regarding the ongoing war, and society as a whole and businesses, in particular, have concerns as to whether it will affect any future transactions.”

Former Senior Associate Nikola Stoychev has been promoted to Partner at Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.

Specializing in TMT, Stoychev has been with the firm since 2013, having first joined as a Legal Trainee. In 2013, he was promoted to Legal Assistant. Stoychev was an Associate at the firm from 2016 to 2019, and a Senior Associate from 2019 to 2022. Before joining the firm, he was a Legal Trainee at Wolf Theiss. Since 2020, Stoychev has also worked as a Correspondent at European Audiovisual Observatory.

“We believe his new position will give him the opportunity to contribute even more to the development of his team and the law firm as a whole,” DPC informed.

Kinstellar has advised Earlybird Digital East on participating in an additional Series B USD 100 million investment into Payhawk.

According to Payhawk, the Series B extension round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, joined by new investors Sprints Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, HubSpot Ventures, and Jigsaw VC, with participating existing investors Greenoaks, QED Partners, and Earlybird Digital East.

“This latest round of investment increases Payhawk’s Series B round to USD 215 million,” Kinstellar informed. “Payhawk has now reached a valuation of USD 1 billion, becoming the first Bulgarian unicorn. The company will use the Series B funds to further grow its product team, double its efforts to build best-in-class enterprise features, and expand its sales and marketing team for new market penetration in 2022.”

Founded in 1997, Earlybird invests in technology companies’ development and growth phases. The Digital East Fund is focused on early-stage information and communications technology investments in Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Payhawk is a Bulgarian financial technology start-up providing payment and expense solutions, with offices in London, Sofia, Berlin, and Barcelona.

“Becoming the first unicorn in Bulgaria is a huge testament to the hard work and resilience of our team over the last three and a half years,” Payhawk CEO Hristo Borisov commented. “We are just at the beginning of our journey, and we cannot wait to continue reinventing how businesses manage their payments.”

Kinstellar previously advised Earlybird on a EUR 3 million seed funding round for Payhawk (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on March 27, 2020).

The Kinstellar team was led by Partner Emre Edmund Ozer and Sofia Managing Partner Diana Dimova.

Kinstellar did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Djingov, Gouginski, Kyutchukov & Velichkov has advised Matrax on its acquisition of Bulgarian company Matraci.bg. PwC Legal reportedly advised the seller.

According to DGKV, “the deal created the largest mattress distribution group in the region.”

Matraci.bg is an online store selling mattresses and sleep products. The company has formed partnerships with mattress manufacturers such as Ted, Nani, Magniflex, iSleep, Latex Economy, Don Almohadon, Paradise, RosMari, and others.

The DGKV team was led by Partner Georgi Tzvetkov and Senior Associate Silviya Apostolova.

CMS has advised Raiffeisen Bank International company Elevator Ventures on leading the third round of investment in CloudCart.

Elevator Ventures focuses on growth investments in financial technology companies and enabling technologies in Central and Eastern Europe.

CloudCart is a Bulgarian e-commerce software platform, offering end-to-end solutions for small and medium enterprises growing their sales online or starting e-commerce businesses.

“The existing technology integrations and partnerships of CloudCart, combined with new collaborations with strategic market players such as Elevator Ventures, give us the real opportunity to take European e-commerce to the next level,” CloudCart CEO Nikolay Iliev commented. “We have always been prepared to help businesses meet their e-commerce needs and the changes that are happening in this sector on a daily basis, bringing even more opportunities for cross-border growth for all industry stakeholders.”

The ​​CMS team was led by Partner Dimitar Zwiatkow and included Senior Associate Ivan Gergov and Junior Associate Elitsa Hinova.

Kinstellar, working with DWF in London, has advised Kin and Carta on its acquisition of the Melon Group. PPG Lawyers advised the Melon Group.

The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.

The Melon Group is a digital transformation consulting firm with a “300-strong team of web, mobile, and data specialists working across Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Kosovo [who] have sector experience in medtech, fintech, banking, and human resources,” according to Kinstellar.

Kin and Carta is a UK-based digital transformation consultancy.

According to Kinstellar, “the European expansion strengthens [Kin and Carta’s] nearshore software development capacity and bolsters its pure-play digital transformation capabilities which is part of Kin and Carta’s purpose-driven global growth strategy as a publicly listed B Corp.”

Kinstellar’s team included Partner Diana Dimova, Of Counsel Radoslav Chemshirov, Managing Associate Atanas Mihaylov, Senior Associates Georgi Kanev and Emil Lukaev, Associates Denitsa Kuzeva and Nikolay Gergov, Junior Associate Debora Dineva, and Trainee Lawyer Donika Stavreva.

PPG Lawyers’ team included Of Counsel Georgi Georgiev and Managing Partner Irena Georgieva.

Editorial Note: After this article was published ODI Law announced it advised Kin and Carte on Macedonian law aspects of the deal. The ODI team was led by Partner Gjorgji Georgievski and included Partner Ana Stojanovska and Associates Fani Dimoska and Ema Tasevska.