CMS_LawTax_CMYK_28-100.eps
CMS in Bulgaria
Who we are CMS Sofia was established in 2005 and is the largest international law firm on the local market. We have a highly experienced team of more than 30 qualified international and Bulgarian lawyers who are experts in corporate, banking and finance, energy, real estate and construction, commercial, tax, litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Our firm is top ranked in the world’s most renowned legal directories: Chambers & Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR1000. Global reach, local expertise
English, German and Austrian law expertise
Network coverage
Although we deal with transactions and matters of all sizes, we remain, without a doubt, the best positioned law firm in Bulgaria to handle the most complex multijurisdictional deals. We have experience in working on extremely demanding matters in various sectors. At the same time, our capabilities are perfectly suitable for servicing the day-to-day needs of our clients.
CMS Sofia is able to provide the services of qualified English, German and Austrian lawyers, in addition to Bulgarian qualified lawyers. At the same time, our CEE team – including the Sofia office – also offers you both local and international lawyers. We are recognised as a centre of excellence for English law transactions across the CEE region.
CMS Sofia is part of CMS, a global law firm, with offices across the CEE region, Europe and beyond. We can handle multijurisdictional deals easily because we are wherever our clients need us with 70+ offices across the globe.
The largest international law firm in Bulgaria
Band 1 Chambers and Partners Legal 500 IFLR1000
Winner of Deal of the Year for Bulgaria by CEE Legal Matters for 2017, 2018 and 2019
6 Partners and >30 Lawyers
Client feedback in front of Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 — “Smart and feasible solutions” — “Very client-oriented” — “Exceptionally business-oriented, calm, available and timely and thorough legal advice”
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— “Strong negotiation skills” — “Extremely responsive and detailed approach” — “Excellent capabilities, strong ethics and a personal approach”
Delivering service excellence You will have access to a full service advisory team with the right expertise and experience to serve your local needs as well as manage your cross-border projects and assignments. We are familiar with the day-to-day challenges in-house legal departments face. Our practice and sector group matrix enables us to develop comprehensive understanding of our clients’ businesses and markets and to constantly deliver sound and commercially viable advice. We know the law and we know your business. This combination enables us to provide you with timely and practical advice. Range of services Our Sofia office deals with all topics related to commercial law, offering comprehensive consulting services for all legal questions that can arise when doing business in Bulgaria. The legal advice we offer our clients focuses on M&A, corporate and real estate law, we advise banks and deal with issues relating to telecommunications, labour and tax law as well as financings. Moreover, we represent our clients’ interests at local courts.
Practice groups
Our clients are major companies from all industries. Especially firms from the renewable energy, construction, banking, media, telecommunications, food, retail and tourism sectors rely on our strict adherence to deadlines and the quality of our services when doing business in the country.
Sectors
— Corporate/M&A — Commercial — Competition — Employment — Finance — Intellectual Property — Public Procurement — Dispute Resolution
— Energy, Projects and Construction — Real Estate — Tax
— Automotive — Consumer Products — Energy & Utilities — Financial Institutions — Hotels & Leisure — Infrastructure & Project Finance — Insurance & Reinsurance
— Lifesciences and Healthcare — Private Equity — Real Estate and Construction — Technology, Media and Communications
CMS has ‘international experience and deep local expertise, which is highly valuable in cross-border transactions’ Legal 500
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Highlights of our recent experience Banking and Finance Providing legal support to major European banks in their capacity as bookrunners, arrangers and lenders for a EUR 103,300,000 facilities agreement. The purpose of the facilities agreement was to refinance three existing loans of the borrowers.
Commercial An integrated global agribusiness company on providing day-to-day legal advice on drafting template contracts, providing advice on litigation matters, GDPR and AML related advice.
Energy An international oil & gas company on an exploration project offshore Bulgaria. We have been assisting the client in its participation in the bid round for winning the exploration license. Just recently, we advised the client on the transfer of 30% of its exploration rights on the Bulgarian offshore Block to the local branch of an Australian energy company. This deal represents the largest farm-in transaction in Bulgaria to date.
Technology, Media and Communications The German subsidiary of an international aerospace company on the implementation of a border security system for the external Schengen borders in Bulgaria.
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Competition Various clients from the Consumer Products, IT, Pharma, Energy, Renewables sectors on a full range of competition law matters, antitrust investigations, abuse of dominance issues, advertising campaigns, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and compliance trainings. Dispute Resolution Two Bulgarian subsidiaries of a leading asset resolution group on a number of commercial arbitration proceedings related to the recovery of significant amounts and repossession of leasing assets against non-performing lessees, and representation in commercial disputes. IP A global company, specialising in food security, on issues related to violation of trademarks and rules for parallel import of original products.
Tax A leading Austrian asset resolution group on ongoing tax and customs services ranging from VAT to corporate tax issues related to repossession, termination of agreements, bookkeeping, export of repossessed assets, etc.
Corporate and M&A A major Hungarian bank group on its acquisition of an international bank’s subsidiaries for over EUR 600 million in several jurisdictions, including Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia.
Employment An international technology company on setting-up its HR functions in Bulgaria, including drafting of template employment contracts, policies, legal guidance throughout the recruitment process, etc.
Real Estate and Construction A real estate fund on the sale of Mall of Sofia, one of the first shopping malls in Bulgaria, to the major CEE real estate developer GTC, advising on the initial acquisition of the mall by our client back in 2011.
Lifesciences and Healthcare A major pharmaceutical company on establishing its operations in 10 countries across CEE. CMS incorporated the legal entities, obtained all necessary local registrations and licences and helped to negotiate and put in place distribution agreements.
Get in touch Kostadin Sirleshtov Managing Partner, CEE Head of Energy T +359 2 921 9942 E kostadin.sirleshtov@cmslegal.bg
Gentscho Pavlov Co-Managing Partner, Banking & Finance, Corporate, Real Estate and Tax T +359 2 447 1300 E gentscho.pavlov@cmslegal.bg
Atanas Bangachev Partner, Corporate T +359 2 921 9913 E atanas.bangachev@cmslegal.bg
Assen Georgiev Partner, Litigation, Arbitration, Insurance, Employment T +359 2 921 9936 E assen.georgiev@cmslegal.bg
Elitsa Ivanova Partner, Finance T +359 2 921 9947 E elitsa.ivanova@cmslegal.bg
Dimitar Zwiatkow Partner, Banking & Finance, Corporate and Public Procurement T +359 2 447 1315 E dimitar.zwiatkow@cmslegal.bg
Nevena Radlova Counsel, Commercial, Competition, IP T +359 2 923 4866 E nevena.radlova@cmslegal.bg
Jenia Dimitrova Counsel, Real Estate T +359 2 923 4853 E jenia.dimitrova@cmslegal.bg
Veliko Savov Senior Associate, TMC, Hotels & Leisure T +359 2 923 4856 E veliko.savov@cmslegal.bg
Anna Tanova Senior Associate, Media, IT T +359 2 921 9940 E anna.tanova@cmslegal.bg
Katya Todorova Senior Associate, Capital Markets T +359 2 921 9990 E katya.todorova@cmslegal.bg
Alexander Rangelov Senior Associate, Tax T +359 2 921 9912 E alexander.rangelov@cmslegal.bg
Antonia Kehayova Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution, Commercial and Real Estate T +359 2 447 1322 E antonia.kehayova@cmslegal.bg
Iveta Manolova Senior Associate, Employment T +359 2 921 9944 E iveta.manolova@cmslegal.bg
Where to find us: CMS Sofia Landmark Centre 14 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria T +359 2 921 9910 E cmssofia@cmslegal.bg
Denitsa Dudevska Senior Associate, Energy, Oil & Gas T +359 2 923 4863 E denitsa.dudevska@cmslegal.bg
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CMS at a glance The Americas Bogotá Lima Mexico City Rio de Janeiro Santiago de Chile
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Europe Aberdeen Amsterdam Antwerp Barcelona Belgrade Berlin Bratislava Bristol Brussels Bucharest Budapest Cologne Duesseldorf
Edinburgh Frankfurt Funchal Geneva Glasgow Hamburg Istanbul Kyiv Leipzig Lisbon Ljubljana London Luxembourg
Lyon Madrid Manchester Milan Monaco Moscow Munich Paris Podgorica Poznan Prague Reading Rome
Sarajevo Seville Sheffield Skopje Sofia Strasbourg Stuttgart Tirana Utrecht Vienna Warsaw Zagreb Zurich
Algiers Casablanca Johannesburg Luanda Mombasa Nairobi
Abu Dhabi Beirut Dubai Muscat
Beijing Hong Kong Shanghai Singapore
Africa
Middle East
Asia-Pacific
Staff
Lawyers
Partners
> 8,000 > 4,800 > 1,100 49 NEW PARTNERS IN 2019, TAKING THE TOTAL TO OVER 1,100
Operating in
Across
countries
cities
71 43
EUR 1.426bn turnover for 2019
19 PRACTICE AND SECTOR GROUPS WORKING ACROSS OFFICES
#1 CEE, DACH, Germany (Mergermarket) #1 Germany, UK (Thomson Reuters) Top rankings in 2019 M & A League Tables (by deal count) #1 by Bloomberg in Europe, Germany and UK #1 by Mergermarket in CEE, DACH and Germany #1 by Thomson Reuters in Benelux and Germany #1 Europe, Germany, UK (Bloomberg)
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© CMS Legal Services EEIG (2021)
CMS Legal Services EEIG (CMS EEIG) is a European Economic Interest Grouping that coordinates an organisation of independent law firms. CMS EEIG provides no client services. Such services are solely provided by CMS EEIG’s member firms in their respective jurisdictions. CMS EEIG and each of its member firms are separate and legally distinct entities, and no such entity has any authority to bind any other. CMS EEIG and each member firm are liable only for their own acts or omissions and not those of each other. The brand name “CMS” and the term “firm” are used to refer to some or all of the member firms or their offices. CMS locations: Aberdeen, Abu Dhabi, Algiers, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Barcelona, Beijing, Belgrade, Berlin, Bogotá, Bratislava, Bristol, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Casablanca, Cologne, Dubai, Duesseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Funchal, Geneva, Glasgow, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Kyiv, Leipzig, Lima, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Luanda, Luxembourg, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Mexico City, Milan, Mombasa, Monaco, Moscow, Munich, Muscat, Nairobi, Paris, Podgorica, Poznan, Prague, Reading, Rio de Janeiro, Riyadh, Rome, Santiago de Chile, Sarajevo, Seville, Shanghai, Sheffield, Singapore, Skopje, Sofia, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Tirana, Utrecht, Vienna, Warsaw, Zagreb and Zurich.
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