The Jury is Out for CEE Deal of the Year Awards 2022
Very pleased to announce that for a fifth successive year our corporate and M&A partner Pavel Hristov has joined Bulgaria Country Selection Committee for the 2022 CEE Deal of the Year Awards. These are the leading peer-selected awards for the legal industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The CEE Deal of the Year Awards […]
Hristov Partners Celebrate 10th Anniversary
We celebrate our firm’s 10th anniversary. On reflection, together we have created a reliable, reputable and sustainable law firm. With: * world class lawyers * a roster of fantastic loyal clients, multinational, international and domestic * an international strategy focused on our capabilities in M&A transactions * a strong long-standing international referral network * lasting […]
Chambers Global Legal Rankings Confirm Our Firm’s Recognition
The Chambers Global 2023 rankings again included Hristov & Partners among the leading 12 corporate and commercial law firms in Bulgaria. The number of the ranked firms this year (12) is down from 14 in the last year’s ranking. ‘We are grateful for this high recognition from the Chambers’ independent researchers, based on positive feedback […]
The EU Whistleblowing Directive finally implemented in Bulgaria
On 2 February the Bulgarian Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) was published in the State Gazette, implementing 1 year late the requirements of the European Whistleblower Protection Directive (the Directive). Companies will be required to ensure compliance with the new law within: 2 May 2023 – for companies with 250 and more employees and for companies […]
A dominant company can be liable for its distributors’ conduct and Intel case-law applies to exclusive dealing, according to ECJ’s judgement in C-680/20 Unilever
Last month the European Court of Justice rendered its judgement in case C‑680/20 (Unilever) extending the scope of dominant companies’ liability for anti-competitive conduct of their distributors and providing useful insight as to the applicability of the Intel case to exclusive dealing. The Italian competition authority found that Unilever had abused its dominant position on the […]
Bulgaria Inflation Forecasts 2023
In 2023, inflation and Fed/ECB and national bank base interest rates will play a major role in the deal-making. The national bank has recently published its 2023 forecast. It is expected the annual inflation to slow down to 4.2% at the year end subject to falling food and petrol prices. The average annual inflation will […]
Bulgarian National Bank Continues Rising Interest Rate
As from December 1, the Bulgarian National Bank increased the Base Interest Rate to 1.30%. This is the third consecutive increase in the last three months. The interest rise is to address the high inflation which in the BNB estimate will be c. 15% on annual basis at the year end. Going forward, BNB will […]
Insight from the Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission in one of its latest antitrust cases Nikon/PRG/Profiled
On 29 September 2022 the Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission (CPC) adopted a commitments decision in proceedings involving an alleged violation of Art. 15 of the Bulgarian Competition Protection Act and Art. 101 of the TFEU by Nikon Europe B.V. and its Bulgarian authorized distributor. The decision provides rare insight on how the CPC approaches selective […]
Hristov & Partners Advised on the Sale of Fidelis Research
We are delighted to have acted for a seller financial investor on the sale of its shares in the capital of Fidelis Research to BioIVT, a portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners. Fidelis Research is an innovative, fast-growing biospecimen and clinical trials group of companies, headquartered in Bulgaria, operating across South East Europe. Our team […]
Law Firm Platforms
We are determined to learn from the market leaders and the most innovative firms in our industry. One new development stands out. The law firm as a platform. By analogy to IT/tech sector, independent lawyers / experts in specific areas of law can access the platform and build/integrate their own services. In practice we’ve seen […]