Zoya Todorova

Client feedback - Financial and corporate 2016

"Zoya Todorova is highly dedicated to her work. She always provides accurate and detailed responses to all our enquiries. We would strongly recommend her as a reliable, experienced and innovative legal mind."

Ms. Zoya Todorova is a Partner at Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. Law Firm, Head of the Corporate and M&A and Competition Practice Groups. She demonstrates rare expertise in M&As, corporate restructuring, commercial contractual issues, obtaining of licenses and overall structuring of transactions. Ms. Todorova has brought to a successful end a number of large-scale competition cases with regard to which some decisions of key importance to the market environment in the country were pronounced. She has a thorough knowledge of the EU Law and regulations and is often trusted as a legal consultant by state authorities and institutions.

• Advised the Bulgarian investment company Advance Properties OOD in connection with the full acquisition of the pharmaceutical company Huvepharma AD from the US private equity investor Rohatyn Group. Advice was provided by the law firm to the buyer Advance Properties OOD in connection with securing a syndicated loan of 275 mln EUR to be used partly for financing the purchase of the share of the US investor amounting to 36.6%;

• Advised the venture capital fund NEVEQ II on а number of local and cross-border multimillion equity investments including a share swap structure;

• Advised the Portuguese renewables investor Martifer Renewables Brazil BV on overall transaction structuring including debt capitalization for the purposes of exit from its local business;

• Part of the team that provided full scope legal counselling with respect to Bulgarian legislation on a multi-jurisdictional multi-million debt restructuring exercise undertaken by Caucasus Online group of companies operating the first and only subsea fiber optic cable connecting the EU and the Caucasus region under the Black Sea and its creditors – two of the biggest Georgian banks and a London and Jersey based investment fund;

• Part of the team that provides advice on the legal aspects of deregistration of a public company, listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange – Sofia, Alternative market;

• Took part in the team that provided full legal services regarding the change in the ownership structure of a major Bulgarian economic group. The client is operating in a specific market segment regulated by law and consists of a numerous separate legal entities, which determines the broad scope of services that Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. administers;

• Successfully defended the interests of Sofia Airport in a complex case before the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) related to an alleged abuse of dominance in the form of predatory pricing;

• Led the team of Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. on advising one of the largest and leading wholesalers of medicinal products in Bulgaria on the competition and retributive effects of certain clauses in its contracts in the lights of the legal framework and the practice of the competition authorities in the field of prohibited agreements;

• Continuously advising a major Bulgarian economic player on various competition matters arising within the day-to-day operations of the client in a regulated sector which involves a large number of competition issues to be analysed and addressed. The work includes, without being limited to, compliance matters, competition analysis of risks in the field of concentration of undertakings, analyses of the potential competition effects regarding prohibited agreements and unfair competition, etc. Leading the competition team on advising and representation of the client also within a couple of competition advocacy procedures before the CPC where the CPC issued favourable decisions fully adopting the arguments of the team.

• Lead partner in an abuse of dominance case involving successful defence before the Supreme Administrative Court with regard to a decision of the Commission for protection of Competition.

• Agriculture

• Aviation

• Energy

• Media

• Pharma and life sciences

• Tech and telecoms

• Utilities

Sofia Bar Association

2015 –Summer Course on European Competition Law by the Academy of European Law, Trier, Germany;

1999 - 2004 – Sofia University, Faculty of Law, Master of Law, LLM;

September 2003 – December 2003 – University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Faculty of Law, Courses on International Commercial Disputes, European Union Law, European Court of Human Rights.