Kinstellar has opened a ten lawyer office in Bulgaria's capital and financial hub Sofia under former Wolf Theiss lawyer Diana Dimova. The firm has been eyeing up the country for some time as part of its Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) focused growth strategy.
Dimova is a former senior associate at Wolf Theiss (Bulgaria), her practice focuses on corporate, commercial and private equity and on advising companies on corporate structures and mergers.
According to Daniel Torsher, managing partner of the firm's Romanian office and coordinator of the South East Europe region, the "timing was right in terms of finding the right team", while in not having a Bulgaria base "we found that we were leaving work on the table as we did not have the local capabilities". Torsher adds that the team itself has “a very strong track record in real estate finance and development" and that although "this has been quite slow recently there are some indications of a pick-up”. The team is also experienced in banking and finance, corporate and M&A transactions and private equity.