Wolf Theiss advises on one of the largest project finance transactions in Bulgaria

Wolf Theiss advised the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), UniCredit S.p.a., UniCredit Bulbank, UniCredit Bank AG, Societe Generale, Kommunalkredit Austria and DSK Bank as finance parties, on one of the largest project finance transactions in Bulgaria – the concession of the Sofia Airport.

Wolf Theiss has acted for the lenders and the hedge counterparties in respect of the financing granted to the consortium comprising the French investment firm Meridiam, Austria’s Strabag, and the operator of Munich Airport to whom the concession of Sofia Airport has been awarded. For the first time in Bulgaria, a project financing of such magnitude has been simultaneously led at the international level and implemented locally by a single law firm. This is the first concession granted over the state-operated Sofia Airport and, therefore, was without a local precedent in terms of size and complexity of the transaction. UniCredit Bank AG acted as a financial adviser on the deal.

The Wolf Theiss team was led by Marcell Nemeth as international adviser under English law and Katerina Kraeva as a local adviser. They were supported by Anna Rizova, Oleg Temnikov, Konstantin Altandzhiyski, Ivan Ivanov, Claus Schneider, Zeno Grabmayr, Melinda Pelikan, and Leopold Hoeher.

The borrower was represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher as a leading international adviser, acting in cooperation with Bouzeva and Partners and Kinstellar on the local law aspects.