Georgi Valentinov Georgiev, PhD

Georgi Valentinov Georgiev, PhD advises companies on a broad range of commercial legal matters – venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and management of companies, including incorporation of businesses, branches, affiliates, trade representative offices, real estate and legal representation. He supervises the law firm’s work in Venture Capital. He is also а full-time assistant professor in corporate and commercial law at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

Georgi has a strong practice in Venture Capital. The Venture Capital (VC) team of Georgiev & Kolev, supervised by Georgi, is responsible for the full legal service of two of the largest Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) in the country regarding all matters related to the investment activity of the Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) managed by them. The total resource of both AIFS amounts to appr. EUR 70 million and consists of public financing provided by the Fund of Funds in Bulgaria and additional private funding provided by the fund managers and independent private investors.

Currently, the VC team support legally the whole activity of Morningside Hill – Venture Capital Fund and Vitosha Venture Partners – Fund I. Georgi has supervised the process of and has led negotiations concerning the structuring of the funds and the fund managers, including the application procedure before the Fund of Funds in Bulgaria, the establishment of the AIFMs and AIFs and provision of legal services regarding the whole investment activity of the funds since their incorporation.

Georgi has considerable expertise in VC regarding the structuring of equity and quasi-equity investments executed by the funds. The VC team’s legal consultancy activity includes a variety of regulatory checks, legal due diligence, ensuring compliance with the legal framework concerning state aid and de minimis aid, the criteria for SME and other eligibility requirements concerning public financing, preparation of investment agreements and convertible loan agreements, negotiations with beneficiary companies, drawing up drawdown notices, capital increase documents, etc. So far, Georgiev & Kolev have closed 26 deals worth over EUR 13.5 million and are currently working simultaneously on 23 deals in equity and quasi-equity investments.

Apart from his expertise in VC, Georgi was distinguished in one of the leading lawyers’ rankings in the world – International Financial Law Review: https://www.iflr1000.com in various categories for 2017 and 2018, for his work as a team leader for credit financing transactions amounting to over Euro 100 million and the restructuring of corporate clients’ debt in amounts of over Euro 250 million.

Here is how Georgi sees his mission as a lawyer:

“The golden standard in the lawyer’s work is professionalism and loyalty. We, at Georgiev & Kolev, believe that our dedication as a legal team will distinguish us from the rest. We love our work, we like to feel useful by helping people solve their problems, and this in turn helps us overcome difficulties. We do not sell illusions because this may seriously harm our clients and their business. Still, our clients must get solutions and not listen to us complaining about the obstacles we face. Our motto is Know-how to succeed, and we are inclined to believe that in most cases there is always a way.