LM Legal Services Blog

402.6 million Euros is the total turnover from merging and acquisitions in the first three months of this year, which is a decrease of 18.2% or 72% less than in the first quarter of 2008. The recession has hit the merging and acquisitions in Bulgaria. Only 32 M&A have been completed in the first three months of this year. In the same period of last year there were 136 deals to the value of 3.5 billion Euros.

The decrease in the first three months of 2009 still can not give a clear idea about the market situation later during the year. The prices of companies have dramatically decreased and the number of deals has shrunk by 1/3 on annual basis. The analysts still think that the situation is not that bad. In March the number of the deals has increased which might be a sign of recovery at the end of 2009.

The turnover of the largest Bulgarian construction companies in 2007 was 2.7 billion levs according to the Builders’ Chamber in Bulgaria (KSB) which announced the annual statistics on the eve of the day of the builders, St Dimitre’s Day. More than 2400 Bulgarian construction companies have provided information for these statistics.

The largest construction company in Bulgaria is Glavbolgarstroy AD with a turnover reaching 228.9 million levs. Roads Holding is in the second place with 151.7 million levs. It seems unlikely a company building roads to take the first place, as there are no infrastructure projects for the time being.

The growth of the construction industry according to its chamber demonstrated a growth of 16% per annum but this year there will be a slow down. This recession has been expressed in the halting of investment projects and of planning permissions. If the European funding has not been stopped, the construction industry would have maintained its growth.

The size of the grey economy in Bulgaria is 30% of the country’s GDP or 21 billion levs for 2008 according to the Budget Committee of the Bulgarian Parliament. In comparison the whole of the budget for this year is 27 billion levs. The analysts claim that the negative tendency is due to the change of legal environment in Bulgaria after the EU accession together with the high expectations for the businesses in parallel with the political instability in the Interior and Economic Ministries.

The grey sector is mainly focussed in construction, tourism and agriculture. Most of the time the real turnover is not declared which leads to unreasonably low taxation.