Economedia, the leading business media group and second-largest media group in Bulgaria, is acquiring 60 per cent of Sofia Echo Media Ltd.

Sofia Echo Media Ltd's stable includes The Sofia Echo, real estate magazine PropertyWise and websites www.sofiaecho.com, www.propertywisebulgaria.com and www.expatinbulgaria.com.

"For nearly a year, we have been working on a project for foreigners who live in or visit Bulgaria aiming to do business. After a market analysis, the best opportunity for us was partnership with Sofia Echo Media, which is a leader in this market segment and has created very strong media. Foreigners interested in Bulgaria are becoming more numerous and this market is to continue growing. The combination of the resources of Economedia and the experience of Sofia Echo Media with this audience is unique, and we will develop other products in future. After the deal's completion, we will offer advertisers access to foreigners, another part of the quality audience," Economedia's Biser Boev said.

Sofia Echo Media Ltd managing director Christine Milner said: "As the influence and standing of The Sofia Echo and its website have grown over the years and with the launch of our new products to meet the growing hunger of foreigners for quality information about Bulgaria, it is a logical move for our company to look for a strong partner with whom to continue to develop this market. As the publisher of the quality media in Bulgaria, Economedia is the natural choice for us. The Sofia Echo is 10 years old this year so this is a great birthday present for us all".

In recent years, both The Sofia Echo and expatinbulgaria.com have won awards from juries in various media competitions.
The Economedia-Sofia Echo Media Ltd deal has been submitted for approval to the Commission for Protection of Competition.
Since 2005, Economedia has been part of Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt, Germany's biggest media company in the field of financial and business information. Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt owns 50 per cent of Economedia, while The Agency for Investment Information owns the other half.

Economedia publishes Bulgaria's daily business newspaper Dnevnik and the country's most influential weekly newspaper, Kapital. Besides newspapers "for the people who make decisions", Economedia publishes licensed magazines Business Spotlight and Foreign Policy, as well as industry magazines HoReMag (for tourism specialists), Utility (for utility business), Regal (for fast moving consumer goods business) and MD (a specialist edition for medics).

Together with ASI OOD, Economedia also publishes leading construction and investment weekly newspaper Stroitelstvo Gradat and real estate monthly magazine Index Imoti.

Through ICT Media, Economedia publishes the newspaper Computerworld and magazines PC World, CIO and Network World. Since May 2007, the group has been publishing Bacchus and Menu magazines.

More than 20 sites, including www.capital.bg, www.dnevnik.bg, HR portal for jobs and education www.karieri.bg, portal www.radar.bg, a site on Sofia www.zagrada.bg and the portal www.idg.bg, feature in Economedia's portfolio.