LUX ONLY
More than 90 per cent of deals involving luxury real estate in Bulgaria entail vacation properties in coastal and winter resorts such as Zlatni Pyasutsi, Borovets and Bansko, Lux Imoti managing director Nikola Stoyanov told a news conference at the Lux Only exhibition. This was to be expected because most projects being built were in this segment of the market, he said. Sofia had much deluxe real estate in stock, but little is up for sale. To create a suitable environment for luxury dwellings, city authorities should beware of being too lavish in issuing building permits for real estate of this kind. "Investors are avid to build more, yet over-construction is the top enemy of luxurious real estate," Stoyanov said. A key factor to the development of the luxury real estate segment was good infrastructure, said Adrian Masgrave, sales manager at the agency, adding that Bulgaria's deluxe property segment was still in its nascent stages and lagged behind European markets.

ECONOMEDIA BUY-BACK
The Commission Protection Commission has approved the November 29 buyback of shares by publishing group Economedia from Germany's Handelsblatt. The 50 per cent stock will be divided in a 51-49 per cent share-out between the Agency for Investment Information (AII), incumbent majority shareholder of Economedia, and PH Media.
PH Media is majority-owned by Philip Harmandjiev, also a manager of Economedia. PH Media's core activity is sale and purchase of real estate. Harmandjiev is also owner of the Damianitza wine cellar. The commission said that the deal was expected to help Economedia broaden its product range and, respectively, enrich its prospects. The deal did not pose a threat to competition because the stakes of all participants in the transaction were not so big as to preclude entry of new players on the market.

EQUEST SELLS FAMILIA
Investment fund Equest announced plans to sell the Familia retail chain. Equest was in talks with four potential buyers, the fund's managing director Georgi Kroumov confirmed to Dnevnik business daily. Equest is exiting the retail market two years after it made its maiden stake purchase in Familia. Since its inception in 2000, the company has changed its majority owner, managerial structure and concept several times.
Sources cited by Dnevnik on condition of anonymity said that the potential buyers were from Estonia, Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria. In the past few months, the chain opened new shops and closed several existing ones. At present, it comprises 25 retail outlets.