Nina Tsifudina

Experience

Nina Tsifudina is a Partner at Kinstellar in the Sofia office and serves as the head of the firm-wide Employment & Labour Law service line. She has over 14 years of post-qualification practical experience working in both international and Bulgarian law firms. Nina advises local and international clients across various sectors including TMT, financial services, pharmaceutical, life sciences & healthcare, and automotive & industrials. Her expertise spans multi-jurisdictional transactions with a particular focus on employment law aspects in mergers and acquisitions, share sales, outsourcing, offshoring arrangements, workforce restructurings, and negotiations with trade unions. She also represents private equity and venture capital firms on acquisitions, disposals, and restructurings as well as advising portfolio companies on corporate matters.

Specialty

Nina specializes in employment and labour law within the context of M&A and corporate transactions. She provides strategic guidance on all workplace issues and delivers comprehensive support in cross-border mergers, corporate reorganisations, market entry strategies, and other commercial matters. Her employment law expertise includes benefits, employee share incentives, TUPE transactions, and handling employment-related issues in complex multi-jurisdictional deals. Additionally, she is co-head of M&A, Corporate & Private Equity practice at her firm and is recognized for her technical and commercial legal skills as well as her leadership abilities.

Education

Nina Tsifudina graduated with an LL.M. from the Faculty of Law at the University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, completing her studies between 2002 and 2007.

• Promotion to Partner at Kinstellar: Nina Tsifudina was promoted from Counsel to Partner at Kinstellar, reflecting her expertise in M&A, labor law, and TMT since joining the firm in 2014.

• Leadership Roles: She serves as Partner, co-head of M&A, Corporate & Private Equity, and firm-wide co-head of Employment & Labour Law at Kinstellar, demonstrating significant leadership within the firm.

• Major Case Success: Nina advised the private equity firm Advent International on the employment law aspects of its USD 6.3 billion acquisition of Canada-based global payments processor Nuvei Corporation (Nasdaq: NVEI) (TSX: NVEI), as well as on other employment matters critical to the successful execution and future business operations of the client. Nina led the Kinstellar team advising OPEN TEXT CORPORATION, a Canadian Software company, on the Bulgarian employment law aspects of the divestment of Open Text’s AMC business and its sale to Rocket Software, a Bain Capital portfolio company, for US$2.275 billion. 

• Client and Peer Recognition: She is regularly praised by clients and peers for her work, indicating strong professional recognition within the legal community.