New partner at BCC: real estate brings highest gains

Law firm Badea Clifford Chance (BCC) has recruited Perry V. Zizzi from the Salans law team to strengthen its presence on the real estate segment – the market sector with the highest growth, which is providing significant revenues for law firms. American-born Zizzi (age 40) has been working on the Romanian market for four years.
“Real estate is currently one of the hottest sectors, not just in Romania, but also in Ukraine and Russia. For example, in Ukraine alone, I have been involved in four financing projects over the last year and a half, but the number of financing projects likely to be completed will be even higher over the coming period,” says Perry Zizzi.
He believes the real estate sector and IPOs will continue to be attractive for law firms within the next few years in terms of generated revenues.
Perry Zizzi is the new partner at Badea Clifford Chance, and will specialise in real estate.
“The main difference between Romania and the other regional markets is that here the market started at a lower level of development, and had to catch up very quickly, particularly on the residential segment, but also in associated sectors, such as investments in infrastructure,” explains Perry Zizzi.
The Romanian market has seen one of the most rapid yield declines in the region. Buyers of real estate properties are expected to derive annual revenues that account for just 6% of their investment in assets in the future, whereas two or three years ago, yields stood at 9% or higher.
The fact that the market has matured is indicated primarily by foreigners’ acquisitions in Romania, which are conducted at margins comparable with those on mature markets, such as the Czech Republic and Poland.
“The subprime crisis in the US seems to have had an impact on the whole world market, but I think its effect is rather psychological. In a country such as Romania, which is largely unaffected by this issue, I believe interest will continue for a long time (…),” adds Perry Zizzi.