Swedish investment fund EQT has acquired 100 per cent in Bulgarian cable TV and internet services provider Eurocom and 70 per cent of its former rival CableTel for the price of 200 million euro.

After completion of the purchase, EQT will merge the two companies, creating Bulgaria’s largest cable TV operator.

The two companies were previously owned by New York-based Warburg Pincus private equity fund and Gene Phillips, respectively. As part of the deal Ron Finley will retain his minority 30 per cent holding in CableTel.

The two transactions have a combined price tag of 200 million euro and are taken as a positive signal for investors' interest in the sector. This is underpinned by the fact that 63 per cent of the funding, or 125 million euro, was secured through equity capital by a consortium led by Calyon, ING, Unicredit Bank Austria, Welst LB and Avenue Capital.

Mid Europa Partners, another major equity investor in the region, recently concluded the acquisition of Bulgarian satellite TV provider ITV Partners.

EQT will join forces with Ron Finley to pump capital into what will be the new leader on the Bulgarian digital TV and broadband Internet market.

The two companies will continue to operate as separate market structures for at least two months since announcement of the merger.

CableTel claims it has a 13 per cent market share, while Eurocom says it has captured 12 per cent. But data by the Commission for Protection of Competition filed by other market players puts their combined grip on the market at almost 80 per cent.

With annual revenue of some 70 million euro and nearly 500 000 subscribers, the new company will be a leader on the Bulgarian and Macedonian markets. The merger has already obtained the thumbs-up by the Bulgarian anti-trust body.

Source: Dnevnik.bg