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Investment
December 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
Czech, US investment funds interested in Deutsche Telekom’s Romanian operations
International media investors PPF Group
and United Group, have reportedly arrived in Bucharest for talks on a possible takeover of the two subsidiaries controlled by Deutsche Telekom (DT) in Romania, including incumbent telecom operator Telekom Romania Communications, through Greek OTE, Profit.ro reported.
Representatives of PPF Group investment fund, controlled by the richest Czech businessman, billionaire Petr Kellner, and telecommunications and media group United Group, founded by Serb Dragan Solak currently controlled by the British investment fund BC Partners, are reportedly in the Romanian capital. Previously, local RCS&RDS telecom group and France’s Orange were also mentioned by media as prospective bidders for DT’s Romanian assets.
United Group, with operations in seven countries in the region is controlled by the US-British investment fund BC Partners and it just signed the takeover of Vivacom, Bulgaria's largest telecom operator, for €1.2bn from businessman Spas Rusev, a controversial figure who was previously indicated as interested in the acquisition of Telekom Romania's assets as well.
United Group, which was initially a small cable operator in Serbia, expanded through acquisitions at the region level, reaching annual revenues
of over €700mn and almost 4mn subscriptions
to telecom and TV services before taking over Vivacom. The majority shareholder of United
Group is from March BC Partners, headed from London and New York and has so far made 109 acquisitions worth 135 billion euros. A minority stake is in the United Group and the US giant KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), a private equity fund with investments in real estate, telecom, energy and infrastructure.
According to Profit.ro, before starting the talks in Bucharest, BC Partners’ CEO Nikos Stathopoulos visited Belgrade for talks with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and representatives of
the embassies of Germany, Greece and the US, presenting to them the strategy of expanding the company in the region, including in Romania. United Group was founded in Serbia, but
is headquartered today in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
PPF has assets worth over €45bn. At the end of last month, the media group Central European Media Enterprises (CME), the owner of PRO TV, signed a final agreement on the broadcaster’s sale to PPF Group.
Kellner already has business in Romania, through PPF, mainly in real estate, buying ING Bank headquarters and the Metropolis Center complex, both in Bucharest. Companies controlled by Kellner through the PPF fund also have business connections in Russia, from lending operations (through Home Credit), to trade (through the Eldorado online retail chain, sold in 2016) and mining (Polymetal).