Page 11 - bne_Tech_0809_2018

Investment
August/September 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
PPF Group reportedly eyes Balkan TV stations
Czech investment group PPF Group is interested in expanding its media portfolio with the addition of United Group, a major cable and pay-TV opera- tor in the Balkans, Balkan Insight said.
PPF has been seeking to buy up assets in South- east Europe recently acquiring several Telenor subsidiaries in the region, and attempting to buy Nova Broadcasting Group in Bulgaria.
United Group is owned by US investment vehicle KKR. It is the biggest cable company in Serbia
and also operates in Bosnia, Montenegro and Slovenia. United Group has TV channels SBB, Telemach, Total TV, Sport Klub and regional N1 TV.
Both PPF and United Group dismissed Balkan Insight’s report as rumour.
However, Balkan Insight cited two anonymous sources who confirmed the interest of PPF.
It was not long ago when the Czech investment group completed the acquisition of Telenor's sub- sidiaries in Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia in a deal worth €2.8bn.
The deal was announced in March by Telenor. The company has some 10mn customers in the four markets — 3.4mn in Bulgaria, 3.3mn in Serbia and Montenegro, and 3.1mn in Hungary — but has lost around 1mn subscribers in the last three years.
The divestment of the assets fit with Telenor’s fundraising and cost-cutting strategy as the com- pany was planning to refocus the business and pursue its digital transformation strategy.
PPF is also trying to acquire Nova Broadcast- ing Group, which includes Nova TV, operating in Bulgaria. Nova Group is controlled by Swedish Modern Times Group (MTG), which confirmed on February 19 that it had signed a deal with PPF on the sale of a 95% stake in Nova Broadcasting Group for €185mn.
However, the deal was banned by Bulgaria’s com- petition watchdog CPC and PPF appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) at the begin- ning of August.
PPF is controlled by Central Europe’s richest man, Czech businessman Petr Kellner.