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After agreeing to acquire Nova TV with brothers Kiril and Georgi Domuschievi, who were thought to be a front for the ownership of MRF MP Delyan Peevski, the United Media company, owner of Vivacom – United Group, also bought the newspapers “Monitor “,” Telegraf “,” Politika “,” Meridian Match “and the Shumen” Borba “.
The announcement of the upcoming merger between United Media Sarl (United Media Sarl) and the company that took over all of Peevski’s publications, Vestnik Telegraf EOOD, was published by the Commission for the Protection of Competition on Friday.
According to the submitted application, United Media wants to buy the companies Vestnik Telegraf and Izdatelska kashta Borba AD, which is currently controlled by Vestnik Telegraf and an individual.
Vestnik Telegraf EOOD was registered on October 20, 2020 by Alexander Georgiev as a representative of Intrust EAD, owned by Peevski. Its capital is BGN 3.8 million and it also includes the stamps of the newspapers published until then by Telegraf Media, against which there are several lawsuits and it has been declared in liquidation.
At the end of November, the newsrooms of Telegraf, Monitor, Politika and Meridian Match moved to the building that houses the Vivacom headquarters. Many analysts have suggested that the United Group could take over Peevski’s newspapers. At the time, it was only rumored that this company wanted to buy Nova TV.
Pricing for both offers is unclear.
Now the CPC is being asked to evaluate them, and it is not clear how the regulator will approach, which in the attempt to sell Nova Broadcasting Group to Czech Peter Kellner considered that this media group has a dominant position and prohibited the deal. He then approved it for the Advance Media Group of the Domuschiev brothers, close to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. Now, however, a significant amount of print media is being added to this deal. Its circulation is unknown in the context of declining sales of traditional newspapers.
Meanwhile, Nova Broadcasting Group acquired Channel 3, The Voice and Magic TV, as well as Veselina, Litosha, Magic FM and The Voice Radio.
United Group started operations in 2000 as a small cable company in Serbia, but over the next 12 years it has grown significantly with the acquisition of other operators and telecommunications assets. In 2012 it restructured its business and, as of March 2019, it became majority owned by British BC Partners. The other shareholder is KKR. The company is trying to consolidate the telecommunications market in the Balkans. In the summer, it received approval from the European Commission to buy the Greek telecommunications Fortnet (Forthnet SA), which is also a pay TV provider. United Group also has assets in Slovenia, Bosnia and Montenegro.
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