The creditors of Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (Vivacom) have entered into a lock-up agreement with Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank (CCBank) and Russia’s VTB Bank regarding the sale and restructuring of the company.
The process is set…
The creditors of Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (Vivacom) have entered into a lock-up agreement with Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank (CCBank) and Russia’s VTB Bank regarding the sale and restructuring of the company.
The process is set to begin this month.
Vivacom announced in late July that the banks had agreed to acquire the creditors’ 93.99% stake in a deal worth up to €617m (US$767m).
The transaction is subject to certain conditions and requires the approval of regulatory and competition authorities. But Vivacom reiterated in a statement today that it expects it to close in September.
The new majority shareholders will then launch a tender offer for the remaining shares.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, the two investors have agreed to pay the company’s senior secured lenders €130m for a majority of the equity and offered to take on €588m in loans.
The creditors, who will retain a minority of the equity, have the option to cash in their loans when the transaction closes. If this option is fully exercised, the total deal value will equate to €617m.
RBS is acting as coordinator for the lenders’ steering committee.
