Vivacom sells NURTS stake

Bulgarian telecom operator Vivacom has agreed to sell 50% of its tower unit NURTS to financial investor Mancelord Limited for an undisclosed sum.
Lazard advised Vivacom on the deal.
The transaction still requires approvals from the telecoms regulator CRC…

Bulgarian telecom operator Vivacom has agreed to sell 50% of its tower unit NURTS to financial investor Mancelord Limited for an undisclosed sum.

Lazard advised Vivacom on the deal.

The transaction still requires approvals from the telecoms regulator CRC and the competition authority CPC.

In 2008, the telecoms operator agreed to sell a majority stake in NURTS to Austrian company ORS but the deal did not receive regulatory approval on time before the agreement lapsed. At the time the transaction was said to be worth around E80m.

Bernard Moscheni, VIVACOM’s CEO said: “NURTS needs a financial injection that will help us implement our strategic investment program associated with the introduction of digital television and radio broadcasting. This transaction will help us to turn the company into a nationwide modern multiplex service provider.”

EU rules require that all member states fully cease the analogue broadcasting signal by the end of 2012 and switch to digital system.

NURTS has over 800 sites covering almost the whole country. It has until now been a division of the Vivacom group but after the transaction closed it will be part of a joint venture in which BTC will have 50%.

Mancelord Limited is represented in Bulgaria by Bromak Ltd., majority shareholder in Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank Ltd.