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Bulgaria: Competition authority OKs Vivacom’s acquisition

By  |  January 11, 2016

The Bulgarian Competition Protection Commission approved the acquisition of local operator Vivacom by Bulgarian businessman Spas Rusev, according to news agency Novinite.

The commission concluded after a market analysis that the deal won’t result in a dominant position for any player in the Bulgarian telecoms market. The decision can be appealed within 14 days from the publication of the ruling.

The businessman won an auction organised by VTB Capital, the facility and security agent for a EUR 150 million bridge financing loan whose terms were not respected by Vivacom.

The auction was held in November 2015 in London for the sale of 100 percent of the shares of InterVInvestment, which defaulted on loan repayment at the maturity of financing in May 2015, prompting the calls from creditors for a sale. InterVInvestment was a Luxembourg domiciled indirect holding company of Vivacom. Rusev paid EUR 330 million for the company and also agreed to pay off its debts of EUR 400 million.

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