November 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's competition regulator said on Friday it granted approval to express delivery company Speedy [BUL:0SP] to acquire assets of Sofia-registered Vienna Real Estate [BUL:VREA].
The deal will proceed through establishment of a joint venture, in which Speedy will own a stake of 76%, while Vienna Real Estate will own the remainder, the Commission for Protection of Competition said in a statement.
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In September, local newspaper Capital reported that Speedy plans to buy the logistic base of road haulier SOMAT in southeastern Sofia, in part of which Speedy operates under lease. Vienna Real Estate is the current operator of the assets of the logistic base, according to the newspaper.
The SOMAT logistic base is valued at 63.5 million levs ($36.4 million/32.5 million euro), according to the 2015 financial statement of Vienna Real Estate.
Speedy says it handles around 10 million shipments annually and has a market share of around 32%. The Sofia-based parcel delivery company is 67%-owned by its CEO Valeri Mektupchian, who founded it in 1998, while French courier firm GeoPost holds a 25% stake.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)