Alpha Partners seeks antitrust nod to take over Bulgaria's KT International

The notified transaction is not expected to affect product or geographical markets in the country, according to a notice, which was published by the Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) last week and which does not provide further details on the deal.

Plovdiv-based Alpha Partners Bulgaria was incorporated in October and is owned by Alpha Investments GmbH of Liechtenstein, according to information published by the commercial register.

KT International, also based in Plovdiv, emerged in 2008 as a result of the break-up of the Bulgarian State Tobacco Corporation following its privatisation. The company has some 740 employees and opened a cigarette production facility in Plovdiv in 2014, with annual output capacity of 25 billion sticks. Offering processed tobacco, white-label product development and cigarette filter production, KT International is active in over 50 countries, selling products in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, according to its website.