August 31 (SeeNews) - A consortium led by Bulgarian businessman Spas Roussev and comprising various minority investors, including a unit of Russia's VTB Group, has completed the acquisition of the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), the group said on Wednesday.
In November 2015 the consortium, Viva Telecom, was announced winner of an open auction for 100% of the shares of Luxembourg-based holding company InterV Investment, BTC's sole owner, with a final bid of 330 million euro ($333.8 million). The sale was initiated following a non-payment default at maturity in May 2015 on a 150 million euro bridge financing facility issued to the previous BTC shareholders.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
Following the completion, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank owns 20% less one share in the consortium, VTB said in a press release on its website. The size of the stakes held by the other shareholders were not disclosed.
According to Capital Daily, which quotes unnamed sources, Roussev holds a 46% stake, as 19% is held by Delta Capital, which is controlled by the managers of the Bulgarian office of VTB Capital, and the rest is in the hands of former creditors of the telco.
The transaction was partly financed through a 240 million euro debt facility extended by VTB Group to Viva Telecom consortium, VTB also said.
In January, the deal received merger control clearance from the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition.
BTC also secured backing from over 87% of bondholders of the company’s 400 million euro senior secured notes due 2018, confirming the waiver of a possible change of control event under the notes.
"Various attempts by entities claiming affiliation with the previous majority shareholder to frustrate the enforcement process in Luxembourg have proven futile, and their frivolous allegations have not gained traction with any of the regulators in jurisdictions involved," VTB also said.
Russian businessman Dmitry Kosarev, who claims he owns a stake in BTC, has over the past year made several attempts to block the deal.
BTC, which operates under the brand name Vivacom, is the largest telecommunications company in Bulgaria in terms of revenues and subscribers.
($ = 0.8985 euro)