July 15 (SeeNews) - Telecommunications infrastructure services provider CETIN Bulgaria, part of Dutch-registered investment group PPF, is acquiring 100% of local fiber optic services company Sofia Communications and consultancy company Raccom, the buyer told SeeNews.
According to data published on the website of the Bulgarian commercial register, Sofia Communications is the sole owner of Raccom and is controlled by Sofia-based telecommunications equipment trader Racom.
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Through the acquisition the company aims to expand its fiber optic network in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, Elizabet Mihaylova, communications officer at CETIN Bulgaria, told SeeNews late on Wednesday.
The price of the deal is confidential, she added.
The acquisition will provide CETIN Bulgaria with an opportunity to develop its services for its business clients in Sofia using its own infrastructure, Mihaylova also said.
Earlier this month, Czech Republic-based PPF Telecom Group said it has completed the separation of the infrastructure of its Telenor branded mobile operators in Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia from the retail business in those countries and established CETIN Group.
"Newly founded CETIN Bulgaria, Cetin Hungary and CETIN Serbia, together with CETIN in the Czech Republic will become the telecommunication infrastructure backbone of PPF Telecom Group," it said.
CETIN entities will maximise the potential for wholesale partnerships and create greater technological infrastructure synergies through combined research and development (R&D), development, innovation, and long-term investments in telecommunication technologies and infrastructure. While the construction and operation of infrastructure will be under CETIN's full responsibility, the retail organisations, instead, will be able to exclusively dedicate energy to their service propositions and retail customer management, the group added.
Sofia Communications was established in 2001 in Bulgaria's capital to supply metropolitan area network (MAN) services for the first alternative city optical network. At the time, the company was the main competitor of Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) which currently operates under the Vivacom brand. Sofia Communications now has its own underground optical network, with the highest coverage density in the capital and adjacent areas and the largest total length of optical cables, according to information published on the company's website.
Sofia Communications' unit Raccom is a consultancy company established with the aim to provide telecommunications services to both mobile operators and equipment suppliers, as well as to other companies and organisations, information published on the company's website showed.
In July 2018, PPF completed the acquisition of Norwegian mobile operator Telenor's telecommunications assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia for 2.8 billion euro ($3.3 billion) on an enterprise value basis.
($ = 0.8443 euro)