February 22 (SeeNews) - Swedish entertainment company Modern Times Group (MTG) said on Friday that it has agreed to sell its 95% shareholding in Bulgaria's Nova Broadcasting Group to local Advance Media Group in an all cash deal which values the company at 185 million euro ($210 million).
The deal is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2019 following anti-trust approval, MTG said in a statement.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
The proceeds will be used to develop MTG’s global digital entertainment verticals through organic investment and mergers and acquisitions, MTG explained.
Last month MTG decided to terminate its agreement to sell Nova Broadcasting Group to Czech-based investment group PPF.
"The termination of the agreement with PPF Group follows the decision by the Bulgarian Commission for the Protection of Competition to disallow the proposed sale to PPF Group, as well as the expiration of an extended long-stop date under the sale and purchase agreement," MTG said at the time.
MTG entered Bulgaria in 2007 via the acquisition of Balkan Media Group Limited, which operated the Diema TV channels. In 2008, MTG bought Nova.
In Bulgaria, Nova Broadcasting Group's main rival is BTV Media Group, owned by Bermuda-registered Central European Media Enterprises.
Advance Media Group is a subsidiary of Advance Properties, which in turn is jointly owned by Bulgarian investors Kiril Domuschiev and Georgi Domuschiev.
($ = 0.8812 euro)