August 8 (SeeNews) - Czech Republic-based investment group PPF told SeeNews on Wednesday that it has appealed the decision of Bulgaria's competition authority to ban the deal for the acquisition of Sofia-based Nova Broadcasting Group by PPF.
"We can confirm that we filed an appeal against the decision of the Bulgarian antimonopoly office about Nova Broadcasting Group," PPF Group spokeswoman Zuzana Migdalova said in an e-mailed statement in response to a SeeNews enquiry.
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Nova Broadcasting Group is 95%-owned by Sweden-based entertainment company Modern Times Group (MTG), while Luxembourg-registered Eastern European Media Holdings holds the remaining 5%. PPF Group plans to acquire the company through its Dutch-registered unit PPF TMT Bidco 2.
Last month, Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition banned the deal saying that the significant number of media outlets owned by the two groups will give them a competitive advantage on the media services market, which might incentivise them to increase their prices, change the terms of existing contracts or restrict access to the market.
The competition regulator also established that both Nova Broadcasting Group and MTG are active on Bulgaria's e-commerce market. Considering Nova Broadcasting Group's leading position in media services, the deal is likely to negatively affect competition on this market, the authority said at the time.
In February, when the deal was announced, MTG said that the transaction values 100% of Nova at 185 million euro ($214.4 million).
MTG entered Bulgaria in 2007 via the acquisition of Balkan Media Group Limited, which operated the Diema TV channels. In 2008, MTG bought Nova.
In Bulgaria, Nova Broadcasting Group's main rival is BTV Media Group, owned by Bermuda-registered Central European Media Enterprises.
PPF Group invests into multiple market segments such as banking and financial services, telecommunications, real estate and biotechnology. PPF Group's assets amounted to 35 billion euro as at June 30, 2017.
Last month, PPF Group completed the acquisition of Norwegian mobile operator Telenor's telecommunications assets in Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia. The total purchase price of the assets was 2.8 billion euro on an enterprise value basis.
($ = 0.8627 euro)