BELGRADE (Serbia), February 6 (SeeNews) – Czech-based investment group PPF on Tuesday refused to comment on Serbian media reports, according to which it is interested in the acquisition of the mobile operations of Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor in Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary.
"PPF Group does not comment on the market rumours," Zuzana Migdalova, a spokesperson for PPF, said in an e-mailed response to a SeeNews enquiry.
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Belgrade-based Danas news daily reported without quoting sources on Tuesday that PPF, majority owned by Petr Kellner, is considering the acquisition of Telenor's mobile operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
Telenor said in January it received inbound and unsolicited interest for its CEE portfolio which comprises mobile operations in Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary.
"With a view of creating shareholder value, Telenor has engaged in a process to evaluate the interest received. Telenor expects to conduct these assessments in the first quarter of 2018," the company noted.
PPF Group invests into multiple market segments such as banking and financial services, telecommunications, biotechnology, insurance, real estate, and agriculture. The group owned assets of almost 35 billion euro as at 30 June 2017, .
US-based investment firm KKR last month also refused to comment on Serbian media reports it will acquire the mobile operations of Telenor in Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary.
On the Bulgarian mobile segment, Telenor competes with Mtel, the local unit of Telekom Austria, and Bulgarian telecommunications group BTC, which operates under the brand name Vivacom.
In Serbia, Telenor's wireless unit competes with Telekom Srbija's mobile arm, MTS, and VIP Mobile, a unit of Telekom Austria Group.
Telenor's main competitor in Montenegro is T-Mobile Crna Gora, owned by the Hungarian unit of Deutsche Telekom, Magyar Telekom. M:tel, the third mobile operator in the Adriatic state of some 630,000 people, is majority owned by Telekom Srbija.