January 27 (SeeNews) - Dutch-based telecommunications and media company United Group said on Wednesday that it expects to complete the acquisition of Sofia-based publisher Telegraph Newspaper EOOD from Bulgaria's Intrust in the first quarter of 2021.
United Group agreed to buy Telegraph Newspaper EOOD, which publishes four daily and two weekly newspapers - Telegraph, Monitor, Match Telegraph, Politika, Europost and Borba, the media group said in a statement.
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"Bulgaria is an attractive market for United Group and the Telegraf business complements our other media asset here, adding the missing print component," United Group CEO Victoriya Boklag said in the statement.
“We see the opportunity to further improve all of Telegraf’s editions and transit this business into digital to further strengthen our digital portfolio in Bulgaria,” Boklag added.
Earlier this month, Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) granted approval to United Media, part of United Group to acquire 100% of Telegraph Newspaper EOOD. As part of the transaction, United Media will exercise joint control of local publishing house Borba currently owned by Telegraph Newspaper EOOD and a private investor, the competition authority said at the time.
Last week, United Group completed the acquisition of Bulgarian multi-platform media company Nova Broadcasting Group from Sofia-based Advance Media Group, in line with its strategy to own both telecommunications and media assets in the markets it serves. In Bulgaria, United Group also owns Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), operating under the Vivacom brand, which it acquired last year.
United Group brings together leading operators and content producers in Southeast Europe. It had approximately 10 million users and 11,000 employees by the end of 2020, according to its statement.
Bulgarian investment company Intrust is owned by member of parliament Delyan Peevski, according to commercial register data.
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