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Telekom Austria ‘will not bid’ for Vivacom
20 February 2012
Telekom Austria pulls away from talks with creditors about buying Bulgarian incumbent Vivacom, say reports
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Telekom Austria
Bulgaria
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BTC
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Telekom Austria is no longer interested in the sale of Bulgarian operator BTC — which trades as Vivacom — and will not bid for the company, according to Die Presse. The operator had indicated that it was in discussions with BTC creditors, but did not submit an indicative offer.
The report said Telekom Austria could have experienced difficulties with competition authorities, and intended to divide the company and sell off Vivacom’s mobile business to avoid this problem.
In January, Die Presse reported that some members of Telekom Austria’s management were supporting a takeover, but CFO Hans Tschuden was concerned about possible problems in Bulgaria.
Vivacom has been losing fixed-line customers rapidly because of the reach of mobile communications and alternative telecoms.
Vivacom is controlled by PineBridge Investments, a private equity company controlled by Hong Kong investor Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group . GTB
Further reading from Global Telecoms Business:
Turkcell and Telekom Austria eyeing Vivacom 18 Jan 2012
Bulgarian operator BTC up for sale 07 Nov 2011
Bulgaria's Vivacom in talks about €1.5bn debt 14 Jun 2010
Bulgaria's Vivacom picks Alcatel-Lucent 17 Feb 2010
Private equity investing in central Europe 01 Jul 2004