Published: November 13, 2012
VTB Capital leads consortium to buy controlling stake in Vivacom.
A consortium led by VTB Capital, the investment arm of Russian bank VTB, has announced the acquisition of a 94% stake in Bulgarian telecoms provider Vivacom. The consortium includes local partner Tzvetan Vassilev, the sole owner of Bulgarian financial intermediary Bromark.
In return for the stake, the consortium has agreed to carry out balance sheet restructuring in the form of a €130mn (US$164mn) loan. The money will be used, in part, to repay company debt.
Vivacom will benefit from reduced leverage, seeing a drop in its debt levels to €588mn from €1.7bn through repayment, equity conversion and debt write-off. VTB Capital will receive a stake in one of the region’s more robust sectors, which has seen steady consumer demand throughout the downturn.
In 2011 Vivacom was taken over by its creditors after the company breached terms on loans worth €1.6bn. They rejected bids in May by leading Turkish mobile provider Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TCELL) and Icelandic billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson, who controlled the company between 2005 and 2007.