Local reports indicate that the US companies TPG and Warburg Pincus have joined forces to put in a bid for Bulgaria’s incumbent telco BTC. Although Mid-Europa Partners, Turk Telekom and the Turkish mobile operator Turkcell are also known to be interested, doubts have been raised as to whether the US’s Providence Equity Partners still remain in the picture. BTC is at present effectively controlled by Novator Holdings, a company owned by the Icelandic billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson.
