The global financial crisis has impacted directly on the Bulgarian cable market.
According to Dnevnik, the proposed merger of Eurocom Cable and CabelTEL, the country’s two largest operators, has been postponed indefinitely.
The proposed deal, understood to be worth at least €100 million, would effectively amount to a take-over of CableTEL by Eurocom Cable.
Announced earlier this year, it was given the go-ahead in October by the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) but has now been shelved as apparently Warburg Pincus Private Equity, Eurocom Cable’s backer, has failed to secure the necessary funding.
A merged operator would apparently account for 25% of the Bulgarian pay-TV market.
