Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp may be about to sell its Bulgarian operation bTV to Central European Media Enterprises (CME).
Quoting unofficial sources, Novite says a deal giving CME a 55% stake in bTV for around €500 million is on the verge of being signed by the two parties.
BTV is the most successful TV station in Bulgaria and has been on the market since last year. It has already attracted interest from a number of parties including RTL, and a deal with any of them would probably have been tied up months ago had it not been for the global financial crisis.
Although CME has been present in the CEE region for 15 years, it is a relative newcomer in the Bulgarian commercial TV marketplace, where it already owns the stations Pro.BG and Ring.BG.
