It’s been a rollercoaster of a year so far on the M&A front in Central and Eastern Europe.
The highlight so far has undoubtedly been the announcement that Liberty Global is to sell its operations in Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic to Vodafone. Assuming the deal receives EC regulatory approval, expected in mid-2019, it is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the region’s cable industry.
Although Liberty remains committed to remaining in Poland, at least for now, its position appears to have been weakened by the decision to pull out of the proposed take-over of Multimedia Polska after failing to reach an agreement with the competition authority UOKiK.
Telenor has also been in the news after agreeing to sell its assets in the region to PPF Group for €2.8 billion. The deal, which is expected to receive regulatory approval in the third quarter, will effectively mark the Norwegian company’s exit from such markets as Bulgaria, Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia.
Czech-owned PPF Group has also taken the opportunity to buy Bulgaria’s Nova TV, MTG’s last asset in the region, in a deal that valued the broadcaster at €185 million.
Elsewhere, we saw Cyfrowy Polsat strengthen its position in the Polish market by taking over Netia, the country’s leading alternative telco, and buying into the Polish-registered broadcaster Eleven Sports Network.
Meanwhile in Hungary, Romanian-owned Digi completed the acquisition of the alternative telco Invitel in a deal worth €135.4 million. In Croatia, the investment group KKR finally received regulatory approval to buy the national commercial broadcaster Nova TV after a wait of almost a year, and in Poland Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 (MEIF5) got the green light to buy the cable operator Inea from Warburg Pincus.
Given the unprecedented level of M&A activity in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of 2018, we could probably expect things to quieten down in the second. However, I, for one, wouldn’t bet on it.
