Over half of the funds being used to buy the Bulgarian national commercial broadcaster Nova TV from Modern Times Group (MTG) will come from a syndicated loan.
In an analysis of the transaction, Capital reports that €100 million of the €185 million price will be obtained from four banks that have until now financed the businesses of the buyers Kiril and Georgi Domuschiev.
They are Bulgaria’s three leading banks in asset terms – Unicredit Bulbank (€50 million), DSK (€10 million) and UBB (€20 million) – and the Belgian branch of the French banking group BNP Paribas Fortis (€20 million).
This much is clear from the documentation filed with the Commercial Register on the day the transaction was announced. However, less clear is the source of the remaining €85 million, which will be provided by Advance Media Group through a loan from its direct shareholder Advance Media Partners. It is not known if this will come from Domuschiev’s own funds or another loan, or indeed from an unnamed partner wishing to remain anonymous.
Capital notes that Advance Media Partners are 80% owned by Advance Properties, with Kiril and Georgi Domashiev personally holding the remaining shares. It made an offer for Nova on February 15, with the funding itself provided a week earlier on February 8, when general terms were agreed.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, MTG confirmed the sale of its last broadcasting asset in Central and Eastern Europe on February 22.