The prospective new owners of MTG’s Bulgarian national broadcaster Nova TV have asked the country’s Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) to allow them to complete the acquisition.
According to Capital, the CPC now has five weeks to make a decision on the deal.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, MTG agreed late last month to sell Nova TV and its internet business Net Info to Advance Media Group, a subsidiary of Advance Properties, in a deal that values the company at €185 million.
Advance Properties lists 117 companies across 23 countries in its portfolio and is owned by the Bulgarian businessmen Kiril Domuschiev and Georgi Domuschiev.
CPC earlier ruled against PPF Group, owned by the Czech billionaire Petr Kellner, acquiring Nova TV on the grounds that Nova TV already has a large market share.
Capital points out that this was the first time CPC had blocked such a deal and argues that effectively no one will be able to buy Nova TV without the Bulgarian government’s permission.
