Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court has issued a final ruling clearing United Group’s acquisition of telecom infrastructure assets from Bulsatcom, after appeals by A1 Bulgaria, Yettel Bulgaria and CETIN Bulgaria.
The court upheld the competition authority’s assessment that the transactions covering an electronic communications network deal and infrastructure assets for base stations did not amount to a notifiable concentration under Bulgarian competition law.
The challengers had argued the November 2022 transactions should have been treated as a single operation requiring merger control review. The court rejected that position and confirmed its ruling is final and not subject to appeal.
United Group owns Bulgarian telco Vivacom and Nova Broadcasting Group. A1 Bulgaria is part of A1 Telekom Austria, while Yettel Bulgaria is part of e& PPF Telecom Group, with CETIN Bulgaria operating Yettel’s mobile network.
