Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, the two biggest companies, which purchased public procurement documents for acquiring a majority stake in Bulgaria's cigarette maker Bulgartabac, have no intentions to bid, reports say.

The two companies have bought documents just with the aim of collecting information, they have no plans to bid in the tender, Dnevnik daily reported, citing insiders.

Ten companies, including four top-notch investors, purchased tender documentation for the sale of 79.83% of the tobacco group by the deadline on Thursday, the government's asset-selling body said in a statement on Friday.

The four major companies are British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International, Philip Morris Bulgaria and South Korea's KT&G Corporation.

The other six candidates are Bulgarian law firms Kambourov & Partners and Dzhingov, Guginski, Kiuchukov and Velichkov; Bulgarian-based King's Tobacco; Austrian-based CB Family Office Service and BT Invest GmbH, and US-based Science Capital management LLC.

A majority stake - 79,83% - in Bulgaria's state cigarette producer Bulgartabac Holding, whose management has been harshly criticized in recent years, was put on sale on April 26 after years of procrastination.

The long-delayed procedure was officially given the go-ahead by the agency for privatization and post-privatization control through an announcement in the State Gazette on May 10.

The agency invited strategic and financial investors to buy tender documents by June 10.

The bidder with the highest offer will be selected for buyer. No initial price has been set.

The buyer of Bulgartabac is expected to be known in September.

The consultant for the Bulgartabac sale, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd, was picked by the Bulgarian government in February 2010.

Two of the less profitable plants of Bulgartabac holding - in the cities of Plovdiv and Stara Zagora - were sold in 2009 through the Sofia Stock Exchange - for BGN 31 M and BGN 18 M respectively.

The holding currently owns the two larger and more consolidated factories in Sofia and Blagoevgrad as well as a number of commercial brands.

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