Bulgaria Faces New Defeat by Viva Ventures in Paris Court - Report

Business | May 21, 2012, Monday // 20:31
Bulgaria: Bulgaria Faces New Defeat by Viva Ventures in Paris Court - Report A file photo dated June 11, 2004 shows Joanna James (L), Advent International Managing Director, and Nikolay Vassilev, Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister, marking the formal finalization of the sale of 65% stake in the Bulgarian telecom. Photo by SPA

Bulgaria is doomed to lose yet another lawsuit against UK-based equity fund Advent International's subsidiary Viva Ventures, insiders have said days after the telco former owner defeated the state at the arbitration court in Paris.

The Bulgarian state has lodged a total of three lawsuits against Viva Ventures, a subsidiary of London-based equity fund Advent International, which acquired a 65% stake in the state Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), in a widely criticized deal in 2004.

Earlier this month the International Arbitration Court in Paris ruled that Viva Ventures has abided by its commitments to the telco workforce, as envisaged in the contract for its sale. Bulgaria sought to be paid BGN 60 M in damages by Viva Ventures.

The Bulgarian state faces one more defeat in the Paris court, according to insiders, cited by local Capital daily.

Under the terms of the deal, Viva Ventures paid EUR 230 M for the purchase and another EUR 50 M for a license to establish a third mobile phone operator in Bulgaria. It also agreed to pay BGN 18 M to the Defense Ministry in the course of two years under a classified accord for the maintenance of secret defense communications spots and war-purpose equipments.

According to the newspaper sources the supervisory board of the privatization agency is very likely to consider the option of an out-of-court settlement as the paid sum in fact totaled nearly EUR 11 M, which featured in official records too.

The third lawsuit lodged by the Bulgarian state is over an alleged breaching of the so-called clawback agreement, which obliged Viva Ventures to pay EUR 78 M to the state in the case of BTC re-sale and in it the Bulgarian state has high chances of success, according to Capital daily.

Experts have commented that Bulgaria's legal battles with Viva Ventures made uncertainly earlier this year Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell, which had emerged as the preferred buyer for Vivacom, BTC heir.

Tthe deal collapsed after the Turkish operator demanded that a huge part of the price (from EUR 100 M to EUR 200 M) is deposited in an escrow account until the state settles its scores with BTC previous buyers, according to media reports.

Vivacom - formerly known as the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) - has gone through a number of controversial privatization deals.

The long-drawn-out EUR 230 M sale deal for 65% stake in Bulgaria's telecom operator BTC was sealed at the end of February 2004 after nearly two years of procedural predicaments, legal and political battles.

Months later Icelandic businessman Thor Bjorgolfsson bought Viva's stake for EUR 300 M and resold it to the investment company AIG Central Europe for EUR 1.08 B.

AIG Investments acquired 65% of the former state-owned telecommunications firm in May 2007. Then in August of the same year it upped its investment to 90%.

Chinese telecoms and media tycoon Richard Li, chairman of Asian telco PCCW, inherited control of Vivacom in March 2010 as part of the acquisition of AIG Investments, a unit of the troubled US insurance group which spans asset management and private equity investments.

The unit was renamed Pinebridge Investments ahead of the takeover by Li's Pacific Century group.

The BTC sale was among the top priorities of Bulgaria's centrist government of former king Simeon Saxe-Coburg, which took over in July 2001.

In 2000, the right-wing government of Ivan Kostov declined to sell BTC to the sole bidder consortium of Greek OTE and Dutch KPN which was offering USD 610 M for a 51%, in a package with a mobile licence.

The license, the country's second for a digital mobile telephone operator, was won separately by OTE in a tender in 2000 for USD 135 M.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Business » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: management, Thor Bjorgolfsson, Oger Telecom, AIG, PCCW, BTC, Bulgarian Telecommunications Company, Richard Li, Vivacom, Telekom Austria, turkey, Turkcell, Corporate Commercial Bank, Tsvetan Vassilev, Mobiltel, OTE, Globul, Pamplona, Viva Ventures

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria