90% of Bulgarian Telecom Shares Sold for Lv 2,770 Mln

A 90 per cent stake (259,889,057 shares) in the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) sold for 2,770 million leva on the Stock Exchange on Friday.

The price per share was 10.70 leva. The first transaction, between clients of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, was the sale of a 65 per cent stake (187,697,125 shares) for 2,000 million leva, dealers said.

The second transaction, made through the Economic and Investment Bank, was the sale of a 25 per cent stake (72,191,932 shares) for 772,450,000 leva.

AIG Investments is planning to buy the remaining BTC shares, the telecom company’s press office said. BTC is listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

On May 3, AIG Global Investment Group signed an agreement with Novator and Viva Ventures on the purchase of the latter’s 65 per cent stake in BTC. The acquisition cost per share is 11.25 leva (5.75 euro), or 2,112 million leva (1,080 million euro) for the 65 per cent stake, including the recently offered dividend of 0.55 leva (0.28 euro) per share. This brings BTC’s total capital value to 3,249 million leva (1,661 million euro). After the dividend for 2006 is paid out, the price per share is 10.70 leva (5.47 euro).

Also in May, AIG said it was ready to shortly acquire a further 25 per cent stake in BTC as part of the deal.

AIG Investments deals with asset management, with capabilities in equity, fixed income, hedge funds, private equity and real estate. AIG Investments managed approximately 711,000 million US dollars in assets, and employed more than 2,000 professionals in 44 offices around the world as of June 30. AIG Investments is the asset management arm of American International Group, listed on the NYSE.

Novator is a London-based investment firm founded and led by the international investor and entrepreneur Thor Bjorgolfsson. Novator’s investment portfolio is focused around three main sectors: Telecommunications, Pharmaceuticals and Financial Services. It manages over 7,000 million euro in assets.

BTA