Modern Times Group (MTG) said it has signed an agreement to sell its 95 percent stake in Nova Broadcasting Group in Bulgaria to Advance Media Group. The transaction gives the business an enterprise value of EUR 185 million and will result in a net capital gain of approximately SEK 1.30 billion.
Advance Media is a subsidiary of Advance Properties, which owns 117 companies in several industrial sectors in 23 countries. The group is jointly owned by Bulgarian businessmen Kiril Domuschiev and Georgi Domuschiev.
The deal is subject to local regulatory approval, and the proceeds will be used to develop MTG’s global digital entertainment verticals through organic investment and M&A.
Nova is Bulgaria’s largest commercial media group and comprises seven television channels, as well as complementary online businesses that reach on average 74 percent of the Bulgarian population every month. Nova generated SEK 1.15 billion of sales and SEK 223 million of operating income (EBIT) for the full year 2018, and employs 650 people.
MTG entered Bulgaria in 2007 by investing in Balkan Media Group Limited, and then acquired Nova in 2008 before merging the two businesses in 2009.
Jorgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG president and CEO, said the transaction is in line with its strategic decision to find new owners to invest in its international entertainment operations, as MTG focuses on its global digital verticals. Once it has distributed Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT), he said, MTG will be a standalone strategic operational and investment holding company focused on esports and online gaming.
