BC Partners to buy majority of United Group from KKR

Sept 27 (Reuters) – Private equity firm BC Partners said on Thursday it would buy majority ownership of European cable and pay-TV operator United Group B.V from KKR.

KKR will retain a substantial minority stake, BC Partners said without disclosing the financial terms of the deal.

The Wall Street Journal said https://www.wsj.com/articles/kkr-agrees-to-sell-majority-stake-in-european-telecom-operator-1538046401 the deal would value United Group at about 2.60 billion euros ($3.04 billion), including debt, citing sources.

Reuters reported last month that United Group had attracted takeover interest from European private equity funds Cinven and BC Partners ahead of an auction process in September.

United Group has been backed by buyout firm KKR since 2014 and the deal could be one of the biggest private equity deals in the Balkan region.

Based in the Netherlands, United Group is Serbia’s largest cable company and is also active in Slovenia, Bosnia and Montenegro. It provides a full range of telecommunications services from cable TV to fixed and mobile telecoms services.

United Group provides its services to over 1.8 million homes across South East Europe.

Morgan Stanley and LionTree acted as advisers to BC Partners while Credit-Suisse is advised United Group. ($1 = 0.8546 euros) (Reporting by Samantha Machado and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)