Sat, Feb 11 2012

Austrian ORS makes new bid for Vivacom re-broadcasting subsidiary

Mon, Nov 16 2009 11:59 CET

byNick Iliev

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Austrian ORS makes new bid for Vivacom re-broadcasting subsidiary

Austrian Oesterreichische Rundfunksender (ORS) said it would table another bid to buy NURTS, the re-broadcasting unit of Bulgarian telecom Vivacom, offering to buy full ownership of the company, website investor.bg reported on November 16.

In December 2008, ORS signed a preliminary agreement with Vivacom, then known as BTC, to buy NURTS. The deadline for the deal was June 2009, but the deal did not come to pass, allegedly after Bulgaria's socialist-lead government at the time, which still has a "golden share" in Vivacom, abruptly lost interest in the deal.

With an extensive experience in running TV and radio networks, as well as having proven commitments and responsibilities on different markets, ORS guaranteed stability, security and transparency of its activities and a smooth transition from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting, Michael Vegenhofer, ORS chief executive, was quoted as saying.

Institutional, regulatory and legislative obstacles prevented ORS from finalising the deal within the agreed time frame, Vegenhofer said.

Bulgaria must make the full transition to digital broadcasting by 2012, in line with an European Union-wide plan, but the process has been delayed for years, raising the prospect that Bulgaria will miss its deadline.

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