BC Partners buys United Group from KKR in SBO

Alessia Argentieri
28 September 2018

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BC Partners has acquired a majority stake in Amsterdam-based cable and pay TV operator United Group from KKR, which will retain a minority holding in the business.

[Editor's note: BC Partners is the majority owner of Acuris, the parent company of Unquote]

In addition, the company's management team, and founder and executive chair Dragan Šolak, also retained a minority stake.

A source familiar with the situation told Unquote that United Group is valued at around €2.6bn.

Unquote understands that BC Partners deployed capital from its BC European Capital X fund, which held a final close on its €7bn target in January 2018, after two years on the road.

KKR acquired a majority stake in United Group from Mid Europa Partners in March 2014, while the management team and the company's founder retained a minority stake. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development co-invested in the acquisition alongside KKR by deploying €50m.

Unquote understands that the GP drew capital from its €4.8bn KKR European Fund III to finance the deal, which valued the company at around €1bn.

Previous funding
Mid Europa Partners acquired a controlling stake in Serbian cable TV and broadband provider SBB in June 2007, and in Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina's cable TV provider Telemach in 2009. The investments were made via Mid Europa Fund II and the two businesses were subsequently merged in 2012 in a new entity named United Group. Mid Europa sold its stake in the business to KKR in 2014.

After the merger, the group acquired Total TV and Total TV International, two Europe-wide DTH platforms, and NetTV Plus, a provider of telecom services over the internet.

Company
United Group is a cable television and internet telecoms service headquartered in Amsterdam.

The company also provides services using a number of ancillary brands resulting from its growth across the region, such as Absolut OK, KDS NS, Jet TV, Beogrid, Telekabel, VI-NET and ArtNet.

The company employs 3,500 staff and serves 1.82 million customers. It generated revenues of €556.7m in 2017.

People
BC Partners – Nikos Stathopoulos (partner).
KKR – Jean-Pierre Saad (managing director).
United Group – Dragan Šolak (founder, executive chair).

Advisers
Equity – Morgan Stanley (financial due diligence); LionTree (corporate finance).
Company – Credit Suisse (corporate finance).