Grupa Multimedia to compete with funds to buy TV Vectra

Grupa Multimedia, the second largest domestic cable operator, announced an interest in acquiring a 26% stake in its competitor TV Vectra, which is currently the fourth largest on the market. The shares will have to be bought from BRE Bank, as they are owned by private equity funds controlled by the bank. The stake will be put up for sale in September. Other companies interested in the operator include a consortium of funds of Hicks, Muse Tate & Furst, Emerging Markets Partnership and Argus Capital Partners, which recently acquired a group of cable operators including Aster City, for EUR 110 million from Elektrim. Grupa Multimedia president, Marek Szeliga, some time ago was interested in acquiring or merging with Vectra, which would have created a group controlling 25% of the cable market. The merger was blocked by the president of TV Vectra, Tomasz Węgrzyński. If the two companies manage to come to an agreement this time, the new venture would have over 800,000 subscribers. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7) A.K.