United Group, the leading telecoms and media business operating in South-Eastern Europe, has agreed to acquire Vivacom, the largest telecoms operator in Bulgaria. United Group is owned by BC Partners. It operates in six countries in the European region.

Vivacom provides services to over 1.8 million unique customers. The company was the first telecommunications company in Bulgaria and today provides advanced services including fiber broadband, mobile communications and digital TV to private and commercial customers.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2020, subject to conditions including receipt of applicable antitrust approvals. The acquisition will be financed through a combination of new debt and cash on hand at the United Group.

Lazard acted as financial advisor to the seller and CMS acted as legal advisor. Citigroup, JP Morgan, and LionTree acted as financial advisors to the United Group and Paul Weiss acted as a legal advisor.