MidEuropa Completes the Sale of SBB/Telemach to KKR
MidEuropa, the leading private equity firm in Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey, announced today that it completed the sale of its investment in the SBB/Telemach Group (“the Group”) to funds affiliated with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP (“KKR”).
The transaction was first announced on 15th October 2013, and was subject only to customary regulatory approvals. The transaction returns 3.5x MoM on MidEuropa’s original investment in SBB, and a further 2.5x on its follow-on investment in Telemach.
The transaction represents the largest private equity exit in the former Yugoslavia (the “Region”).
Robert Knorr, Senior Partner of MidEuropa who leads the firm’s investments in South East Europe commented:
“We acquired SBB, the leading Serbian pay TV provider in 2007 and through extensive investment in organic growth and 18 add-on acquisitions, transformed a national champion into a pan-regional leader serving 1.8 million RGUs across six countries. This transaction validates our long held conviction that this region offers excellent growth opportunities, and our ability to create value by building regional champions.”
Andrej Babache, Director of MidEuropa who led the execution of the transaction commented:
“This transaction’s success was underscored by MidEuropa’s collaborative and hands-on approach. We worked closely with our management team partners to develop and execute the combined acquisitive and organic growth strategies that took SBB/Telemach from strength to strength.”
Dragan Solak, founder and Chairman of the Group, commented:
“MidEuropa has been a highly constructive partner, whose capital, insight and hands-on approach helped the management develop SBB/Telemach into the regional best-in-class operator it is today. I am excited by the opportunities that lie ahead for the Group, and proud of what we have achieved to date with our partners at MidEuropa.”
The MidEuropa execution team comprised Andrej Babache, Stefan Tzvetkov, Viktoria Habanova, Matthias Dukat and Krzysztof Jedrzejek.