BULGARIAN TELECOMS COY (DEBT - ADVENT)

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 25660

Status Complete

Location

Bulgaria

Business Sector

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 25660

Status Complete

Location

Bulgaria

Business Sector

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

06 Apr 2004

Disclosure date

27 Feb 2003

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Project Description

The Government of Bulgaria is selling a majority stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BUTECO), the incumbent Bulgarian fixed line telecom operator. The Bank is proposing to support a consortium led by Advent International plc to acquire a controlling stake in the company. The transaction will privatise BUTECO and aid its transition to a fully commercially managed company.

Transition Impact

This transaction will privatise BUTECO, which will improve corporate governance, financial performance and operating efficiency of the company to that normally expected in commercially managed telecom operations. The privatisation is one step in liberalising the sector and with deregulation in January 2003, BUTECO will need to adapt to compete on product service aspects and pricing as tariff rebalancing continues and when other telecom operators enter the market.

€50 million is to be invested in the company, which together with internally generated funds, will allow upgrading of Bulgarian telecoms infrastructure to modernise and digitise part of BUTECO's network and improve BUTECO's IT infrastructure. Thus improvements in BUTECO's technical and commercial operations will benefit the retail sector and corporate consumers in terms of choice, pricing and quality of service. Availability of competitively priced high-quality telecoms services in central and eastern Europe is essential for the development of businesses and overall economic activity in the region. Thus, funding a company which will upgrade its network and differentiate itself from its competitors through providing additional value-added services to the wide spectrum of business and residential users, is bound to improve the operational environment in the country.

The Client

Bulgarian Telecommunications Company – the incumbent Bulgarian fixed line operator which develops, operates and maintains the national telecommunications network and data system for Bulgaria, currently wholly owned by the Bulgarian government.

EBRD Finance

Commitment to provide up to €70 million in debt financing plus up to €23 million equity funding to a consortium led by Advent International plc (the lead investor), to purchase 65% of ordinary shares in BUTECO.

Project Cost

Up to €350 million.

Environmental Impact

The operation was classified C/1 and an environmental audit, carried out by independent consultants, confirmed that BUTECO is in compliance with all relevant Bulgarian environmental, health and safety standards and regulations. BUTECO has a unified and comprehensive worker health and safety policy and no violations, fees or penalties have been incurred in the last three years.

In order to bring the Company in line with international environmental management practices for the telecommunication sector, a number of issues have been identified. These include the development of a formal environmental policy and a proactive management system in accordance with the international standard ISO 14001, and the introduction of a unified waste management system, in accordance with EU and World Bank standards, which will be addressed by the Company.

Technical Cooperation

None.

Company Contact

Ann Nethery, Advent International plc
Tel: +44 20 7333 0800

Transition impact

ETI Score:75

PSD last updated

01 Feb 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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