BC Partners lands Forthnet deal

The deal for the acquisition of a 33% stake in Forthnet between the BC Partners investment group and the creditor banks of the Greek telecommunications company was all but sealed on Friday, with the only issue still pending being the bridge funding of 15 million euros from the British group to Forthnet for the period until the acquisition is approved by the competition authorities. BC Partners will now likely turn its attention to Wind Hellas.

The takeover of Forthnet, which operates satellite TV platform Nova, will be examined by the European competition watchdog, as it concerns cross-border concentration due to the fact that Forthnet will likely come under the control of BC Partners' subsidiary United Corp. Given that Forthnet's market share in the overall telecoms market in Greece is quite low, and that United's presence is zero in this country, it seems likely that the...