Three suitors for Forthnet’s costly hand
This Friday, or next week at the latest, the creditors of Forthnet will convene to select which of the three bidders for the acquisition of the telecommunication company’s obligations will shoulder its loans and buy out the firm that operates Nova satellite TV.
The three bids tabled last Friday came from two British funds, namely Duet Private Equity and United Group, and Greek media conglomerate Antenna (privately owned by the Kyriakou family), which also attempted to buy out Forthnet last summer but stumbled on certain conditionalities, according to bank sources. Kathimerini understands Duet’s proposal is similar to the one it tabled when it expressed its interest – i.e. at 41 million euros.
Proposals were tabled with the banks’ consultant Nomura for this process.
Barring any unforeseeable circumstances, the final discussion with the preferred bidder will begin next week so that the procedure can be completed. “We will move at high speed,” one bank source assured. It appears that both the due diligence procedure and the negotiations on the structure of the transaction and the contracts to reflect them have been completed.
