The Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), operating on the market under the Vivacom brand, has closed the sale of 50% in its National Unit Radio and TV Stations (NURTS) unit to Cyprus-registered international financial investor Mancelord Limited, the telecom said.

Under the deal already entered into the Bulgarian trade registry, the former state-run monopoly will transfer NURTS in the special purpose vehicle NURTS Bulgaria, which is owned by Mancelord, at the price of EUR 57 million.

Mancelord Limited is represented in Bulgaria by Bromak, the majority owner of local Corporate Commercial Bank.

The sale had been in the making since the end of March when it was announced that the BTC had signed a preliminary accord with Mancelord Limited for the sale of NURTS and the creation of a 50:50 joint venture for the control over the aerials. The capital of the joint entity NURTS Bulgaria has already been increased from BGN 50,000 to BGN 111.5 million.

"The aim of the deal is to turn NURTS into a competitive player on the digital broadcasting market in Bulgaria and a multiplex services provider on a national scale,” the telecom said in a filing to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE).

BTC had been trying to divest of NURTS since 2008 when it got an offer from but pen was never put to paper.

The deal with Mancelord was signed in March and got the nod of the Communications Regulation Commission (CRC) and the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) in June.