RCS Management controls 63% in Dutch company Cable Communications N.V., which in its turn holds 95.92% in RCS&RDS (the company registered in Romania).
Bugarszki virtually put up for sale a 3.59% stake in RCS&RDS for EUR60 million, showing he values the entire cable TV company at EUR1.67 billion, namely a multiple of 7 times the operating income generated by the operator.
The cable TV giant, whose majority stakeholder is still Oradea entrepreneur Zoltan Taszari, in 2013 generated revenue of above EUR600 million and EBITDA of around EUR250 million at group level. The company of Romania reported revenue of EUR476 million and net loss of EUR3 million for 2013. In December 31, 2013, RCS&RDS had total debts of EUR901 million.
Sfetozar Bugarszki, 59, is one of the persons who in the late ‘90s and the early ‘2000s helped develop Romania Cable Systems, a company that in 2005 merged with Romania Data Systems, creating the current RCS&RDS. Bugarszki has not been involved in the company’s management for years. He does business in the farming field, according to information ZF got from the telecom market.
The sale offer was initially sent to Zoltan Teszari, but it got no answer, Maria Lavinia Tec, the lawyer Bugarszki appointed to stay in touch with persons or companies interested in the acquisition, told ZF. According to her, Bugarszki then decided to seek buyers on the free market.
The lawyer did not answer questions about the reasons that prompted Bugarszki to sell the shares or about the formula through which the shares were valued at EUR60 million.
Bugarszki is not the first minority stakeholder in RCS&RDS who voiced his intention to sell shares this way. In May 2010, a shareholder that held around 1% of the company at that time published a stock sale announcement in ZF. The asking price stood at EUR2-2.5/share, valuing the entire company at between EUR845 million-EUR1 billion.
According to ZF data, the shareholder was Csaba Ludescher.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)