Press-release
Providence Equity Partners Increases Its Investment in the Combined Entity to over $300 million, making it the Largest Private Equity Investment in Ukraine
Kyiv, Ukraine, July 29, 2008 — Volia Cable (Aquorn Holdings Limited) and SigmaBleyzer's regional cable operations (Oisiw Limited) are merging to form Ukraine's pre-eminent cable provider with operations in over 15 of Ukraine's largest cities. As a result of the merger, the combined business, to be named Volia Limited, will provide television service as well as high-speed Internet access to over 2.5 million Ukrainian households.
In a separate transaction, Providence Equity Partners, the world's leading media and communications private equity firm, is making an additional investment in Volia bringing its total investment in the combined entity to over US$300 million. The transaction has been approved by the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
«We are very pleased to extend our partnership with Providence, a leading private equity investor and one of the largest and most experienced owners of media and communications companies globally,» said Michael Bleyzer, President and CEO of SigmaBleyzer. «Merging our two cable businesses makes a lot of strategic sense and will allow us to provide best in class service from a unified operating platform to our subscribers. We see Providence's increased investment in Ukrainian cable also as a vote of confidence in the Ukrainian economy.»
«The combination of Volia Cable and SigmaBleyzer's regional cable operations creates a cable company uniquely positioned to meet the rapidly expanding demand in Ukraine for the most advanced television and broadband services,» said Jonathan M. Nelson, Providence Chief Executive Officer. «We are pleased to expand our commitment to Volia and look forward to continuing to work with Michael and Sergey and their teams to build value at Volia over the long-term.»
Sergey Boyko, President of Volia Cable, will be leading the combined business and said: «I see tremendous potential in the combined operations. We now have the platform and scale to build a unified cable brand across Ukraine and bring to the regional cities the same level and quality of service that our subscribers in Kyiv have come to rely upon.»
Goldman Sachs International acted as financial advisor to Oisiw Limited.
For Inquiries, please contact:
Alina Sigda
Head of PR department
+
asigda@volia.com
