United Group to invest EUR 600 million in Western Balkans countries

The EBRD has backed the announcement by United Group (SBB, Telemach, and Total TV) that it will invest over EUR 600 million in Western Balkans countries over the next five years.

United Group stated that it will use the assets for investing in local infrastructure, creating jobs and unlocking business opportunities.

- Our engagement with United Group and the cooperation with majority owner KKR is a real success story. Our shared commitment to the region and achievements to date make us very confident as we look to the future, especially as United Group continues to invest in the region, said Alain Pilloux, EBRD Vice President at a joint panel discussion alongside United Group senior executives.

The EBRD is a major investor in south-eastern Europe with approximately EUR 1 billion of new projects each year. Supporting regional integration through infrastructure investments and a focus on connectivity is one of the Bank's priorities in promoting economic growth and living standards.

As the leader of digital infrastructure development United Group has laid over 15,000 km of fibre-optic cable in the region, reaching 1.77 million homes and supporting 50,000 businesses, the statement said.

The EBRD and United Group have been partners since 2004.

United Group provides services in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia.

In 2004 EBRD invested in SBB, the cable television and broadband internet service provider. United Group was created in 2012 by joining SBB with Telemach Slovenia and Telemach B&H.

Global investment firm KKR became the majority owner of United Group in 2014 while EBRD retained the minority stake.

Let us remind that KKR is the owner of N1 cable news channel and cable television and broadband internet service provider SBB.

UG. UNITED GROUP INC Beograd

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts

SBB d.o.o. Beograd

TELEMACH d.o.o. Ljubljana

TOTAL TV Offline d.o.o. Beograd

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj

Telemach BH d.o.o. Sarajevo

TV N1

United Group

KKR

Total TV

Dragan Solak

Alain Pilloux

south-eastern Europe

digital infrastructure

Telemach Slovenia

Telemach B&H

n1