The shares, subject of the transaction, are presently in possession of Viva Ventures by virtue of the privatization contract from 2004, and Novator owns the option to buy the share of the Austrian company. The transfer of shares in BTC’s capital to AIG shall be accomplished after June 11 2007 when the prohibition for change of ownership in BTC or in Viva Ventures, provided in the privatization contract, expires.

The new majority owner from the AIG group shall acquire in short terms 25% in BTC more, which is a part of the transaction. The contracted price per share in BTC is BGN 11.25, therefore the price of 65% of the shares amounts EUR 1,661 billion which makes the transaction one of the biggest transactions in Bulgaria so far.

During the last four months Bjorgolfsson examined offers by several candidates – Oger Telecom (based in Dubai), owner of Turk Telecom, the Turkish mobile operator Turkcell and the investment funds Mid Europa Partners, Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus, but AIG turned out to be the most appropriate partner for the transaction and succeeded in attracting the seller’s interest.

The American company is a world leader in assets management in the field of shares, investment funds, real estates etc. About March 31. 2007 the group manages assets to the value of more than 687 billion dollars.