There has been extensive reporting about United Group and our news operations in Serbia. Unfortunately, some this has been intertwined with an ongoing shareholder dispute, resulting in speculation and misleading information being published in the press.

This is a deliberate distraction that seeks to disrupt the Group’s day-to-day activities and the progress we are seeing across our markets, which our management is working hard to deliver.

This Q&A sets out, in one place, what we stand for, what we have done since June, and what comes next.

This page will be regularly updated.

The underlying performance of United Group’s portfolio companies remains strong as recently reported in H1 2025 results: revenues are up by 5%, EBITDA up by nearly 7%, with strong cash conversion. Leverage is reducing while we continue to invest. We are on track to show further progress in the next set of results.

This reflects the strength of management teams in our key portfolio companies and their hard work in building and growing excellent businesses over the last 25 years.

News independence is sacrosanct to the current management and the majority shareholder BC Partners, and will never be influenced by any political interference or considerations.

Editorial choices for N1 and Nova are taken by the editorial teams, not by United Group executives, and there has been no interference by current management. This is clearly demonstrated by recent news reporting at N1 and Nova.

United Group and its majority shareholder, BC Partners, have been working on a model to secure and fortify the editorial independence of N1 and Nova news channels.

Measures under consideration include strengthened editorial charters, non interference covenants, channel level independence oversight, and an external ombudsperson function. In early July, two leading international advisers were engaged to support this work.

The objective is to ensure that editorial independence remains robust and insulated from non-business and political considerations.

The Group’s current management has never had any plans to sell its news assets to Telekom Srbija, or any other state-linked entity. The only discussions that have taken place involving the potential sale of N1 and Nova were held under the previous management.

Any such sale is clearly not aligned with the Group’s priority of safeguarding independence while enhancing resilience, efficiency and performance across portfolio companies.

No. United Group’s current management has never had any plans whatsoever to sell N1 or Nova to Telekom Srbija.

We will continue to review our non-news, non-core businesses and their role within the Group. They do not affect the newsrooms.

Our aim with the news titles is straightforward. Keep them independent, keep them viable, and give editors and reporters the space to do their jobs.

Any suggestions that discussions to alter the structure of media assets or sell Serbian businesses originate from the current management are false and deliberately misleading.

Documented correspondence from January 2025 shows that the Group’s founder and minority shareholder Dragan Šolak, via his long-time close associate Vladislav Ratajac, approached Telekom Srbija with proposals to:

N1 and Nova editorial staff appear to have been kept in the dark about these pursuits.

The pursuits of Šolak and his representative Vladislav Ratajac were not adopted and do not reflect the strategy of the current management for the news business in Serbia.

Claims that the new leadership sought to “weaken” Serbia’s independent news channels are false. There have been no changes to any editorial or management employees in the news operation under the new management.

The very actions that Šolak and Ratajac now claim the Group is taking today, as reported in the press, were in fact devised and pursued by Šolak and Ratajac at the beginning of the year.

No one outside the company has authority over our staffing or editorial decisions. Post-sale conversations with Telekom Srbija were business discussions, which were operational and time-limited. They did not concern newsroom matters.

Neither Telekom Srbija nor any other third party has exerted pressure on United Group to remove any employee, and we have made no commitment to do so.

The current management and the majority shareholder BC Partners will never be influenced by any political interference or considerations. United Group is a commercial enterprise, focused on driving value creation across portfolio companies through sound and ethical business-driven decisions.

We are not seeking favours or a political deal with anyone, and we have no reason to do so.

United Group is a leading multi-play telecommunications and media company in Southeastern Europe, with EBITDA of c.€1 billion.

Earlier this year, United Group divested the largest part of its Serbian business. Our remaining businesses in Serbia represent a small share of Group profitability, and news in Serbia makes up an even smaller part. Our portfolio consists of companies in Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro, with the first two accounting for around 70% of Group EBITDA. We have no strategic reason whatsoever to pursue political accommodation.

As stated above, all editorial decisions of news outlets owned by us sit with the news organisations, and we have no intention of selling our Serbian news assets to Telekom Srbija or winding them down unlike the previous management team.

The recording that appeared online was made unlawfully, is incomplete and questions remain about elements of its authenticity. It is a fragment from a long series of private business discussions, stripped of its context and misinterpreted in some reporting.

Earlier this year Telekom Srbija acquired certain telecom businesses from United Group. As is standard after a sale, there are transitional services and handover workstreams that require practical coordination between the companies. It is in this context that the conversation between Mr Miller and Mr Lucic took place.

The phrases in question referred to the process of divestment of United Group’s non-core assets as we streamline our operations and focus on telecommunications, media, technology and cloud services businesses across our markets. It does not refer to closing newsrooms or to editorial policy.

After the sale earlier this year, Telekom Srbija raised concerns about the conduct of Aleksandra Subotić, who is not a member of the editorial staff at any United Group news organisation, and these are being investigated in line with our policies and procedures.

There has been no agreement with Telekom Srbija or anyone else to dismiss any United Group employee. Staffing decisions are taken inside United Group, in line with our policies and applicable law.

Summer Parent Sàrl, United Group's ultimate parent company, appointed new management on 16 June 2025 to drive value creation, sound governance and operational focus across the portfolio.

The leadership change was carried out following the sale of the largest part of United Group's Serbian business and ahead of a potential divestment of our operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By streamlining our operations, we are focusing on our European telecommunications, media, technology and cloud services businesses across our core markets.

The first weeks have been spent listening and engaging with executives across our portfolio companies. The leadership team has visited operations in our key markets, and held meetings with senior managers. We are grateful to colleagues who have made the time to meet.

Since June, we have been working hard to implement a number of critical corporate governance changes:

The objective is to embed durable controls swiftly and smoothly so that teams can focus on running their businesses.

Once these changes are embedded, they will make us stronger and more effective.

The Executive Committee is a forum where ultimate management decisions are made regarding the daily management of the Group. It is a transitional body composed of Group senior management, which portfolio CEOs, Executive Directors and VPs join to participate in decision making relating to their areas of responsibility and accountability.

Important decisions taken by the Executive Committee will be communicated to the wider group, enhancing transparency.

The governance and management changes since June have inevitably required some personnel changes. Practically all employees remain in their roles and will continue to do so. The Group’s current management is committed to working with excellent senior management of our portfolio companies in the best interests of the Group. Our focus is to put clear reporting and decision-making in place so colleagues have certainty about roles and responsibilities.

For the avoidance of doubt, there have been no changes to editorial staff. There has been no agreement with Telekom Srbija or anyone else to fire any United Group employee.

In light of ongoing change, a number of issues have been raised, including in letters circulated by some executives.

We take the concerns expressed seriously, which is why we have written to colleagues with a full response. We have also set out our stance on editorial independence in a recent press statement: https://united.group/united-group-responds-to-misinformation/

In any transition it is natural for colleagues to hold different views. We are encouraged that the vast majority of our portfolio management teams have been supportive of the approach we are taking.

As noted above, we have been exploring ways to secure independence of our media titles, both editorial and economic. Once these measures are implemented, we believe it will be clear to all that we have delivered a more sustainable and independent news business.

We will continue to rely on the excellent leadership teams of our portfolio companies to run the businesses well and deliver value for all stakeholders, including colleagues and customers./p>

The Group’s current management and majority shareholder are focused on enhancing value creation and supporting the running of businesses across the entire portfolio in the best interest of all stakeholders. Our strategy remains driving market-leading organic revenue and profit growth by bringing the best converged solutions to our customers, enabled by continuous investment in high-quality infrastructure, innovative technology and differentiated content.

Continuity is a priority. We have committed that operating subsidiaries will receive the support they need to maintain service for customers and colleagues. Since June we have been implementing governance improvements described above. As this programme beds in, our focus remains on running the business well and supporting teams so they can keep delivering for all stakeholders. We will communicate material updates as they arise.

We are pressing ahead with the work we have set out, and that includes ongoing dialogue and transparency. We will update this page as that work progresses.

There are established channels in place and employees should use them to raise any concerns they may have. Journalists should use their newsroom standards and complaints processes and speak to editorial leadership. Partners and media can use the contacts listed on this page.