Serbia Broadband


Serbia Broadband is a cable television and broadband internet service provider in Serbia.
As of 2018, it is the largest cable television provider and second largest broadband internet provider in Serbia.

History

Serbia Broadband was founded on 1 September 2000 and is registered as limited liability company under the register code 17280554 in the Serbian Business Registers Agency. In 2006, SBB launched TotalTV, its DTH satellite television platform.
In April 2015, SBB bought Serbian internet provider EUnet for an undisclosed amount. In April 2017, SBB bought Serbian cable operator IKOM. In November 2017, SBB acquired Serbian minor cable company Kabel Group 85.

Ownership

In 2007, Serbia Broadband was acquired by Mid Europa Partners, which simultaneously purchased Telemach Slovenia followed by acquiring Telemach Bosnia and Herzegovina shortly afterwards, cable television and broadband internet providers in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively. Mid Europa then created United Group, a subsidiary to control its three new acquisitions in former Yugoslavia, with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holding a minority stake in the newly created subsidiary. In the case of Serbia Broadband, the owners legally controlled it via the Amsterdam-based Adria Cable B.V.
In October 2013, an American private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts purchased the majority stake in United Group from Mid Europa Partners for an enterprise valuation of 1.3 billion USD, thus gaining control of Serbia Broadband. Once the new owners took over, they began legally controlling Serbia Broadband through the Amsterdam-based Adria Serbia Holdco B.V.
In September 2018, a British private equity firm BC Partners began the process of acquisition of the majority stakes of United Group from KKR for an enterprise valuation of 2.6 billion euros. Upon finalizing the acquisition, BC partners will officially gain ownership of Serbia Broadband.

Technological Development

Launching Total TV in 2006, SBB became the first digital and analogue cable operator to introduce digital television in the region.
In 2010, SBB started delivering managed services while holding a Cisco certificate. There are currently two data centers interconnected with the state-of-the-art infrastructure, servicing clients in the entire Serbia.
The company was the first in Serbia to offer digital fixed telephony services in 2012. This was also the year SBB launched the first application for watching television and using TV services on different mobile devices. In September 2017, Serbian Broadband launched EON TV platform which allows viewers in Serbia to watch TV via a smart TV app. In 2018, SBB launched EON Smart Box, which was the first regional solution to combine television with Android services and applications.
The company also introduced the country's first 4K channel. Furthermore, the operator added four multi-angle and multi-screen channels.