Solak and Boklag Sue in London Over Sale of N1 and Nova
United Group minority shareholders ask London's High Court to block the sale of N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar to Portuguese fund Alpac Capital.
- Dragan Solak and Viktorija Boklag, holding about 42 percent of United Group, have launched proceedings at London's High Court.
- They want to stop the sale of N1, Nova S, Danas and Radar to Portuguese fund Alpac Capital for around 30 million euros.
- Some 28 civil society groups have called the deal a direct threat to media freedom.
- Dragan Djilas warned Serbia is entering its most dangerous phase of media control.
Dragan Solak and Viktorija Boklag, the minority shareholders who together hold roughly 42 percent of United Group, have filed proceedings at London’s High Court to block the sale of the region’s leading independent outlets. The action targets three entities controlled by the investment fund BC Partners, which manages the majority stake in the group.
At stake is the media platform that bundles N1, Nova S, the daily Danas, the weekly Radar and the news portal Nova.rs. These outlets operate under the Adria News Network brand, which spans about 120 media operations across the region. Solak and Boklag argue that BC Partners launched the sale without their knowledge or consent, in breach of the shareholder agreement they had signed.
Who is buying and what the deal is worth
The buyer is Alpac Capital, a Portuguese investment group operating through a fund registered in Luxembourg. That group has been the majority owner of the Euronews channel since 2022. The reported sale price stands at about 30 million euros.
The minority shareholders are challenging not only the price but the very way the transaction was set in motion. By their account, the majority owner bypassed its contractual obligations toward the partners with whom it shares ownership. The case is being heard under British law, given that United Group’s structure has long been tied to the jurisdiction in which BC Partners operates.
Civil society reacted sharply. As many as 28 organisations described the sale as a direct threat to media freedom in Serbia and the wider region. Their concern centres on who will really control the editorial line of outlets that have for years been among the few voices beyond the government’s reach.
Is a media blackout coming for Serbia
The leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, Dragan Djilas, warned that Serbia is entering its most dangerous phase of media control. He described the transaction as part of a broader pattern of absorbing the remaining independent newsrooms through formally private ownership arrangements.
“Vucic is trying to do what Viktor Orban has done for years in Hungary, to use formally private capital to build a system of total political control over the media,” Djilas said.
The sale follows earlier reports of Alpac Capital moving into ownership of regional media, which we have covered previously. Those reports first set out the details of the fund’s Luxembourg structure and its ties to Euronews. The proceedings at London’s High Court now raise the question of whether the deal will go through at all in its announced form.
For audiences in Serbia, the practical question remains what happens to the newsrooms while the court case runs. United Group has not publicly denied that proceedings exist, nor has it specified how the sale would proceed if the court halts the transaction. The next hearings before the British court will show how strong the minority shareholders’ legal footing really is.
Do you think a court case in London can actually stop the sale of these outlets?
