Portuguese investment company Alpac Capital has formally taken control of several Serbian media outlets previously owned by United Group, with the company’s owner, Pedro Vargas Santos David, registered as director of the media companies.
According to Serbian business records cited by Nova.rs, decisions appointing David to the director positions were approved on Monday, August 17.
The changes include the removal of Mihailo Jovićević as director of the Nova newspaper and portal, as well as the weekly Radar. Aleksandra Mitić was removed as director of Dan Graf, the publisher of Danas.
Brent Sadler was removed as director of Adria News, which operates N1, as well as from the position of director of Adria News Nova S. Janez Živko was also removed as director of Nova S television.
The applications for David’s appointment as director were submitted by David himself.
The ownership changes are part of a broader restructuring of United Group’s media assets in the region. Nova.rs reported that earlier this month, United Media Digital — which includes Nova.rs, Radar and Nova, along with Adria News, Adria News Nova S and Dan Graf — was transferred to United Fiber Sarl, a company based in Luxembourg.
United Fiber Sarl is currently listed in Serbia’s business registry as the owner, although further details about the completion of the sale have not been made public.
United Group announced in late May that it had reached an agreement to sell its Adria News Network (ANN) media assets to Alpac Capital. The network, announced in February, includes 12 media outlets in the region.
The announced transaction has also generated controversy in Montenegro, where United Group had included Vijesti among the media associated with the ANN network. Minority shareholders in Vijesti have challenged the possibility of a transfer of United Group’s 51 percent stake, arguing that any change in control must comply with Montenegrin law, company statutes and the rights of minority shareholders.
The minority shareholders have also alleged that political interests linked to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić may be behind the planned transaction, an allegation that has not been independently established.
In June, Montenegro’s Agency for Protection of Competition said it had received an application from Alpac Capital, through an affiliated market participant, seeking approval for a concentration involving several media companies in Montenegro, including Daily Press and Television Vijesti.
The agency’s director, Nebojša Jovović, warned at the time that completing such acquisitions without prior regulatory approval would constitute a serious violation of the law.
N1: Editorial standards will remain unchanged
N1 said its takeover process is continuing according to the previously announced plans and stressed that the ownership change would not affect the channel’s editorial policy or the way its newsroom makes editorial decisions.
The N1 newsroom said it would continue operating according to the same professional principles and standards, while its editorial team would retain full responsibility for selecting topics, reporting and making editorial decisions in the public interest.
The latest changes mark a significant ownership transition for several of Serbia’s most prominent independent media outlets and come amid wider changes to the media landscape across Serbia and the Western Balkans.
