BELGRADE – The agreement on the sale of media company Adria News Network to Alpac Capital Investment Group has been made, the companies officially confirmed today. The press release reads that “these transactions are subject to standardised regulatory approvals and are expected to be completed during the second half of 2026”.
Adria News Network (ANN) is a Luxembourg-based media company managing a portfolio of independent leading television, print, and digital news brands across the Western Balkans, including N1 and Nova S in Serbia, and Vijesti in Montenegro.
The transaction is regarded as politically sensitive, particularly in Serbia, since the television channels operating under the ANN are regarded as some of the last major outlets not under the influence of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).
Minority shareholders of the United Group, ANN owner, Dragan Šolak and Victoriya Boklag, stated today that they regard the transaction as illegal and that they would initiate legal proceedings.
In a statement confirming the deal, Alpac Capital notes its majority ownership of one of the world’s largest networks, Euronews.
“This acquisition provides ANN with a strong platform and an owner aligned with its editorial principles, securing the long-term independence of these important news assets”, it was stated.
The press release stresses that “Alpac Capital is committed, as its ownership of Euronews reflects, to promoting neutral, fact-based journalism that upholds the highest editorial standards”.
“In February 2026, United Group brought together its news assets across Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia under one independent brand, Adria News Network (“ANN”), with its own fully independent board and oversight from an Editorial Council of senior international media professionals… The governance framework introduced at the same time was identified as the most effective way to protect editorial independence while providing stability, transparency and resilience for the business, in line with the commitments made by BC Partners and the management of United Group in 2025”, the press release remarks.
It adds that “Adria News Network is licensed and regulated inside the European Union, with licenses reflecting guarantees on editorial independence”.
“Following the creation of ANN, United Group received several unsolicited expressions of interest from parties seeking to acquire these news assets. Alpac Capital was selected on the basis that it provided the highest value while meeting the governance and independence principles established from the outset. The Share Purchase Agreement includes contractual safeguards preserving ANN’s editorial and functional independence, a clear separation between editorial and commercial interests, and the maintenance of an independent external advisory body”, the press release underlines.
Šolak and Boklag: “The decision is illegal and legally void”
On the other hand, United Media minority shareholders, Dragan Šolak and Victoriya Boklag, claim that the decision to sell independent regional media outlets operating under the Adria News Network is illegal and legally void.
In a statement, they said that the decision was adopted at a Board of Directors meeting of the parent company, Summer Parent, which was convened in violation of corporate governance rules and without the participation of representatives of the minority shareholders, who hold approximately 42 per cent of the company.
“We believe that both the manner in which the meeting was convened and the decisions reached are legally void. Additional legal proceedings will be initiated regarding these actions”, Šolak and Boklag stressed.
They pointed out that they have already initiated proceedings before the High Court in London to challenge the sale, and that the transaction is being pushed through despite this active litigation.
They expressed particular concern over potential political influence on the sales process, a lack of transparency in the selection of the buyer, and the absence of credible guarantees to preserve the editorial independence of the media outlets.
The minority shareholders warned that the sale of the last major independent media in the region would have serious consequences for media freedom and democratic processes.
Concerns over future editorial independence
United Group, a multinational media conglomerate which owns some of the last major media outlets in Serbia that are not under the influence of the government, stated on 19 February that it was reorganising its media operations, placing most of its Balkan media outlets under the newly-founded Adria News Network (ANN). Most of these outlets had previously operated under the United Media, whose director, Aleksandra Subotić, was dismissed.
These media outlets have provided the bulk of reporting critical of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party in recent years, and have thus been under consistent attacks by the highest state officials and pro-government media.
The reorganisation raised concerns in the Serbian public, which has, for a long time, suspected that the Serbian government had made a deal with the majority owner of the United Group, BC Partners, to curtail the critical reporting of these media outlets. Both Serbian officials and BC Partners denied these speculations.
On 14 May 2026, Raskikavanje.rs reported that the United Group plans to sell its media business to Luxembourg-based European Future Media Investments, backed by Portuguese Investment Group Alpac Capital.
The contract names Pedro Vargas David and Afonso Guerra as the customer’s contact persons. Pedro Vargas David is known to the public as the CEO of Alpac Capital, which became a major owner of the Euronews channel.
The name of Pedro Vargas Davis has often been associated with former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in foreign media.
Research by the Hungarian portal Direkt36, in cooperation with France’s Le Monde and Portugal’s Express, showed that the purchase of Euronews was partly financed by Hungarian state capital, but also by companies close to Viktor Orbán’s propaganda machine.
