Novator Telecom Bulgaria , which is owned by the Iceland 's investment group Novator, has reportedly shortlisted 6 bidders for acquiring 65% of Bulgaria ’s main landline telecom BTC, reads Kapital weekly. The information for the planned exit has been confirmed several weeks earlier by the owner of the Iceland ’s group Thor Bjorgolfsson. The shortlist of 6 candidates offering takeover prices near the set benchmark of EUR 1.8bn comprises one strategic investor – Turk Telekom, and 5 investment funds – Bain Capital, Mid Europa Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, and Warburg Pincus. The private equity firm Viva Ventures owns 65% of the telecom at present. Advent International is the main shareholder in Viva Ventures but has signed a call option to transfer its holdings to Novator Telecom Bulgaria . The call option could be exercised in June this year at earliest – three years after the privatisation of 65% of BTC. However, it is believed that firms linked to Bjorgolfsson have purchased a big fraction of the remaining 35% stake floated on the local stock exchange after the sale of the major package. The market capitalisation of BTC stands at some EUR 1.7bn at present. In addition to its dominant position on the landline telecom market, BTC is the full owner of the country’s third cell-phone operator vivatel, which has launched operations in November 2005 and holds a market share of some 8% at present, servicing more than 600,000 customers.