Company owned Dragan Šolak she sued the majority-owned company in London BC Partners, claiming that he denied a bonus of a total of 250 million euros, which was promised to him during the partial sale of the assets of the European telecommunications and media company.
A British court ruled that the BC Partners-owned firm must pay the money to Sholak, according to an order published on Thursday (September 18th), with the consent of all parties.
"The proceedings are suspended except for the purpose of implementing this agreement," the London judge said in a signed court document, according to Bloomberg.
Possible end to the conflict
The decision on the payment could, as stated in the text, indicate a thawing of the long-term conflict between Sholak and the London investment fund, after the sale of certain business parts. Scholak also filed a lawsuit in the Netherlands for unjustified dismissal as an advisor on the board of directors. The trial is scheduled for October.
"This represents a complete and final victory for our client in terms of long overdue obligations," said the lawyer representing Sholak in the London proceedings.
When his contract for an advisory position on the board was not extended in June, the company told Šolak that the bonus, related to the sale of parts of the business worth around 1,5 billion euros, would be paid, previously informed sources said.
According to the court order, BC Partners will make the payment after deducting all taxes due to the Luxembourg tax authorities. BC Partners declined to comment, according to Bloomberg.
United Group: Sholak negotiated sale and termination
The United Group previously announced on September 18 to reject all claims that the Group is trying to limit or otherwise threaten the editorial independence of N1 and Nova TV channels in Serbia, or to sell them to Telekom Srbija or entities connected to the state of Serbia.
"These allegations are false," the statement said.
As it is added, "some recent media speculations about the business of Serbian newspaper companies are intertwined with the ongoing shareholder dispute", and that the allegations that the talks about changing the structure or selling assets in Serbia originate from the current management are false and misleading
"Documented correspondence from January 2025 shows that the founder of the Group and minority shareholder Dragan Šolak, through his longtime close associate Vladislav Ratajac, contacted Telekom Srbija with proposals to remove N1 and Nova from television in Serbia in exchange for a lump sum of approximately 120 million euros, that news channels be removed from cable/satellite programs and run only as internet channels, that media assets in Serbia be sold to a third party, and that others parts of the business, such as Shoppstar and D Express, are being sold to Telekom Srbija," the announcement states.
In addition, as stated, Sholak demanded a bonus of 200 million euros from Summer Parent, the parent company of United Group, for allegedly facilitating the sale of business in Serbia.
As it is added, the current management of United Group never had any plans to sell N1 or Nova Telekom Srbija, or anyone else, "unlike Sholak and his associates".
Source: Bloomberg/N1
