Bulgaria

"Suddenly, however, Kléber is going to wake up. The V 10 runs well. Very well, in fact. Bulgaria, East Germany, and Yugoslavia buy the license. Kléber’s aviation tires equip not only the Caravelle and Mirage but also the Concorde and Boeing 747 (as they will soon equip Airbus). The Paris Stock Exchange discovers the old Colombes company with eyes like Chimène. Financial analysts readily present it as a growth stock. The stock prices soar. The cash flow, indeed, progresses faster than the sales. Huvelin has embarked on an ambitious investment program in France (Toul) and in Saar (Saint-Ingbert) which is expected to bear fruit soon. In the French tire market, Kléber’s penetration rises to nineteen percent in the years 1969-1970. In Germany, it approaches ten percent."

"Advent had competed in the privatisation of Bulgaria’s national telecommunications carrier, Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC), and won in an open auction conducted by ING Barings. The bid it lodged through a consortium was the highest but the deal had got stuck and the firm was looking for someone who knew the Bulgarian system to come into the consortium and get things moving. I had not been in telecoms before but I knew Bulgaria. ‘Fine,’ I said, ‘but I want to invest as much as you.’ We structured it so that Advent and the investment consortium Carrera, which I led, both took 25 per cent stakes, with seven other investors making up the remaining 50 per cent. It took two…"