The Polish DTH platform Cyfrowy Polsat is to hold an IPO, most probably by the end of this year. According to local reports, it has submitted a request to do so to the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and is likely to raise well over PLN1 billion (€266.6 million) in the process, due to take place in both Warsaw and London. Zygmunt Solorz-Zak, the owner of Cyfrowy Polsat and the broadcaster Polsat, has recently come under fire from both the political world (the ruling Law and Justice – PiS party) in the run up to national elections next month, his involvement with the bankrupt telecom and power conglomerate Elektrim and sacking of Polsat’s best-known presenter. Significantly, Axel Springer’s proposed acquisition of a 25.1% stake in Polsat, which was announced in December 2006 and subsequently frozen by the competition authority UOKiK, still remains in the balance.
