The performance of the Polish cable operator Multimedia Polska is visibly weakening as it awaits a decision on its proposed acquisition by Liberty Global’s UPC Polska.
Rzeczpospolita reports that the competition authority UOKiK was expected to have preliminary terms on which it will allow the transaction to go ahead ready by the middle of July. However, this did not happen.
Meanwhile, the authority’s VP Bernadeta Kasztelan-Swietlik, who was responsible for rulings on M&As, was dismissed by Poland’s PM Beata Szydlo at the end of June and her responsibilities assumed by the Marek Niechcial, UOKiK’s president.
UPC has already submitted some informal proposals to the UOKiK related to the proposed acquisition, while Multimedia has presented it with maps showing the areas in which it faces competition.
Multimedia’s president Andrzej Rogowski has meanwhile said that changing the company’s sales strategy through the recent enforced sale of its utility subsidiary to Orange has had a negative impact on the company’s results, the latest set of which will be published at the end of this month.
The ultimate cost of the transaction will be determined by Multimedia’s financial performance.
Rogowski expects a decsiion from the UOKiK within a matter of weeks.
