2017 is ending with a flurry of activity on the M&A front in Poland.
Just this week we saw Cyfrowy Polsat and its daughter company Polsat significantly strengthen their respective positions in the electronic communications marketplace through two surprise acquisitions. At the same time, Inea, one of the country’s leading cable operators, saw a change in ownership.
As 2007 draws to a close, we may also finally see the competition authority UOKiK make its long-awaited ruling on the proposed acquisition of Multimedia Polska by Liberty Global’s UPC Polska, first announced in late 2016.
Cyfrowy Polsat’s acquisition of a 32% stake in the leading alternative telco Netia immediately strengthens its position in the Polish TV market as the latter has a presence in both the IPTV and cable sectors. It also makes it an even bigger threat in the provision of converged services to the incumbent telco Orange Polska.
However, it may all not be plain sailing for Cyfrowy Polsat, as it has indicated its intention to become a majority shareholder in Netia and this will require the approval of the UOKiK. More developments are likely in the first half of next year.
Meanwhile, Polsat’s acquisition of a number of thematic channels from ZPR Media significantly strengthens its position in the content market, and in particular the DTT sector. Besides buying outright the companies that own Eska TV, Eska TV Extra, Eska Rock TV, Polo TV and Vox Music TV, it has secured a 34% stake in TV Spektrum, the operator of Fokus TV and Nowa TV. In the latter case, it has also signaled its intention to increase the stake to 49% at some stage in the future.
Industry observers believe that the move puts Polsat into a better position to compete with Discovery, which already has a large portfolio of channels in Poland and is in the process of acquiring Scripps Networks Interactive, the owner of TVN.
On the cable front, the acquisition of the majority stake in Inea by Macquarie previously held by Warburg Pincus is unlikely to have far-reaching consequences on the sector as a whole. However, it will allow the Poznan-based company to grow further, maintaining its position as one of the top five cable operators in the country.
