Suitors line up for Polkomtel bid

About seven bidders have made the shortlist to buy Polkomtel, Poland’s second-largest mobile operator, with local media billionaire Zygmunt Solorz-Zak seen as the frontrunner.

Although the company is not commenting on the process, Mr Solorz-Zak is thought to have placed a bid of more than 18bn zlotys ($6.3bn) for the company. The other bidders are thought to include private equity funds Apax, KKR, Providence and a joint offer by TPG and Blackstone. Two telecoms operators, TeliaSonera of Sweden and Norway’s Telenor, are also still in the running. Private equity firms are attracted by Polkomtel’s low debt and its high earnings – last year the operator had a net profit of 1.2bn zlotys on revenues of 7.7bn zlotys. Mr Solorz-Zak, with assets of 6.6bn zlotys according to an annual ranking of the wealthiest Poles compiled by Wprost magazine, controls Polsat, one of Poland’s main broadcasters, as well as Cyfrowy Polsat, the leading digital broadcaster.