CMS advises Mid Europa Partners on exiting its investment in PKL S.A.

CMS is advising Mid Europa Partners, the leading private equity fund in Central and Eastern Europe, on exiting its investment in PKL S.A., the largest and oldest cableway operator with a number of lines in the Polish mountains. Under the agreement concluded on 7 October 2018, Polski Fundusz Rozwoju S.A. (PFR) will acquire 100% of shares in Altura S. à r. l., which holds 99.77% of shares in PKL S.A. The closing of the transaction, which should take place by the end of 2018, depends on the fulfilment of conditions precedent, including obtaining by PFR the consent of the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

“Investments in assets acquired from state-owned companies or in regulated sectors – although usually associated with higher business risk – may also bring the expected return on investment. The key factor in such cases is to have a vision of how the business will develop, as well as properly securing transactions at the legal level,” says Jakub Marcinkowski, CMS partner responsible for the project.

CMS has provided legal support to PKL S.A. from the moment of its privatisation in 2013, through the acquisition of Kolej Gondolowa Jaworzyna Krynicka S.A., to the process of exiting the investment, initially planned as a public offering, but which went ahead as a private transaction.

Mid Europa Partners is comprehensively advised by a team of lawyers led by Jakub Marcinkowski, a partner in the M&A/Corporate Department, supported by Rafał Kluziak, counsel, and Michał Sowiński, Karolina Stepaniuk, Olga Czyżycka and Rafał Burda from the transaction team. English law support was provided by Peter Lewis, a partner in the M&A practice at CMS London.