Linklaters has advised InfraVia Capital Partners on the PLN 1.775 billion acquisition of a 50% stake in Play Group subsidiary FiberForce.
The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval.
InfraVia Capital Partners is a private equity firm specializing in the infrastructure and technology sector, while the Play Group, operating the Play and UPC brands, is one of Poland's leading fixed, digital TV, and mobile convergent players, according to Linklaters.
Together, they will "pave the way for providing access to high-speed connectivity to six million homes in Poland, using existing infrastructure and through further significant investments," the firm announced. "At transaction close, Play/UPC will transfer its existing HFC and FTTx asset base of 3.7 million homes passed to FiberForce, the latter having the ambition to build more than two million additional fiber-optic connections. The network will be available for all telecommunication operators in a wholesale, open-access model."
The Linklaters team included lawyers from the firm's Paris and Warsaw offices.
Linklaters did not provide further information on the deal.
Editor's Note: After this article was published, Linklaters announced the composition of their Warsaw team: Partners Marcin Schulz, Patryk Figiel, and Malgorzata Szwaj, Of Counsel Mikolaj Bieniasz, Counsel Klaudia Krolak, Managing Associates Magdalena Szewczyk, Lukasz Burakowski, Anna Laszczyk, and Wojciech Podlasin, Senior Associates Michal Maruszak, Jan Jurga, Michal Nocon, Szymon Sieniewicz, and Joanna Koterbska, Associate Lukasz Czerepak, and Junior Associates Adrianna Soltysiak, Sandra Slowik, and Maja Golyga.
In April 2023, White & Case announced it had advised the Play Group on the deal. The firm's team included Partner Rafal Kaminski, Counsels Malgorzata Pasnik and Grzegorz Jukiel, and Associate Radomir Szewczuk.
