Polish mobile operator Polkomtel has announced that Tobias Solorz will succeed his father Zygmunt Solorz-Zak as its new CEO and management board chairman.
Solorz-Zak, the billionaire media tycoon who bought Polkomtel for PLN18.1bn (US$5.6bn) in 2011, is…
Polish mobile operator Polkomtel has announced that Tobias Solorz will succeed his father Zygmunt Solorz-Zak as its new CEO and management board chairman.
Solorz-Zak, the billionaire media tycoon who bought Polkomtel for PLN18.1bn (US$5.6bn) in 2011, is to step down from the operator’s management board, along with Wojciech Pytel. Both Solorz-Zak and Pytel will join Polkomtel’s supervisory board, the Warsaw-based company said in a statement.
Polkomtel said the executive changes mark a new chapter in its development and an important step towards its planned integration with media group Cyforwy Polsat, also controlled by Solorz-Zak.
The entrepreneur said his son has “learned a lot” from their work together on the Polkomtel board.
After serving as an assistant to the board of TV Polsat, Tobias Solorz became promotion manager at Cyfrowy in 2007. The following year, he joined the board of local telco Sferia and, in March 2011, became director of the company’s marketing, advertising, sales and operations. He joined the Polkomtel board in November 2011.
Cyfrowy announced in November that it had agreed to buy a majority stake in Polkomtel’s sole owner, Metelem Holding Company. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) subsequently agreed to sell its 16.2% stake in Metelem to Cyfrowy.
Cyfrowy has said the merger with Polkomtel will create Poland’s largest media and telecoms group with estimated annual revenue of nearly PLN10bn (US$3.21bn). The media group expects the deal to close in Q2 2014, subject to the refinancing of its existing debt.
