Poland’s second-largest fixed-line telco Netia intends to pick either P4 (Play) or Polkomtel as its future mobile partner.
Netia currently cooperates with both Polkomtel and P4, Poland’s third and fourth-largest mobile operators respectively, but…
Poland’s second-largest fixed-line telco Netia intends to pick either P4 (Play) or Polkomtel as its future mobile partner.
Netia currently cooperates with both Polkomtel and P4, Poland’s third and fourth-largest mobile operators respectively, but intends to select one to help it realise its new strategy, Andrzej Kondracki, head of strategy and corporate development, said during a press conference today on the company’s H1 2014 results.
“For sure in the new strategy we will have to determine which partner, because it is debatable that it would be two we will cooperate with,” he said.
Netia’s new CEO Adam Sawicki is revising the company’s strategic and financial objectives in an effort to stabilise financial performance and better enable it to take advantage of growth and consolidation opportunities in the domestic telecoms sector. The management team expects its supervisory board to approve the new plan this quarter.
Last week, Netia’s billionaire largest shareholder Zbigniew Jakubas told Reuters that “the dream” is to acquire another telco and described P4 as “a very interesting asset”. He added that P4, controlled by funds owned by Greek businessman Panos Germanos and Iceland’s Thor Bjorgolfsson, is a potential partner for cooperation “in a variety of capital scenarios”.
Sawicki said today that he will not rule out capital ties with P4, but said the focus is currently on developing a business model that will facilitate growth.
“The basis of every capital cooperation is business cooperation, otherwise it is a hostile takeover,” he said.
Polkmotel, recently merged with media group Cyfrowy Polsat, tails the local units of Deutsche Telekom and Orange in terms of mobile subscribers.
Warsaw-listed Netia itself has long been considered as a potential takeover target, with some observers speculating that the company’s recent decision to divide its personal and corporate client sectors will lead to a sale by its largest shareholders.
In addition, recent stake increases in Netia by companies connected to Jakubas have prompted analysts to speculate that consolidation within the Polish telecoms sector may be drawing nearer.
Raiffeisen analyst Dominik Niszcz recently told TelecomFinance that all Polish MNOs other than Orange Polska could potentially be a good M&A match for Netia as they do not own significant wireline infrastructure.
Netia’s reported revenues for H1 were down 11% on the H1 2013 result to PLN856.5m (US$267.3m). Adjusted EBITDA stood at PLN259.5m (US$81m).
Also today, Netia announced that Pawel Szymanski will replace Jon Eastick as CFO on 1 September. Szymanski will join Sawicki on a slimmed-down, two-member management board.
