IMAP Poland advised Cyfrowy Polsat on the acquisition of Interia Group

Cyfrowy Polsat Group, the largest Polish privately-owned provider of media and telecommunications services, signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 100% shares in Interia Group, one of the Top 3 online media companies in Poland, recording monthly over 16 mn unique users and covering nearly 60% of Internet users in Poland, for a consideration of PLN 422 million.

Through the acquisition Cyfrowy Polsat substantially strengthens its position on the dynamically growing online advertising market. The transaction also creates an additional channel for distribution and monetization of the content which is currently produced for the purpose of the 34 channels of Polsat. Interia Group is also expected to become be the main platform for the purpose of online marketing of the entire portfolio of Polsat’s products and services, including brands such as Plus, Cyfrowy Polsat, IPLA, Netia and Polsat TV brands. Polsat Media, in turn, can support sale of Interia’s advertising space.

Trigon Investment Banking (IMAP Poland) acted as sole financial advisor to Cyfrowy Polsat, with Greenberg Traurig advising on legal matters.

Mirosław Błaszczyk, CEO of Cyfrowy Polsat, said

“We are a Polish company and we are proud to be the leader of the media-and-telecommunications market in Poland. Acquisition of Interia Group is yet another strategic investment into the development of our Group.  Interia Group is a leading player in this segment. We are excited about the enormous scale of opportunities and synergies generated by this investment. We count on Interia’s dynamic development”.

Stanisław Janowski, President of the Management Board of Telewizja Polsat, added 

“We are buying a well-managed business with a strong market position. It fits perfectly with Polsat TV’s strategy. We want to deliver attractive content via all possible distribution channels. Thanks to Interia our content will gain another wide field of exploitation. Our offer for advertisers will be enriched by very effective online advertising formats with extensive reach. We want to have strong position on the dynamically growing online advertising market. We are counting on both, Interia Group’s potential as well as its employees, their competencies and experience, which will surely enable us to pursue our ambitious goals effectively” .

Veit Dengler, COO of Bauer Media Group, commented

“Interia Group is a very successful business but we must be sure that we are clearly focused on our key strategic priorities. That is why we are glad that we can sell Interia Group to Polsat Group, which is a very good strategic solution. We would like to thank Artur Potocki, the President of the Management Board, as well as the whole Interia team for the consistent and successful development of the business while wishing them all the best!“

The acquisition remains subject to approval of antitrust authorities.