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EBRD, ABN AMRO, RZB Group close Polish media debt financing
€52.5 million of senior debt provided for acquisition of Aster City Cable
The EBRD, ABN AMRO and RZB Group have combined to provide €52.5 million of
finance for the acquisition of Polish cable television and broadband services
provider Aster City Cable from Elektrim Telekomunikacja. The new owners are
funds advised or controlled by ARGUS Capital, Emerging Markets Partnership and
Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst.
The senior debt facilities of the Polish zloty-equivalent of €52.5 million
comprise a €50 million equivalent long-term acquisition loan and €2.5 million
equivalent revolving working capital facility. The EBRD is contributing €22.5
million, while €15 million is provided by ABN AMRO Bank N.V., €10 million by
Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG and €5 million by Raiffeisen Bank Polska
S.A. Including the investors' contribution the total size of the acquisition
is €110 million.
The transaction will place the cable TV networks in Warsaw, Krakow and Zielona
Gora under the control of the private equity investors who will support the
management team in further developing the business, leading to wider access,
improved services and better prices.
Izzet Guney, EBRD Director of Telecommunications, said the banks were happy to
support the transaction, which is the largest leveraged buy-out yet in Poland
by private equity investors.
Aster City, with an aggregate subscriber base of 355,000 customers in three
Polish cities, is the leading cable operator in Warsaw, where it serves about
280,000 customers. It also has strong positions in Krakow and Zielona Gora.
This makes the company No 3 in the country-wide market. In addition, Aster
City has built a strong position in providing broadband internet services in
Warsaw and Krakow.
While cable television is already a mass-market product in Poland, the
high-speed internet remains in the early stages of development with huge
potential for growth. While more than 90 per cent of Polish households own a
TV set and 65 per cent are passed by cable, still more than 88 per cent of
internet-users rely on dial-up connections whereas broadband services remain
largely confined to the corporate sector. Polish cable TV operators are now
increasingly trying to target residential customers and small entrepreneurs.
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