Analysys Mason and Allen & Overy advise Cordiant on Polish deal

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure has closed the acquisition of Emitel, national transmission company in Poland. Cordiant Digital was advised during the deal by Analysys Mason and Allen & Overy.

With a total committed capital of hundreds of millions, Cordiant Digital Infrastructure is one of the larger investment funds focused on the digital infrastructure in Europe and North America. The investment fund focuses on what analysts describe as the “plumbing of the internet” – infrastructure, data centres, fibreoptic networks and broadcast and telecommunication towers.

Hot on the heels of an acquisition in the US (DataGryd Datacenters), Cordiant has now also picked up Poland’s Emitel, acquiring full ownership for a reported sum of $352 million from former shareholder Alinda Capital Partners.

Commenting on the deal, Steven Marshall, the Chairman of Cordiant’s Infrastructure team, said: “Emitel is a national champion in a country with strong public finances. Emitel enjoys attractive growth prospects in areas such as mobile towers, edge data and smart cities. We look forward to investing further capital in support of Emitel’s growth.”

Emitel operates mobile towers in Poland along with the country’s national broadcast network, five digital terrestrial networks, a network of wireless smart-city sensors and a fibre network.

Unlike private equity houses, Cordiant adopts an “extremely long-term investment horizon” for its portfolio companies said Marshall, meaning that Cordiant will help Emitel craft and realise its ten-year strategy. “In Cordiant we have an investor bringing both a long investment horizon and significant industry expertise,” said CEO Andrzej Kozlowski, the CEO of Emitel.

“As such, Cordiant can deploy capital, insight and patience to support us in our medium and long-term growth plans in television and radio broadcasting and become an even more significant provider of outsourced digital infrastructure.”

Buyer Cordiant was advised during the deal by Analysys Mason, which conducted the strategic and technical due diligence on Emitel. Legal support was provided by law firm Allen & Overy, led by its Warsaw office and supported by experts from its London office.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory and governmental approvals and financing confirmations at the Emitel level.

Shonaid Jemmett-Page, Chairman of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure, said the acquisition would complement České Radiokomunikace, a Czech telecommunications firm purchased last year.

Cordiant, which floated on the London Stock Exchange last year, is managed by Cordiant Capital, an institutional asset manager with committed capital of circa $3 billion.