Play has an agreement to purchase 100% of shares in UPC Polska for PLN 7 billion

P4 (Play), part of the Iliad Group, has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of shares in UPC Polska with UPC Poland Holding, part of Liberty Global plc, for PLN 7 billion, Play said. The transaction, which is expected to close in H1 2022, is subject to regulatory approval of the European Commission.

The value of the transaction - assuming no debt and no cash - will amount to PLN 7 billion, which corresponds to the EBITDAAL multiplier for 2020 at the level of 9.3x before synergies and approx. 7x after revenue and cost synergies. The acquisition is to be financed from Play's own cash. and additional debt issuance , according to the announcement.

The takeover of UPC Polska is subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities. The closing of the transaction is expected in the first half of 2022.

Based on the financial results for 2020, the total revenues of Play and UPC Polska amount to PLN 9 billion, and the total EBITDAAL is PLN 3.2 billion. Play and UPC will provide telecommunications services to over 17 million subscribers, it reported.

"The integration of Play and UPC Polska will create a unique opportunity for Play's development at the next stage and we are looking forward to starting cooperation with the UPC team to jointly implement our new ambitions. Play has extensive experience in responding to the needs of its customers. UPC Polska has built a very strong platform based on high standards of quality. Play and UPC will join forces to create a strong convergent operator in Poland," said president of Play Jean Marc Harion.

P4 announced on July 30 that the Iliada Group made an initial, non-binding offer to Liberty Global to acquire 100% of shares in UPC Polska Sp. z o.o., valued at PLN 7.3 billion.

UPC Polska, part of the Liberty Global group, is a provider of digital cable services: television, broadband Internet and telephony for individual and business customers. At the end of 2020, UPC Polska had 1,525,000 customers using 3,267,500 services (RGU).

Play Communications owns 100% of the shares in P4 (Play), the operator of Play's mobile telephony. The company was listed on the WSE from July 2017 to April 2021.

Source: UPC and ISBnews