Invest-IQ

Wisdio, the relatively new Poland-based question and answer website, has managed to gain traction in the form of additional investor support. In all they are now running with another series of funding provided by three PEs, three private investors and some existing shareholders. The recent new share issue has fattened their books by about PLN [...]

Internet Investment Fund (IIF) of Krakow, Poland, has invested in Future Reality Games, the developer of the widely played First Person Shooter (FPS) augmented reality game, ShootAR. The game essentially allows users to play an online version of the hugely popular paintball against their friends in a multitude of variations of the point and shoot [...]

Amidst a flurry of deals in Poland’s banking sector, UK-based PE fund Apax Partners has partnered with European banking behemoth Banco Santander to acquire an 80 percent stake in KBC’s Kredyt Bank. The Polish bank’s shares will come at a price of USD 1 bln. The deal follows on the heels of an earlier proposal [...]

Giza Polish Ventures, the investment world’s first Polish-Israeli VC fund, has been set up in Warsaw to invest in early stage technology companies.

Polish investor hardGAMMA Ventures has recently invested in a Warsaw-based mobile applications development laboratory called Appvetica.

Royalton Partners has acquired a controlling stake in KOM-EKO, one of Poland’s leading waste management companies and a market leader in Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). The leveraged buyout was facilitated by an amount of PLN 39 mln from BRE Bank, which was earmarked for financing the acquisition. The transaction marks Royalton’s first foray into the waste [...]

Strategic Value Partners – a US based distressed assets investment specialist, has exited Polish personal care chain operator Polbita, five years after it had acquired Polbita’s parent company IWP International. The Polbita sale marks the third and final round of divestment of the IWP portfolio. The US alternative investment group had invested EUR 90 million [...]

Warsaw based leading operator of cardio-vascular treatment units – American Heart of Poland S.A. (AHP), has attracted global private equity firm Advent International for fresh capital infusion. The amount of investment in AHP remained undisclosed . As a precursor to the deal, AHP’s legal status was changed from a “Limited Liability Company” to a “Joint [...]

In a strategic acquisition bid, Impax Asset Management has acquired a 100MW power portfolio in Poland and France from European power company Eolia, through its Impax New Energy Investors II fund. While the French assets have contributed towards the expansion of their Paris-based Epuron project, the Polish acquisition, a single 6MW facility, marks its foray [...]

CapMan Plc. portfolio company Walki Group has bought out the owner’s stake in Meuwissen, a family-owned construction materials company.

The board of financial and industrial group, Eurohold Bulgaria, has approved a plan to float shares in the Warsaw Stock Exchange apart from its current listing on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. In addition to floating more than 108 mln shares, the company will subsequently issue 36.2 mln new shares at BGN 1.5 per share (against [...]

Polish company Emperia has shortlisted four private equity firms for the sale of its retail division. Potential investors include Advent International, Mid Europa Partners, Penta Investments and Doughty Hanson; Tesco and Carrefour are also interested in the acquisition, which is valued at USD 272 mln (PLN 900 mln). The deal follows an attempt by Emperia [...]

Termo-Organika, Poland’s leading manufacturer of domestic insulation materials and systems, has recently gained support for a leveraged management buyout with private equity funding from Krokus.

Polish telecom provider ASTER Sp. z.o.o. has been sold to US cable operator Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI) in a 100 percent equity transfer agreement between LGI and British private equity firm Mid Europa Partners LLP. The deal, which was announced in December 2010 and expected to be closed by June 2011, has only recently been [...]

KBW, a U.S. investment bank, along with Enterprise Investors, a Poland based group, announced that they are interested in acquiring several small Croatian banks. Some of the banks that are listed as possible acquisitions include: Centar Banka, Jadranska Banka, Karlovacka Banka, Istarska Kreditna Banka, and Varazdinska Banka. Centar Banka (www.centarbanka.hr) Centar Banka is a commercial [...]

bmp media investors AG has acquired a 25.4% stake in Poland based inStream Media Sp. z.o.o. InStream Media is a video and network marketing company. The investment will be used to help Instream increase its presence in the market through sales growth and expansion of their network. inStream Media (www.instream.pl) Instream Media markets predominantly advertising [...]

Private equity firm, Resource Partners, has decided to back the management buyout of Good Foods from Avallon MBO private equity fund. This purchase takes place only 2 years after Avallon acquired the company from its original owners. Good Food (www.goodfood.pl) Good Foods has been operating in Poland since 1991. They are the leading rice cake [...]

Edipresse, a Swiss media group, has taken over a majority stake in Pomocini, a Polish online marketplace. Edipresse acquired all the shares held by BMP Media Investors AG (17.24%), as well as the shares held by angel investors and other small holding companies. Pomocini (www.pomocini.pl) Pomocini was established in 2008, and offers a large variety [...]

Mid Europa Partners has shown an interest in acquiring the store chain of Polish retailer Emperia. Emperia launched a tender in June for the retail branch of its operations in an effort to raise USD 318 million. Mid Europa Partners recently purchased Zabka, Poland’s largest retail chain, and believes the acquisition would be the perfect [...]

WireCo World Group has purchased Drumet, a Poland based steel wire manufacturing company that is the largest of its type in Central Europe. The purchase was made from Penta Investments. Drumet (www.drumet.pl) Drumet was founded in 1895 and has been the largest producer of steel wire and wire products in the Central European area. Based [...]