DC Advisory's European Mid-Market Private Equity Round-Up: CEE Q1 2021 Highlights

Highlights

• Investors across the region have been pleasantly surprised by the rate of recovery in Poland, especially considering the modest stimulus package deployed[1]. Given the overall rebound in the economy - and the continued strong sentiment in public and private markets - we expect M&A and private equity investment levels in Poland to continue to grow in 2021
• In comparison to deal volumes experienced in Q1 of 2020, Q1 2021 saw a similar level of M&A activity across the sectors in the CEE region. The most active sectors were Infrastructure and TMT, a result to be expected given their resilience to the cyclical impact of Covid-19 lockdown measures
• Looking forward to Q2 2021 and beyond, we anticipate an increasing number of public to private transactions due to a recent pension reform that forces major local funds to unwind their positions in companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange[2]. Situations such as this may well help to create additional opportunities for private equity funds in 2021

Key deals [3]

Consumer, Leisure & Retail

• Resource Partners has agreed to acquire Nesperta, a Polish-based producer of nail polish, from Tomasz Golebiewski, for an undisclosed consideration
• Żabka has agreed to acquire Maczfit, a Polish-based home delivery dietary catering company, from Resource Partners, for an undisclosed consideration

Industrials Products & Services

• Omikron Capital has agreed to acquire Dagat ECO, a Polish-based processor of metal pipes and profiles, from Piotr Gulczewski, for an undisclosed consideration
• TEP Capital has agreed to acquire Nicator, a Polish-based manufacturer of polyethylene films for packaging, from Leszek Uba, for an undisclosed consideration

TMT

• MM Grupp has agreed to acquire Kids Network Television, an Estonian-based media company, for an undisclosed consideration
• A group of investors led by Partech Partners have agreed to acquire Velka Pecka (dba Rohlik Group), a Czech Republican-based online grocery company, for a consideration of €190m
• Mid Europa Partners has agreed to acquire Sage, a Polish-based provider of cloud business management solutions for SMEs, for a consideration of £66m
• RTB House has agreed to acquire WhitePress, a Polish-based content creating platform, from Innova Capital, for an undisclosed consideration
• Pollen Street Capital has agreed to acquire Punkta, a Polish-based online insurance comparison platform, from MCI, for an undisclosed consideration
• Cellnex Telecom has agreed to acquire Polkomtel, a telecommunication infrastructure company, from Cyfrowy Polsat, for an undisclosed consideration

2014 – 2021 YTD total deals in CEE, by sector [4]

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References

[1] The impact on the market may be neutral, but…, Parkiet, 17 February 2021

[2] The impact on the market may be neutral, but…, Parkiet, 17 February 2021

[3] All CEE deals sourced from: Q1 2021 European mid-market deal report, Mergermarket, 04 March 2021 (criteria available on request)

[4] CEE graph sourced from: Q1 2021 European mid-market deal report, Mergermarket, 04 March 2021 (criteria available on request)