TMT M&A dealmakers meet in Warsaw to assess telecom consolidation across CEE region

Aug. 20, 2015 - PRLog -- Telecom, media and technology companies are assessing merger and acquisition opportunities across the central and East Europe region, as strong financing conditions and the rapid convergence of fixed and mobile business models is accelerating consolidation, according to industry sources.

Leading M&A executives from operators Orange, VimpelCom and Telekom Austria, and investment banks Barclays and Rothschild will address the issue on the widely anticipated TMT M&A Panel, hosted by leading global law firm CMS McKenna, at the annual TMT Finance CEE 2015 Conference, in Warsaw on September 29. http://www.tmtfinance.com/cee/

Telecom and media mergers have already been making headlines in the region over the past 12 months, including: Scripps Networks Interactive’s acquisition of Polish broadcaster TVN for US$843m; the sale of Polish cloud and hosting platform home.pl to United Internet; Telekom Austria-owned Mobiltel’s purchase of Bulgarian cable company Blizoo; Netia’s purchase of Poland’s TK Telekom; and Lama Group’s deal to buy Digi TV from RCS&RDS, among others.

Ben Nice, Editor of TMT Finance, the leading global news source for telecoms M&A, said the upward trend in deals will continue in 2015 to 2016: “It has been a busy 12 months for the region, and the loosening of regulatory controls on national mobile operator consolidation, combined with convergence of fixed and mobile strategies will drive more larger deals later this year and into 2016,” he said.

“Telekom Srbija is currently attracting interest from a number of buyers, and Goldman Sachs is exploring options for mobile operator BITE in Latvia and Lithuania. In Poland, PLAY and Multimedia Polska could assess strategic options next year, while Cyfrowy Polsat and PPF’s CETIN are taking advantage of cheap borrowing costs to refinance, which could fuel further deals down the track.”

John Fitzpatrick, Global Head of TMT M&A/Transactional, CMS will host the TMT M&A Panel at TMT Finance CEE 2015. He is joined by Roland Haidner, Head of M&A, Telekom Austria; Sergey Plykin, Group Strategy Director, VimpelCom; Stanislaw Sawczyn, Managing Director, Rothschild; Alex Evans, Managing Director, Head of TMT EMEA, Barclays Capital; and Krzysztof Urbanski, Head of M&A and Director, Orange Poland.

TMT Finance CEE 2015, features over 50 speakers and 15 sessions gathering the leading regional telecom and media executives, investment bankers, investors and professional advisers to discuss regional strategy and investment opportunities.  The event is supported by Accenture, Dentons, CMS and IFC.

To register, go to: http://www.tmtfinance.com/cee/register/

See the full programme here: http://www.tmtfinance.com/cee/programme