BUSINESS
JANUARY 30 – FEBRUARY 5, 2012
www.wbj.pl
5
Airlines
Investor meetings regarding the potential takeover have already taken place
the remaining shares belonging to the company’s employees. The Treasury plans to sell the carrier after Lot finishes restructuring, but the process of privatizing the airline has been ongoing for some 11 years now. Ms Kobos said the privatization is “really complicated, and we’ve spent years trying to sell the asset. But this is not a simple market. The financial situation is demanding because of the crisis and because of the airline market, as we see
identity of the second potential buyer. Magdalena Kobos, a spokesperson for the Treasury Ministry, confirmed to WBJ that talks with two investors have taken place recently. “We have two potential investors – not only Turkish Airlines – which have different communication strategies,” Ms Kobos said, adding that the unnamed company wishes to remain anonymous. The state currently owns a 93 percent stake in Lot, with
After holding informal talks in December of 2011, Turkish Airlines has formally announced its interest in buying Poland’s state-owned airline, Lot. Another player has also expressed interest in the airline, but as of yet no details have been released as to the
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Turkish Airlines to acquire Poland’s Lot?
Turkish Airlines is the eighth-largest airline in the world a lot of consolidation in the airline industry.” “Right now, we have no special agenda, no more meetings scheduled. It will depend on the talks that took place,” she added.
Ms Kobos did specify that the Treasury would like to finish the process by the end of 2012. Turkish Airlines recently won the title of “Best Airliner in Europe” at the 2011 World
Airline Awards held by Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy firm specializing in the airline industry. The airline currently ranks as the eighth-largest in the world. Ella Pa∏ka
Courier services
FedEx to purchase Polish courier for z∏.100 million: daily The US company reportedly wants to finish the acquisition by the end of H1
COURTESY OF FEDEX
US logistics and courier services company FedEx is set to purchase Opek, a family owned Polish courier company
FedEx wants to strengthen its presence in Poland
for z∏.100 million, according to Polish daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. The newspaper reported that FedEx wants the Polish firm to join its international operations by the first half of 2012. The company’s owners, Henryk Opiƒski and his family, established Opek in 1994. It currently operates services throughout the country. Already, Opek handles a reported 7.2 million shipments a year, but only 0.01 percent of those are directed outside of Poland. The takeover then holds potential for FedEx to significantly strengthen the firm’s international capabilities. Opek has said in the past
Polish utility Enea’s reported public declaration of interest in buying a stake in coal miner Lubelski W´giel Bogdanka could have seriously handicapped the company’s chances of making an investment at a reasonable price, according to analysts. Enea’s deputy CEO reportedly said last week – in a statement which the company later denied was ever made – that the firm is considering investing in the coal miner in order to gain direct access to coal used for energy production. “We are considering such an idea and we are running a deep analysis of it now,” deputy CEO Krzysztof Zborowski reportedly said in an interview for TVN CNBC. “We have also thought about that before.” “This is in a study phase, but privately I think that creating a line from extraction, through production and sale, does make a lot of sense.” The majority of analysts
COURTESY OF BOGDANKA
Enea too eager to buy Bogdanka?
Bogdanka headquarters polled by Parkiet said in reference to the reported comments that public statements in which company officials express an interest in a certain investment can give the potential buyer a weaker bargaining position, thus forcing it to pay a higher price than it might
otherwise have done. Also last week Bogdanka announced that it has signed a 19-year coal supply deal worth z∏.11.2 billion with Enea. Deliveries to Enea’s planned 1,000 megawatt power block are due to start in Q1 2017. Gareth Price
that the rise of e-commerce presents a significant challenge. Cooperation with FedEx could potentially give it a leg up. Jacek Bàkowski, assistant director of sales at Opek, recently told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna that, “the e-commerce market in Poland is just beginning to take shape and it is a big challenge for shipping companies. One has to meet the needs of customers who
require quick deliveries and low prices.” He added, “This market will expand very quickly in Poland in the nearest years, up to the level that it exists in Western Europe.” As it stands, courier services in Poland cost 20 to 25 percent more than in the rest of the European Union, the daily reported. The move by FedEx to take over Opek could also
pave the way for more competitive pricing, analysts said. International courier firms that already operate on the Polish market include UPS, DHL, GLS and TNT. Some of these firms have been in Poland for close to 20 years. When contacted by WBJ, neither Opek nor FedEx could be reached for comment on the proposed deal. Ella Pa∏ka