Poland buys back mountain cable car operator

The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions in which Poland’s government has been buying back foreign-held assets, the Reuters news agency reported.

The transaction, in which the Polish Development Fund agreed to buy 99.77 percent of Polish Cableways (PKL) from a subsidiary of Mid Europa Partners, will be finalised in several months once all the necessary conditions are met, including consent from Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, PFR said in a statement on Tuesday, as quoted by Poland’s PAP news agency.

CEO Paweł Borys was cited as saying in a statement that his Polish Development Fund “is a long-term investor interested in developing the skiing and tourist infrastructure of PKL.”

Mid Europa Partners bought PKL in 2013 for PLN 215 million (around EUR 50 million, USD 57 million), public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported.

Poland’s conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński has said that PKL, which operates scenic cable cars to the top of several mountain peaks in Poland, should revert to Polish hands.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (left) speaks during a news conference at Kasprowy Wierch on Tuesday. Photo: PAP/Grzegorz Momot

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday: "It is a very important day and one for which we have waited a long time ... Today I can express my great joy and gratitude to all those who fought for the Polish Cableways to return into Polish ownership after the company was sold by our predecessors in 2013."

Speaking on top of the Kasprowy Wierch peak in Poland's southern Tatra mountains, where a cable service is run by PKL, Morawiecki told reporters that the purchase was being made "at a very good price."

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP, IAR, Reuters