Liberty Global has agreed to sell UPC Poland to iliad’s Polish mobile subsidiary Play for an enterprise value of PLN 7 billion ($1.8 billion).
Iliad, the parent company of the iliad Group, operates under the trade names of Free in France, iliad in Italy and Play in Poland. Play is a consumer-focused mobile-network operator in Poland with more than 15 million subscribers. In conjunction with the sale, Liberty Global has agreed to provide Play with certain transitional services for as many as four years.
Proceeds from the deal are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, which may include reinvestment into the business and support for the company’s significant, multi-year share buyback commitment.
“This transaction highlights, yet again, the significant value of fiber-rich HFC networks in Europe, as well as the substantial synergy benefits inherent in fixed-mobile convergence mergers,” said Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global. “We have been oper
