EQT Partners has opened a new office in Warsaw with a team headed by new partner Piotr Czapski, formerly a director of alternative telecoms operator Netsia, in what the private equity firm
EQT Partners has opened a new office in Warsaw with a team headed by new partner Piotr Czapski, formerly a director of alternative telecoms operator Netsia, in what the private equity firm says is a crucial step in its expansion into the central and eastern European markets.
‘These markets are relatively new to EQT Partners and we see excellent investment opportunities for all our business lines,’ says managing partner Conni Jonsson. ‘I am convinced that in a few years a meaningful part of EQT´s investments will come from central and eastern Europe.’
Poland will initially be the most important market with its population of 38 million and central geographical position. Czapski, who becomes local head of the central and eastern European organisation, previously led McKinsey’s business technology practice in eastern Europe.
‘We are pleased to have Piotr Czapski joining us in Poland to lead and develop the central and eastern European operations,’ says Thomas von Koch, a partner at the group and head of its buyout operation EQT Equity.
‘He has genuine global competence and experience combined with a broad local network, which is essential when setting up a business in a new region. We will start by focusing on Poland but also cover the other countries in the region.’
According to EQT, its expanding presence in the region will also be an important support for existing portfolio companies as they examine new potential markets or add-on acquisitions. As markets and institutions have matured in the region in recent years, the opportunities for private equity in various forms have become apparent.
‘Many companies in the region have now reached a point where they are looking beyond organic growth in their home markets, and in that context we have a lot to offer with our global reach and network, in addition to our experience of driving industrial acceleration and operational excellence,’ Czapski says.
EQT has operations in northern and eastern Europe, North America and Asia and manages funds active in buyouts as well as mezzanine finance. The firm has raised around EUR11bn in equity commitments for its 11 funds, which have invested and financed a total of more than EUR7bn in some 70 companies.
EQT Expansion Capital provides flexible finance solutions in a variety of situations including leveraged buyouts led by private equity sponsors, acquisitions by strategic investors, expansion capital or restructuring of the shareholder group. The expansion capital business does not acquire companies but provides subordinated and equity-oriented debt solutions to medium-sized companies.
