CAG advised the management team on their participation in the PLN 700m leveraged buyout of Masterlease Poland (Masterlease) by Abris Capital Partners, QIC and Mezzanine Management.

The transaction included the refinancing of the company’s existing debt via the issuance of PLN 534 million corporate bonds on the Warsaw Catalyst bond market.

Masterlease, with a funded fleet of approximately 24,000 vehicles, is the clear leader of the Car Fleet Management sector in Poland, with approximately 15% market share, and some 11,000 clients.

Commenting on the transaction, Łukasz Pawłowski, Partner at CAG, said: „This is probably the largest MBO on the Polish market in recent history and the first private equity deal in Poland to use corporate bonds to finance a buyout.  The management team of Masterlease has done a tremendous job in establishing the Company as the leader on the Polish CFM market, especially when considering the fact that they started the company as a greenfield operation. The sizeable investment by Abris Capital Partners is a clear confirmation to this fact and will provide the Company with financial and operational support required to deliver further dynamic growth”.

„This was a deal where persistence really made a difference; many believed the deal could never get done in such a tough environment”, added Edward MacDonald, Managing Partner at CAG.

CAG acted as a financial adviser to the management team and the company. The deal team consisted of Edward McDonald, Łukasz Pawłowski, Marcin Żaboklicki and Robert Ross. This transaction is one of several significant transactions that CAG has worked on recently,  including the sale of Centrum Filmowe Helios S.A. to Agora S.A. (transaction pending completion) and the sale of Cezar S.A. to Chesapeake.

About CAG

CAG is best known for its sell-side M&A advisory services to private owners but also provides a wide scope of investment banking services including private equity placements, public-to-private deals, MBOs as well as deals in the real estate sector.

Since inception in 1999, CAG has closed 40 deals with a total value of c. EUR 1.2 billion, mostly in Poland but also in various countries of Central Europe.

Clients of CAG are mostly private equity funds seeking to exit from their investments as well as entrepreneurs looking for the right financial partner.  CAG counts amongst its clients many of the largest institutional investors in Central Europe, including Innova Capital, Oresa Ventures, AIG (now Pinebridge Investments), Advent International, BB Investment, MCI Management, Enterprise Investors, Franklin Templeton Investments / Darby, Allied Irish Bank / AIB WBK (now Krokus PE), 3TS and FMO. CAG’s clients also include some of the most successful entrepreneurs in Central Europe, as well as blue chip Polish companies.

W celu uzyskania dodatkowych informacji prosimy o kontakt:
Łukasz Pawłowski, Partner
Tel.: +48 22 53 77 400
email: lukasz.pawlowski@cag.com.pl