British equity fund may take majority stake in Polskie Konsorcjum Tytoniowe

According to Puls Biznesu the Polish tobacco group Polskie Konsorcjum Tytoniowe (PKT) is currently in talks with a British private equity fund, linked to JP Morgan, regarding investment and buying a possible majority stake in the Polish company. After changing owners in August 2001, PKT began a restructuring program. It has already paid 30% of its debts, including zl. 18 million to financial institutions, and reduced its staff by 25%. The company now needs an additional zl. 20 million to finance its operations and acquisitions. "An investor will be introduced when the company's situation will stabilize," said Pawel Mikolajczuk, PKT president, adding that his enterprise is also talking to other potential investors. PKT has also recently expanded its operations to food and cleaning products, thus increasing its profit margin from 0.18% to 2.5%. Mikolajczuk said the company aims to decrease the presence of cigarettes in its portfolio from 80 to 60%. (Puls Biznesu, p. 3) M.T.K.