Play confirms IPO plans

Mobile operator Play confirmed its plans to launch IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange later this year. “The offering will consist of a portion of the existing ordinary shares of Play Communications, a Luxembourg incorporated company, held by Play Holdings 1, a company ultimately owned and controlled by Tollerton Investments Limited and Telco Holdings. The offering consists of a public offering to retail investors, authorized employees and institutional investors in Poland and an international offering,” Play said in a market filing. The company will use the proceeds from the listing to pay off its debt. Play is the second biggest mobile operator in Poland with 27.6 percent market share (14.3 million subscribers). It is owned by investment funds Tollerton Investments Limited and Telco Holdings which hold 50.3 percent and 49.7 percent stakes respectively. Play owners have tried to sell the operator a number of times, whether through direct sale or IPO. Until now, the company has been mostly financed through bonds issues and recently conducted a major refinancing of high yielding FX debt.