Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised Play Communications S.A. (Play) and its shareholders, Novator and Olympia, on the €1 billion (PLN 4.4 billion) initial public offering (IPO) of Play on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, which values the company at €4 billion (PLN 16 billion). Play will be listed on July 27, 2017. It is the largest IPO in the telecommunications sector in Europe since June 2015, and one of the five largest ever Polish IPOs.

“White & Case has a strong relationship with Novator and Olympia and we’ve been advising Play since 2014,” said White & Case partner Ian Bagshaw, who co-led the Firm’s deal team. “Our lawyers in London and Warsaw have advised on a complex and successful IPO that will allow the company to continue its exciting growth journey.”

Play, a portfolio company of private equity firms Novator and Olympia, was founded a decade ago and has increased its market share from less than five percent in 2008 to 27 percent in 2017, making it Poland’s second largest mobile network. It competes with Orange, Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and Polkomtel’s Plus, and has more than 14 million customers.

The transaction was advised on by the international team of White & Case lawyers from Warsaw and London offices. The White & Case Warsaw team was led by Marcin Studniarek, partner, who among others was supported by Rafał Kamiński, local partner, Grzegorz Jukiel, tax advisor and Monika Dużyńska, associate. In London the White & Case team was led by two partners Ian Bagshaw and Jill Concannon, and the team included Jonathan Parry, Prabhu Narasimhan, Martin Forbes and Nicholas Greenacre, partners and Ben von Maur, James Greene, Benjamin Bierwirth, Brian Dearing, David Nisbet and Nicola Chapman, associates.