Norton Rose Fulbright advises financial institutions on EUR 690 million financing for a newly established joint venture of Orange Polska S.A.

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright advised a consortium formed by domestic and international financial institutions on structuring and financing of senior secured facilities for a newly established joint venture of Orange Polska S.A. and an investor controlled by APG, one of the world’s largest pension investors. The total value of the financing was equal to PLN 3.15 billion (EUR 690 million).

The syndicate of the lenders included European Investment Bank and underwriters: BNP Paribas, ING Bank N.V., Societe Generale S.A. and Santander Bank Polska S.A.

The facilities are being made available to Światłowód-Inwestycje, a 50/50 joint venture of Orange Polska and APG, to finance fiber to the home (FTTH) roll-out to 1.7 million households over the next 5 years. Światłowód-Inwestycje will operate in an open access model providing wholesale access to its fibre network to all interested operators.

The Warsaw team was led by counsel Marta Kawecka and included legal consultant Piotr Milczarek, associate Karolina Majcher and associate Igor Kondratowicz.

The team worked under the supervision of partner Grzegorz Dyczkowski, who heads the Warsaw office and the firm’s Warsaw banking and finance practice, and partner Agnieszka Braciszewska, who heads the Warsaw corporate, M&A and securities practice.

Support was provided by London-based partner James Dunnett and associate Grace Carpenter. Partner Alexandre Roth and associate Loraine Viard provided French law advice.

Marta Kawecka commented: “We were really proud to be working on the first fiber deal to be financed in Poland through a non-recourse structure. All parties and advisers brought excellent level of knowledge and experience to the deal which will help deliver fiber to an additional 1.7 million homes in Poland, mainly in areas where access to high-speed Internet is still limited.”

Orange Polska is the leading telecommunication provider in Poland, operating in all segments of the Polish telecoms market. The Group owns the largest telecom infrastructure in Poland, providing voice and data services on fixed and mobile networks.