Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) signed a preliminary agreement to purchase a controlling stake in Torpol, a Polish company specialising in the modernisation and construction of railway infrastructure to efficiently implement CPK railway investment projects.
The capital commitment to an experienced infrastructure construction company is expected to facilitate the construction of the CPK spokes, the railway lines leading, among other, to the new airport.
Through this transaction, CPK would acquire 38% of shares from Towarzystwo Finansowe Silesia (TFS), a state-owned company under the supervision of the Minister of State Assets, which is currently the largest shareholder of Torpol. The transaction was conducted according to market standards. It was subjected to a financial feasibility analysis and received a positive result in the private investor test. Once the Torpol agreement is signed, the next step for CPK is to obtain corporate approvals and apply to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection for approval of the transaction.
“The aim of the CPK investment in Torpol is to mitigate the risk of the lack of adequate contractor resources for the ambitious CPK investment programme. From our point of view, it is important that railway contractors are capable of implementing extensive investment programmes, have financial credibility and at the same time are competitive,” the Deputy Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Marcin Horała, Government Plenipotentiary for CPK said.
“CPK is the largest infrastructure programme in Poland. Torpol is one of the most important construction companies in Poland. CPK’s takeover of Torpol does not mean that it will obtain contracts on a preferential basis. However, both parties can confidently invest in a long-term relationship based on trust. CPK as a strategic investor in Torpol is good news for other ordering parties and for the Polish infrastructure market, for which project implementation methods based on partnership cooperation between the ordering party and the contractors are another development leap,” Mikołaj Wild, the president of CPK, said.
Key benefits of the transaction include reducing the risk of a shortage of the necessary contractor resources for the CPK railway investment. The purchase allows CPK to access Torpol’s resources and both parties to adjust the allocation of investment risk between the contracting authority and the general contractor.
“The acquisition of an industry investor for Torpol creates an opportunity for further growth of the company’s position on the railway investment market and at the same time is important for the strategic CPK project. We wish the CPK management a successful takeover in building value, not only for the company and its shareholders, but also for our country,” Karol Rabenda, Deputy Minister of State Assets said.
Torpol has implemented greenfield projects in the past and has a multi-discipline practice in delivering investments in the railway, road and enclosed structure sectors. The company was responsible, for example, for the construction of the Łódź Fabryczna railway station, where CPK will build a 4 km long-distance railway tunnel.
CPK is preparing the construction of 10 spokes, leading from different regions of Poland to Warsaw and the new airport. In total, 2,000 km of railway lines will be constructed and expected to be completed by the end of 2040. Feasibility studies are already being developed for 1,500 km of them. Of these, CPK already has investor variants for a 140-km section of high-speed rail between Warsaw and Łódź, 200 km between Łódź and Wrocław and 40 km in the Rzeszów area.
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