Cornerstone, Oaktree buy Poland's ProService from Highlander

Oaktree and Cornerstone will buy all of the company's shares in the transaction, which sees the US firm tap its European Principal Fund for the equity portion.

Cornerstone is an exclusive partner to Oaktree in sourcing, executing and supporting transactions in the CEE region for the GP. Cornerstone senior vice-president Krzysztof Pralat told unquote" the ProService acquisition is the first step for Oaktree in developing a BPO platform to service clients in the banking, insurance and asset management segments. The business will target both local clients and those looking to take their services offshore.

Highlander managing partner Dawid Walendowski said the decision to exit came in the wake of strong results by the company. "We decided to sell because the company's performance and value creation has exceeded our expectations," he said. "We felt we had a good story for the market and a fairly unique asset that would generate a lot of interest –- which was borne out by the successful signing."

ProService was sold through an exclusive auction process run by Rothschild, with no dual track. Though neither party would disclose the deal's size or returns, Cornerstone's Pralat told unquote" an acquisition finance package had been provided by a local Polish bank and that the leverage level was in line with market standards.

The deal is subject to approval by local competition authorities.

Company
Headquartered in Warsaw, ProService is a business process outsourcing company.

The business provides outsourced support services for the financial services sector in Poland and internationally, including IT services, accounting and transfer agency.

ProService employs a staff of 350, serving 52 clients with a total of PLN 55bn in assets under administration.

People
Highlander Partners – Artur Dżagarow (operating partner); Dawid Walendowski (managing partner).
Cornerstone Partners – Krzysztof Pralat (senior vice-president); Maciej Dyjas (managing partner); Przemysław Krych (founder, managing partner).
Oaktree European Principal Group – Karim Khairallah (managing director).

Advisers
Vendor – Gessel (legal); Rothschild (corporate finance).
Equity – Weil Gotshal & Manges (legal); EY (financial due diligence, tax); GFA Luxembourg (commercial due diligence).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• CEE
• Support services
• Poland
• Oaktree Capital
• Highlander Partners
• Secondary buyout
• Rothschild
• Weil Gotshal & Manges
• EY (Ernst & Young)