SGAM In Talks To Buy Two Add-On Firms For Poland's Konsalnet

Polish security firm Konsalnet SA, in which private equity fund SGAM Alternative Investments holds a 80% stake, is in advanced talks to acquire two small Polish rivals, SGAM Investment Director Jacek Carbol said Tuesday.

Poland is a unique market in that its security market leaders are local firms, not global ones such as G4S (GFS.LN), Securitas (SECU-B.SK), or Brinks (BCO), Carbol said.

Konsalnet, which expects to record over 500 million zlotys ($178 million) in sales for 2009, is the private equity fund's platform for bolt-on acquisitions, two of which are likely to be announced this week, SGAM executives said.

Jacek Pogonowksi, a partner at SGAM AI, said Konsalnet is looking to grow both organically and by acquisition.

He added that Konsalnet is looking to either outbid in-house security subsidiaries of Polish state-owned companies such as the national postal service in public tenders, or to buy their spun-off security units outright.

If it were to make a larger, cross-border acquisition requiring external financing, Konsalnet would be interested in either buying strong local players or in investing in a country where security services are underdeveloped, enabling it to build a strong position early.

"Although it isn't the same market as a year and a half or two years ago, it is easier to get acquisition financing in Poland for medium-sized deals compared with Western Europe or the rest of the region," Pogonowski said.

-By Marynia Kruk, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]