Published: January 9, 2009
EQT Partners, investment advisor to all EQT funds, has opened a new office in Warsaw with a team headed by Piotr Czapski. The local presence in Poland is a crucial step in EQT’s expansion into the Central and Eastern European markets.
“These markets are relatively new to EQT Partners and we see excellent investment opportunities for all our business lines. I am convinced that in a few years a meaningful part of EQT´s investments will come from Central and Eastern Europe,” says Conni Jonsson, managing partner of EQT Partners. Piotr Czapski has joined EQT Partners as partner and local head of the Central and Eastern European organisation. He comes most recently from a position as board member of Netia, the largest alternative telecom operator in Poland. Before that, he led McKinsey & Co’s business technology practice in Eastern Europe.
EQT is a leading private equity group with operations in Northern and Eastern Europe, North America and Asia. The expanding presence in Central and Eastern Europe will also be an important support for existing portfolio companies as they look at new potential markets or add-on acquisitions. The region is one of the fastest growing in the world, with a predicted growth rate of above 5% on average. As markets and institutions have matured in the region in recent years, the opportunities for private equity in various forms have become apparent.