Internet Union: from a sole proprietorship, through the stock exchange, to the sale of the business

Choosing the path

We started working with the owner when he received an offer to buy out his business – a broadband internet provider run as a sole proprietorship, with more than 5,000 customers. Together we analysed the options available: a sale, bringing in a strategic or financial investor, debt financing and the public market. We compared them in terms of valuation, control over the company and the ability to fund further growth.

Recommendation and decision: growth with the support of the capital market, with the founder retaining control.

Capital raising and listing on NewConnect

From the start we saw great potential in Internet Union – and in its owner, the determination to realise it. That is why we invested our own capital in the company. We helped set up Internet Union S.A. as a new joint-stock company and prepare it for trading. We supported the company in a private placement of shares, which provided growth capital and the shareholder dispersion required for the listing. We prepared the information document and coordinated the process of introducing the shares to trading.

Internet Union debuted on NewConnect on 3 April 2012. The opening price was PLN 1.50 – 50% above the issue price of PLN 1.00. In the private placement preceding the debut, the company was valued at PLN 4m pre-money and PLN 4.45m post-money.

Authorised Adviser and ongoing support for the management board

Throughout the entire listing period we acted as the company’s Authorised Adviser: disclosure obligations, periodic and current reports, and liaison with the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Central Securities Depository of Poland (KDPW). We handled subsequent share issues (SPOs) and their admission to trading, and designed incentive schemes for key people in the company. This allowed the company to finance its growth and tie the team to results, without the founder losing control.

In parallel, we advised the management board on strategic and financial decisions at successive stages of growth – on bolt-on acquisitions in the sector, investments in the fibre network and the assessment of acquisition offers the company received. We also supported the development of the business, the implementation of innovation, the scaling of operations and the development of new business areas, and prepared EU grant applications for Internet Union S.A.

Sale of the company

Over 13 years of trading, the company grew from around 5,000 to more than 22,000 customers, and its revenue increased from PLN 3.1m in 2012, its first year on the market, to PLN 20.6m in 2024. The company’s market capitalisation rose from PLN 4.45m – based on the post-money valuation in the private placement preceding the debut – to approximately PLN 58m at the end of 2024.

In 2024 the owner accepted an acquisition offer from the Fixmap Group. Following due diligence and negotiations, an agreement for the sale of a majority stake was signed in February 2025. The price: PLN 14.83 per share, almost 15 times the share price in the private placement before the debut. The company’s entire equity was valued at approximately PLN 91m (over PLN 100m including debt). The new owner subsequently carried out a squeeze-out of the remaining shares and delisted the company.

Continued cooperation

With this transaction, from which the owner came away with approximately PLN 82m, our work with the company came to an end – but not our work with its owner. We advise him on further transactions carried out through his investment vehicle, Formative, and pursue joint projects in the venture capital market.