Conflict over control of a business empire Zygmunt Solorz revealed last week. The billionaire’s children: Tobias Solorz, Piotr Żak and Aleksandra Żak, jointly sent a letter to the management staff of his largest companies: Cyfrowy Polsat, Telewizja Polsat, Polkomtel and Netia.
The letter warned against making important decisions that may affect the balance of power in company management. The billionaire’s children asked managers to be careful in accepting “orders given by people whose recently acquired rights in this area may be questionable” and to “refrain from signing documents whose legality they cannot be sure of.” This especially applies to decisions issued on behalf of the TiVi Foundation.
Zygmunt Solorz responded after a few days in a statement addressed to employees of the Cyfrowy Polsat group. – Recently, I realized that involving my children in managing companies at this stage does not contribute to greater stability in companies or to building their better future. Therefore, I decided to change this situation and take action to dismiss my children from the authorities of the relevant companies in the coming weeks – declared the billionaire.
READ ALSO: Zygmunt Solorz in a dispute not only with children. His holding company is still fighting with the tax office
Tobias Solorz and Piotr Żak are on the supervisory boards of many companies from Zygmunt Solorz’s holding. They both perform this function, among others: in Cyfrowy Polsat, Netia, Polkomtel, Interia and the Pątnów-Adamów-Konin Power Plant Complex. In recent years, they were also appointed to the supervisory boards of special purpose vehicles of the Port of Praski (implements real estate projects) and PAK – Polska Czysta Energia (operates in the zero-emission energy industry). Moreover, at the beginning of this year, Piotr Żak he was delegated from the supervisory board to the position of president of Telewizja Polsat, and in June he took up this position permanently.
In turn, Aleksandra Żak does not perform any functions in Solorz’s business empire. He lives in the USA, where he runs a foundation helping animals.
Who will take over the Solorz foundations?
The exchange of letters continues a months-long dispute regarding control over two entities registered in Liechtenstein: TiVi Foundation and Solkomtel Foundation, through which Zygmunt Solorz owns his most important companies in Poland. As for Cyfrowy Polsat, the billionaire has shares constituting 62.04%. capital and 70.36 percent votes at the general meeting (taking into account the shares purchased by the company in recent years), of which 60.47 and 69.13 percent, respectively. through the TiVi Foundation.
According to the findings of “Gazeta Wyborcza” in 2022, Zygmunt Solorz, as the owner and actual beneficiary of both foundations, introduced an additional provision regarding secondary beneficiaries, which are his children. They were to take over the management of the foundations not only after his death, but also during his lifetime, in certain situations, mainly related to the businessman’s health (loss of ability to act). In May last year it was agreed that Piotr Żak and Tobias Solorz would take over the management of the TiVi Foundation in mid-December, but in August Solorz withdrew the entire provision regarding succession from the statute.
Billionaire he was to tell his children that his health had improved and he felt able to continue managing his holding. – Justyna Kulka and attorney Jerzy Modrzejewski supporting her are present during the procedure for revoking the decision – noted in “GW”.
>>> Praca.Wirtualnemedia.pl – thousands of media and marketing advertisements
Justyna Kulka is Zygmunt Solorz’s current life partner and wife for several months. For over a decade, she worked in managerial and directorial positions at Polkomtel, and in recent years she has joined the supervisory boards of many other companies from the Cyfrowy Polsat group, including: Telewizja Polsat, Polkomtel, Netia, Interia, Liberty Poland, Mobiem, as well as companies implementing projects in the field of zero-emission energy. Additionally, he is a member of the supervisory boards of PGE PAK Energie Jądrowa and Plus Bank, controlled by Zygmunt Solorz. She is the vice-chairwoman of the Program Council of the Lepsza Polska Association.
Solorz withdrew from the succession provisions
Jerzy Modrzejewski is a lawyer who has been working closely with Zygmunt Solorz for many years. According to “Wyborcza” A few months ago, Solorz issued powers of attorney to Modrzejewski and his son to manage investment vehicles through which he controls his holding.
This worried Solorz’s children, who at the turn of July and August they met their father in Warsaw. As a result of two days of talks, the businessman signed a notarial declaration handing over the management of the TiVi Foundation and Solkomtel Foundation to his childrenretaining the right to veto their decisions and dividends.
However, a day later, during a meeting attended by Justyna Kulka and Jerzy Modrzejewski, Zygmunt Solorz’s sons learned that their father was withdrawing his statement from the previous day. They signed a resolution that the implementation of this declaration will be suspended until August 16, and during this time, the parties will “conduct talks in good faith aimed at clarifying matters related to the functioning of both foundations.”
WirtualneMedia.pl newsletter in your e-mail box
According to “GW” On August 13, Zygmunt Solorz withdrew from his statement regarding handing over the management of foundations to children. He justified that he submitted them “under the influence of a fraudulently induced error.”
The children didn’t give up and that’s the point at the end of August, she was brought to a court in Liechtenstein to decide which decision was valid: the one from the beginning of August on the succession for the benefit of the children or the revocation of it on August 13. On September 10 – according to “Wyborcza” – the court issued five interim injunctionsas a result of which the current provisions in the foundation’s statute cannot be changed. An application was also submitted to appoint a curator there.
Justyna Kulka as Zygmunt Solorz’s wife and business partner
In a letter from over a week ago, Zygmunt Solorz’s children admitted that they were seriously concerned because contact with their father was difficult due to his illness and they were not sure where he was currently.
Solorz explained in “Super Express” that he was on his honeymoon with Justyna Kulka. – We are in Europe on a cruise. However, I am constantly up to date with company affairs and participate in their work. Please don’t worry about me, I have everything under control, he said.
According to “GW”, in recent weeks his daughter has been trying most to have direct contact with Zygmunt Solorz. – She personally visited his homes, where she expected to find him, and tracked the location of the yacht he might be on. She received information from people who service houses, boats and planes that they also have difficult contact with Solorz, and Justyna Kulka makes sure that no one talks to him directly – said an anonymous interlocutor of “Wyborcza”.
Another person claims that Justyna Several gradually limited Solorz’s contacts with children. – She was there during every conversation, she answered his phone and either gave it to Zygmunt or said she couldn’t talk. She started pushing his friends away from him and fired his most trusted assistant, Mrs. Bożena, and his old colleagues, she described.
The billionaire’s wife is also to be present in his office at every business meeting. – She controls every meeting, she decides who comes in and who doesn’t, she has a remote control for the door. Even during online meetings, she and Solorz appear together in the camera lens, said the “GW” interlocutor.
There will be changes in the management of Cyfrowy Polsat and ZE PAK
In the first half of September, at the request of Zygmunt Solorz’s investment vehicles, general meetings of Cyfrowy Polsat and Zespół Elektrowni Pątnów-Adamów-Konin were convened to decide on changes in the supervisory boards of both companies.
The General Meeting of ZE PAK is to be held on October 7, and of Cyfrowy Polsat a day later. Both applications, respectively on behalf of the Cypriot company Argumenol Investment and TiVi Foundation, were signed by Jerzy Modrzejewski.
Solorz has been without dividends for several years
Zygmunt Solorz has been at the forefront of the richest Poles for many years, although since 2022 he has recorded a decline in this ranking. This was determined by a large drop in the share price of Cyfrowy Polsat, which, on the one hand, is implementing multi-billion investments in wind, solar and hydrogen energy (it started generating revenues from this area in the second half of last year), and on the other hand, due to the increase in interest rates, it was several times higher than by mid-2021, it must pay interest on loans and bonds (the holding signed new loan agreements last spring).
As a consequence – as we described in detail a few months ago – Cyfrowy Polsat shares dropped from the record level of PLN 36-38 by more than two-thirds in March this year. setting its historical lows just below PLN 10.
At the exchange rate of PLN 12.64 on Tuesday afternoon, the company’s capitalization was PLN 8.1 billion, and the stake belonging to Solorz (excluding Cyfrowy Polsat’s own shares) was worth PLN 3.89 billion. However, at the price of PLN 38 per share, the value of this package reached PLN 11.7 billion.
Cyfrowy Polsat has not paid dividends for two years, but in 2019-22 it transferred annually from PLN 595 to 767 million to investors, approximately half of which went to TiVi Foudation
The share price of ZE PAK, Zygmunt Solorz’s second holding listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, was pushed to a much higher level by signing an agreement in the fall of 2022 with the state-owned company PGE and the Korean concern KHNP regarding the construction of a nuclear power plant.
At the exchange rate as of Wednesday afternoon, ZE PAK was valued at PLN 897.5 million, and the stake belonging to Solorz – at PLN 592 million. The company last paid a dividend of PLN 61 million in 2018.
