CMS has provided legal advice on financing the construction of Poland's first hospital of this scale under the PPP formula. This project will pave the way for the implementation of similar large projects of this type in Poland. As part of the investment, InterHealth Canada Limited will build a new facility in Zywiec, which will replace the only hospital in the region, which will be closed down. The private partner will be also responsible for the provision of medical services in the new facility.

Under the signed loan agreements InterHealth is expected to receive funding from three banks - FM PBP Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Alior Bank.  The financial closure of the transaction should take place in the coming months.

“Obtaining the funding for the hospital in Zywiec closes yet another stage of Poland's first PPP project of this type in healthcare and, more importantly, opens the way for more such investments in a sector that requires huge capital investments”, says Wadim Kurpias, head of the Department of Infrastructure and Project Financing at CMS Warsaw. “When funding an investment project in the field of healthcare, it is necessary to deal with a volatile business environment, which results from, among other things, the way medical services are contracted, the changing concept of healthcare in Poland, and the absence of a clear determination of the place of private hospitals in the public system. I am glad that we were able to minimise business risk at the legal level and that the negotiations were successful”, says Tomasz Zwolinski, Of Counsel in the Department of Banking and Finance at CMS Warsaw.

CMS advised the financing banks in this project. The work involved providing legal advice on the protection of lenders’ interests under the public-private partnership agreement, assistance in structuring transactions, preparing and negotiating financing documents for the investment, and coordinating the investor’s receipt of funds.

This was the first PPP investment of this kind in Poland’s health sector. Andrew Kozlowski, managing partner of the firm in Poland, led the following team:

   * PPP regulations: Wadim Kurpias, partner in charge of the Department of Infrastructure and Project Finance in Central and Eastern Europe; Marcin Oszczak, Of Counsel; Jacek Liput, senior associate; Marta Kulhawik, lawyer; and Joanna Olejnik-Kraczewska, lawyer.
   * Investment financing (Polish law): Tomasz Zwolinski, Of Counsel; Jakub Rachwol, senior associate; Anna Wawrzynczak-Palynyczak, senior associate; Adam Stopyra, senior associate; Paula Hryckowiak, lawyer; Joanna Nycz, lawyer; Jakub Kisielewski, lawyer.
   * Investment financing (English law): Simon Dayes, partner; Lawrence Florescu, lawyer with CMS Romania; Helena Thompson, lawyer; Rowena Williams, lawyer from United Kingdom.
   * Healthcare regulations: Anna Mirek, senior associate.
   * Real estate law: Anna Jelen, senior associate.