american investors

Księży Młyn Fire Station

Copernicus Finance is the investment banking arm of Copernicus Group, which was established in Poland in 1995. Our activities include asset management, corporate finance and real state services.

In the field of asset management, Copernicus Finance via its subsidiary (KP Konsorcjum) manages two National Investment Funds, Octava NFI and NFI Piast. Copernicus’ spectacular success in this area is the creation of exceptionally high value for shareholders in Octava. The fund’s value exceeds by more than 100% the NFI average. For over 5 years Octava index has constantly surpassed the NFI benchmark (see graph below). Copernicus saved the other NFI, Piast, from bankruptcy. Copernicus is now positioned as a clear leader in alternative asset management on the Polish market.

When we started, asset management was our core activity. Over time, we began taking challenges in corporate finance. We have acted as advisor at privatization and restructuring transactions, acquisitions, capital raising, flotation and inward foreign investment. We have gained a strong position on the Polish market of corporate finance services. In fact, Copernicus Finance Polska is the only Polish member firm of the international M&A network, the global leader in mergers and acquisitions.

The unique feature of Copernicus’ skilled team is its ability to combine Western standards of management with extensive know-how about the Polish market and Polish business culture. This is our competitive edge over other firms providing investment banking services, and makes us the desired partner for foreign investors entering Poland.

We know how to do business but we also know to respect goods which, in commercial terms, have no price - yet are very precious. In 1999/2000 we renovated and converted an important building, the Księży Młyn Fire Station in the historic district of Łódź, into office space. The building, erected in 1891, serves now as a continuing reminder of old Łódź and was awarded the “Best Modernization of the Year” by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski in 2000. Currently, the office space is let to companies. In Łódź, there are no office objects of the standard of Księży Młyn.

Copernicus has also been a success for its shareholders. One measure of this success is the corporate income taxes paid over the past 5 years, which are on a scale unique among firms of this size.