or the first time in Poland the prizes will be given in the PE sector. Statuettes “Private Equity Diamonds ” will be awarded to individuals and companies related to the PE sector, whose activities are distinguishable by excellent financial results, high levels of substantive content, economic effectiveness and innovation. These awards will be decided on by a Jury selected by the Organiser from among outstanding theoreticians and practitioners in the field of economics. The role of Honorary Chairman was assumed by Aleksander Kwaśniewski.

Categories of Awards

  • BEST FUND OF THE YEAR
  • BEST EXIT OF THE YEAR
  • BEST BANK OF THE YEAR
  • CORPORATE FINANCE ADVISOR OF THE YEAR
  • LEGAL ADVISOR OF THE YEAR
  • TRANSACTION OF THE YEAR
  • PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
  • BEST PORTFOLIO COMPANY OF THE YEAR

Jury
HONORARY CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY:

Aleksander Kwaśniewski – President of Poland 1995-2005aleksander_kwasniewski_prezydent_rp

He was born on the 15th November 1954, in Białogard, Poland. He participated in the famous “Round-Table” negotiations in Poland that finally brought the peaceful transformation of Poland and the whole Central and Eastern Europe from communism to democracy. A co-founding member and first chairman of the Social Democratic Party of the Republic of Poland. He won the presidential elections for the first time in 1995, starting against Lech Walesa. Co-author of the new democratic Constitution of Poland, which he signed into law on July 16th, 1997.się 15 listopada 1954 r. w Białogardzie (woj. koszalińskie, obecnie zachodniopomorskie). Studia (1973-1977) na Wydziale Ekonomiki Transportu (handel zagraniczny) Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. Działacz ruchu studenckiego do 1982 r., m.in. przewodniczący Rady Uczelnianej SZSP (1976-1977), wiceprzewodniczący Zarządu Wojewódzkiego w Gdańsku (1977-1979), członek władz naczelnych SZSP (1977-1982). Redaktor Naczelny tygodnika studenckiego “ITD” (listopad 1981-luty 1984), redaktor naczelny dziennika “Sztandar Młodych” (1984-1985), współtwórca pierwszego czasopisma poświęconego komputeryzacji “Bajtek” (1985).

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A great advocate of Poland’s membership in both NATO and the European Union. It was under his leadership that Poland finally joined NATO in 1999. He is an active supporter of further alliance enlargement under the “open door” policy. A strong proponent of European integration, Kwaśniewski campaigned for approval of the European Union accession treaty in 2003, and saw Poland become a member on May 1, 2004.Aleksander Kwaśniewski was one of the leading figures in European Politics. Author of numerous local and regional initiatives, decisively joined the global war on terror and backed the decision to send Polish troops to the war against Saddam Hussein. Long – standing supporter of Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty, Aleksander Kwaśniewski inspired the international mediation efforts during the 2004 Orange Revolution, helping the young democracy in Ukraine to prevail.

During his Presidency, he couragesly confronted the past, significantly contributing to the reconciliation between Poles and the German, Jewish and Ukrainian people.

On March 7, 2006, Kwaśniewski was appointed Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership at Georgetown University, where, as a visiting faculty member, he taught students in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service about contemporary European politics, the trans-Atlantic relationship and democratization in Central and Eastern Europe. He is also i.a. member of the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, member of the Atlantic Council of the United States, member of the Bilderberg Group, Head of the Supervisory Board of the Amicus Europae Foundation in Warsaw and International Center for Political Studies in Kiev, Head of the International Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation, Head of the Board of Yalta European Strategy.

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CZŁONKOWIE KAPITUŁY:

Till Burges – Vice – President, HarbourVest Partners (U.K.) Limitedburges_till_120x180px

Till Burges joined HarbourVest’s London-based subsidiary in 2006 as an associate in the primary partnership group and became a vice president in 2010. Till focuses on researching, monitoring, and reporting on European partnership investments. Prior to joining the Firm, Till worked for six years as a consultant at Bain & Company in the U.K. and Germany, where he focused on projects including commercial due diligence, post-merger integration, and organic company growth. Till received a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Applied Science in Lübeck, Germany in 1999 and an MBA from IESE, Universidad de Navarra, in Barcelona, Spain in 2004. Originally from Germany, Till speaks German, French, and Spanish.

 

Igor Chalupec

Igor_Chalupec_Prezes_Zarządu_Icentis

Chairman of the Board Icentis

 

 

 

 

Leszek Czarnecki – Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Getin Holding S.A. and Getin Noble Bank S.A.czarnecki_leszek

Main shareholder of 7 companies listed on the WSE. He built European Leasing Fund from the scratch, later he created Getin Noble Bank, nowadays the biggest Polish private bank, as well as Getin Holding – the financial group. He was awarded by several business organisations, Polish and foreign media. “The Financial Times” recognised him as one of the emerging stars of European business, and he was the only Pole on the list. “The Wall Street Journal” awarded him as one of the best managers in Central Europe. He is an author of two books: „Simply business” and „Risk in banking. A post-crisis perspective”

 

Nick Fletcher – Partner Clifford Chanceerfletcher_nick_120x180px

Nick Fletcher is a partner at Clifford Chance and an English Solicitor (Supreme Court of England and Wales). He has over 25 years of experience of practising as a corporate lawyer, 18 of which have been spent in Central and Eastern Europe. Nick was the managing partner of the Warsaw office for 10 years, he headed the Kyiv office during its inception and also supervised the opening of the Bucharest office.

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Nick is best known for his work for clients throughout Central and South Eastern Europe. He mainly advises Western clients on their investments in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. In particular, Nick has advised on a number of private equity investments in a diverse range of sectors. He is praised by legal directories for his CEE expertise.

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Przemysław Gdański – Member of the Board, Head of Corporate Banking, BRE Bank SAgdanski_przemyslaw

Graduated from the University of Gdańsk (major: International Trade) and completed a one-year program in international banking and finance at the Loughborough University in the UK. He has over 20 years of experience in corporate banking. In 1993–1995 he worked for IBP Bank S.A. (BRE Bank was one of its shareholders), then for ABN AMRO Bank in Poland, Romania and in the headquarters in Amsterdam. In 2002-2006 he was the Managing Director of Large Corporates Division in BPH Bank. From May to November 2006 – Chief Executive Officer and General Director of Calyon Bank Polska [toggle title=”read more” on=”0″]President of the Management Board in BPH Bank, responsible for corporate banking and real estate financing. As a result of the merger of part of BPH Bank and Pekao S.A. – Vice President of the Board, responsible for Corporate Banking, Markets and Investment Banking in Division of Pekao S.A. Member of the Management Board of BRE Bank since November, 2008.[/toggle]

Włodzimierz Kiciński

Wlodzimierz_Kicinski_Prezes_Zarzadu_Nordea_Bank_PolskaChairman of the Board of Nordea Bank Poland in the years 2002-2011

 

 

 

 

prof. Witold Orłowski – Director of Business School Technical University of Warsaworlowski_witold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Ludwik Sobolewski – Ph. D. – President of the Management Board and CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchangesobolewski_120x180px

Graduate of the Law and Administration Faculty of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow and the Panthéon – Assas University (Paris II), Doctor of Law, Legal Advisor, examined judge’s trainee. He started his professional career at the Law and Administration Faculty of the Jagiellonian University. Between 1992 and 1993, he was Advisor to the Minister – Head of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland and until October 1993, he served as Director of the Office’s Organizational Department.[toggle title=”read more” on=”0″]

From May till October 1994, he was Advisor to the Management Board of the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Head of the Group for the spin-off of the National Depository for Securities (Krajowy Depozyt Papierów Wartościowych) from the Warsaw Stock Exchange. He held the position of Executive Vice President of the Management Board of the National Depository for Securities from 1994 until June 2006.

From June 28, 2006, Ludwik Sobolewski serves as President of the Management Board and CEO of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

In June 2006 he was nominated Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the National Depository for Securities. From June 2008, Mr Sobolewski was Deputy Chairman of the NDS Supervisory Board and in June 2011 he was again appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board. In June 2009, Mr Sobolewski was also appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BondSpot. Since March 2012 he serves also as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Polish Power Exchange (Towarowa Giełda Energii).[/toggle]

 

Lucyna Stanczak – Country Director, Poland. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Poland, working 11 years for the Bank, previously as a Senior Banker responsible for energy and infrastructure sectors. Before joining EBRD Ms. Stanczak worked for ABN AMRO Bank in Poland (Vice President, Structured Finance) and Credit Lyonnaise ( (Corporate Finance). Graduate of Warsaw School of Economics and post graduate economic studies at the College of Europe, Brugges.

Andrzej Szostak – independent investment banking and private equity expertszostak_andrzej_ 120x180px

In 2007 – 2010 he was employed as a Director Buyouts by 3i plc, a leading European private equity firm, to cover the CEE markets. Prior to 3i he spent 16 years with the Rothschild Group – originally as the Managing Partner and CEO of Access Limited (1989 – 1999), a Polish investment banking firm associated with Rothschild, and later as the Managing Director and CEO of Rothschild Polska (1999 – 2007). He graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics, the Foreign Trade Faculty.

 

 

Michał Szwarc – Managing Director JP Morganszwarc_michal_ 120x180px

Michał joined J.P. Morgan in September 2011, prior to that (since 1999) he worked for Credit Suisse Investment Banking, since 2006 as Head of Credit Suisse Investment Banking in Poland. Studied Economics at Warsaw University and Columbia University New York. He has advised on several M&A transactions on the Polish and International market [toggle title=”read more” on=”0″] including in particular:

  • Advised EQT on its tender offer for HTL and related financing – EUR 240m (Oct 2009).
  • Advised Permira on its acquisition of Provimi and minorities in Rolimpex – total transaction value EUR 1 245m (April 2007).
  • Advised GTech and Innova Capital on sale of their 100% interest in Polcard USD 325m (Mar 2007).
  • Advised Eaton Park on its public tender offer for 100% interest in Ruch: PLN 620m (July 2010). Acquisition of 33% stake in Netia by Novator and related financing – USD 185m (Jan 2006).