Poland’s growing investment market and shifting capital flows are creating new opportunities across real estate, infrastructure and other key sectors. Bartłomiej Kordeczka, Partner and Co-Head of Office at Pinsent Masons, discusses the firm’s decision to enter Poland with a 40-plus-lawyer team, what is attracting international investors and where he expects the strongest transactional opportunities to emerge.
Why did Pinsent Masons choose 2026 as the right moment to enter the Polish market?
Poland has long been one of Europe's most closely watched investment destinations. Its economy has grown consistently for decades and proved its resilience through geopolitical and financial turbulence, and that resilience has driven Poland's transition from an emerging market to a developed one.
That timing was the result of structural dynamics. Geopolitical realignment is forcing states and corporates to rewrite their strategies, opening a new era of capital deployment into infrastructure, energy and defence. These are sectors in which Pinsent Masons has built deep international expertise. Combined with our strong local capabilities in real estate, corporate and banking and finance, the fit was compelling. This is arguably the best entry point into the Polish market in a generation - and we intend to make the most of it.
Most international law firms build their local presence gradually. Why did you launch in Warsaw with a team of more than 40 lawyers from day one?
There is a genuine story behind this team. Many of us have known each other for years, worked alongside one another and built a shared history of trust. That is what made this possible.
We wanted to build a one-bench approach: a firm where a client walks through the door knowing the team genuinely works together, shares knowledge freely and operates as a single unit. Beyond the local team, our clients have seamless access to Pinsent Masons' global know-how - sector expertise, cross-border experience, international networks - without internal obstacles or gatekeeping. That openness is the foundation of our model. To serve its chosen market effectively, a collaborative firm must be able to deliver at scale.
Organic growth would not have served our clients here. Poland's transactional market is growing at pace, and the opportunity pipeline is significant. Our clients needed to know, from day one, that they could rely on us. Launching with over 40 lawyers was not a statement of ambition. It was a precondition for credibility.
What makes Poland particularly attractive to international investors today?
Poland is not simply one of Europe's more attractive investment markets. It is, by several meaningful measures, the most compelling growth story on the continent - and the data reflects that unambiguously.
Poland has also fundamentally repositioned its value proposition. The old pitch was based on Poland’s affordability. That pitch has been retired. The pitch today is that Poland is liquid. The first half of 2026 delivered the best investment result for a six-month period since 2018, with transaction volume on the Polish commercial real estate market reaching €3 billion. That result spanned retail, industrial and logistics, living and office. Most of that volume was attributable to foreign capital, though the domestic share is growing, particularly in the office sector. We also see interest from Asian and Middle Eastern investors - a signal of the market's growing depth and maturity.
Poland is growing at close to four percent per annum while much of Western Europe grows at one. That growth differential is the entire investment thesis. This growth is structural, not cyclical. Poland is the sixth largest economy in the EU, the largest in CEE, and its recent G20 invitation is perhaps the clearest external validation of that status. This growth trajectory means that Poland is no longer on the periphery of the European investment conversation but is moving very much to its centre.
Which sectors and transaction types will generate the strongest opportunities?
The strongest opportunities are currently in retail, logistics and office. Retail has been the top performer by transaction value, logistics continues to attract investors, and the office sector has re-emerged thanks to several high-profile deals. We see, however, that appetite is increasingly driven by infrastructure, energy and defence, and in the coming years more capital will flow through these sectors.
In terms of transaction structures, we see growing demand for joint ventures, allowing investors to combine capital, expertise and local market knowledge, as well as sale-and-leaseback or forward funding transactions as strategic financing tools. Portfolio acquisitions have also returned as a key market feature. Overall, investors remain focused on high-quality assets with strong fundamentals and long-term value creation potential.
Where is the greatest cooperation potential with Pinsent Masons' wider network?
The cooperation potential between Warsaw and the wider Pinsent Masons network is not a selling point; it is a structural advantage already generating tangible value for clients. In real estate, M&A and banking and finance - our core local capabilities - the dynamic operates powerfully in both directions. International investors already working with Pinsent Masons arrive in Warsaw with a relationship in place. Equally, clients we originate locally become clients of the wider network. That two-way referral flow is one of the most tangible expressions of what it means to be part of a genuinely integrated multinational platform.
Infrastructure, energy and defence offer some of the strongest opportunities for collaboration. Pinsent Masons has a proven track record of advising on significant infrastructure, defence and energy transition projects globally. The ability to bring that depth directly to bear on Polish mandates is an immediate and significant advantage. Those who have worked with the firm in other markets will naturally look to the same firm when those projects have a Polish dimension.
What are your priorities for Warsaw over the next 12 to 24 months?
From the outset, our ambition has been to be a truly transactional firm - one known for the quality and sophistication of its work, not the size of its roster. We want to be the firm that the most demanding clients reach for when the transaction matters most and when they cannot afford to get it wrong. That requires discipline: the confidence to do fewer things, but do them exceptionally well.
We will grow - but selectively. Every addition to the team will be measured against one question: does this make us better at the work that defines us?
Poland will establish itself as one of the most significant investment legal markets in continental Europe within the next few years. The capital flows, sectoral tailwinds and transactional complexity all point in the same direction. We are building a firm prepared to meet that moment, so clients can focus on tackling the challenges ahead.
