Piletilevi Group is buying a majority stake in two Polish ticket sales companies – kicket and Biletomat – and will become the largest player in Central Europe, brokering tickets for nearly 320 million euros per year.
“With this transaction, Piletilevi Group now owns a 77 percent stake in the companies being purchased, which will increase to 83.8 percent by 2026,” Sven Nuutmann, co-owner and CEO of Piletilevi Group said.
He added that the emergence of a ticket brokering company with strong market power on the Polish market will give the organizers financial security, supplement competition and offer a more diverse selection of cultural events to a larger audience. “A ticketing system that has uniform standards and is connected across countries will significantly improve international cultural exchange,” Nuutmann said, adding that the conditions offered to event organizers so far will remain valid even after the merger of the companies.
The transaction was signed in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on Tuesday and entered into force immediately upon signing. The transaction was co-financed by SEB Bank. “Supporting local companies in their international expansion is one of our ambitions, and we are very happy to be a partner of the Piletilevi Group on this journey. The development of the service-based companies have been very fast and competitive, thus it is impressive to see how professionally Piletilevi has managed to grow, expand it reach and establish market leader position in the region,” comment Peep Jalakas, member of the board of SEB.
Piletilevi Group, the largest ticketing environment in the Baltic states, started expanding in Central Europe in summer 2023, when it first bought a majority stake in one of the largest ticketing companies in Romania, Bilete.ro, and then also in the Czech market leader GoOut.net.
Bilete.ro has been operating on the Romanian market for 18 years, selling over 2 million tickets per year. The main areas served are cultural events, sports, concerts and festivals, children’s entertainment and theatre.