AS Piletilevi Group expanding its reach in Romania

Piletilevi Group, the largest ticket seller in Central Europe, which acquired a majority stake in Romania's oldest ticketing company Bilete.ro in summer of last year, is further expanding its reach in Romania and becoming one of a leading company in the market.

According to Piletilevi Group shareholder and board chairman Sven Nuutmann, Piletilevi Group will acquire Ticketing Nation s.r.l., a well-known player on the Romanian market that manages the ticketing environments Entertix.ro and Myticket.ro. After the merger of the two companies, Piletilevi Group will sustain 80.2 percent stake in the Romanian company.

The merged companies sell nearly five million tickets worth more than 30 million euros per year, and the portals collect more than 24 million online visits per year. Also, after the transaction, Piletilevi Group is achieving the position of one of the leading companies in the full-service ticketing business in Romania.

According to Nuutmann, the cultural and entertainment market in Romania is in a developing stage, and Piletilevi Group sees great potential both in the market of concerts by major foreign artists and in the field of technological development of the country's cultural sector. Romania also has a very fast developing market of sports competitions, which provides additional speed to the development.

"Through this transaction, we are not only increasing our market share in Romania, but also creating a strong foundation for further expansion throughout Central and Western Europe. Our goal is to offer event organizers and ticket buyers across the group high-quality service and innovative solutions that meet the needs of our customers and partners," Nuutmann added.

"After seven years of operation on the Romanian market, Ticketing Nation can be considered one of the most important, mature and successful ticketing companies in the country. With a diverse portfolio, providing services to the biggest concert and festival organizers, top sports clubs, prestigious cultural institutions, unique exhibitions and much more, the company has experienced continuous development and an impressive comeback after the pandemic period.

In order to maintain and strengthen this growth rate, we have decided to join forces with another important player in Romania – Bilete.ro. The result is definitely a company with market leader potential, offering the best services and boosted by the decades of experience accumulated by both teams," Valentin Vasiloiu, head of Entertix, said.

"A new chapter begins now as we bring together two great companies under one vision. Together, we are stronger and I am honoured to lead us into a future full of opportunity and innovation," added Andreea Pop, CEO Bilete.ro.

The transaction was finalized 16.12.2024 after receiving the necessary approvals from the local authorities.

According to Peep Jalakas, a member of the management board of SEB Pank, which is co-financing the transaction, supporting local companies in their international expansion continues to be one of the bank's goals. "We are very happy to be Piletilevi Group's partner and that the company has managed to implement another expansion. Piletilevi Group's ambition and professionalism to expand in the competitive service sector is impressive, resulting in achieving one of the leading market positions in this region," Jalakas said.

Piletilevi Group, the largest ticketing environment in the Baltic states, began to vigorously expand in Central Europe in summer of last year, when it first bought a majority stake in one of the largest ticketing companies in Romania, Bilete.ro, and then also GoOut.net, one of biggest market players in Czech Republic. In spring of this year, two companies were acquired in Poland, Kicket.com and Biletomat.pl.

"Our ambitions are not limited to this, but at the moment we are focusing on integrating the acquired companies with the Piletilevi Group and developing cross-group solutions to meet the needs of both event organizers and ticket buyers," Nuutmann said.

According to him, Piletilevi Group, which has become the biggest player in Central Europe, has been noticed and several cooperation proposals are received from different countries every month. "We choose partners very carefully and make sure that our values and future vision coincide with theirs," Nuutmann said.

The Piletilevi Group, owned by entrepreneur Sven Nuutmann's investment company Angel Rose Capital Ltd. and the private equity investment firm BaltCap, is an international ticket sales company that operates in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. The company celebrated its 27th successful year of operation this year.

PiIetilevi Group operates in a market with a population of 79 million people. The volume of brokered tickets has grown to 16 million tickets with a total value of 310 million euros and the annual volume of visits to all websites has grown to 116 million per year. Piletilevi Group employs over 250 people.