On June 4, 2019, A/S „Delfi“, 100% subsidiary of AS Ekspress Grupp, has through its subsidiaries SIA Delfi Tickets and SIA Delfi Tickets Service signed a contract to acquire a 100% of shares in Latvian ticketing platform company SIA Biļešu Paradīze.
SIA Biļešu Paradīze operates the electronic ticket platform (bilesuparadize.lv) and box offices to organise the sale of tickets to various entertainment events on behalf of event organisers. The company has provided online ticket distribution for more than 15 years and is one of the two leading ticket service providers in Latvia. In 2018, SIA Biļešu Paradīze sold tickets for more than 7,000 events. Among SIA Biļešu Paradīze’s customers are prominent cultural and entertainment institutions as well as independent event organisers in Latvia. The main founders of SIA Biļešu Paradīze, Jānis Daube and Ēriks Naļivaiko, will continue active participation in management of the company. The parties have agreed not to disclose the price or other conditions of the transaction.
The aim of the acquisition is to:
- expand into new areas with the focus on increasing the share of group’s digital revenues;
- increase the group’s return on capital and realise synergies with adjacent businesses to existing media operations
- strengthen the core existing activities and to support the group in carrying out the digital transformation;
- develop the group’s diversified digital business footprint.
The transaction was partially funded with the respective loans from AS Citadele banka and Aktiva Finants OÜ (100% owned by main shareholder Hans H. Luik).
The transaction is not to be treated as a significant transfer for the purposes of the “Requirements for Issuers” section of the NASDAQ Tallinn Stock Market rules. AS Ekspress Grupp confirms that neither AS Delfi nor AS Ekspress Grupp’s management board and supervisory board members are in any way personally interested in the transaction.
A/S Delfi manages the most popular Latvian news portal delfi.lv. It has more than 800 thousand monthly users. Since 2007, A/S Delfi belongs to the media group AS Ekspress Grupp.
Additional information: Mari-Liis Rüütsalu Ekspress Grupp, CEO
Signe Kukin
Group CFO
AS Ekspress Grupp
+372 669 8381
signe.kukin@egrupp.ee
AS Ekspress Grupp is the leading media group in the Baltic States whose key activities include web media content production, publishing of newspapers and magazines and provision of printing services in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Ekspress Grupp that launched its operations in 1989 employs 1700 people, owns leading web media portals in the Baltic States and publishes the most popular daily and weekly newspapers as well as the majority of the most popular magazines in Estonia.