Piletilevi Group, the largest ticket sales platform in the Baltic states, said on July 6 that it is acquiring a majority stake in Bilete.ro, Romania’s oldest and leading ticket sales company with a 30% market share. The transaction will be finalized after receiving the necessary approvals from the local authorities, and the parties said they would not disclose the transaction price.

According to Piletilevi partner and CEO Sven Nuutmann, the group is acquiring an 80.2% stake in the Romanian company, with 19.8% retained by the current shareholders of Bilete.ro. Andreea Pop will continue as the CEO of the company.

The deal, Nuutmann said, marks the beginning of Piletilevi Group’s geographical expansion, which was put on hold by the global COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine. The group continues to actively look for expansion opportunities both in Romania and in neighbouring countries.

“We definitely want to bring the latest software solutions for the ticketing environment to the Romanian market, contribute to the development of organizers' self-service environment and analytical reports, and offer event organizers the best marketing opportunities based on our long-term experience,” Nuutmann said.

Meanwhile, Bilete.ro CEO Andreea Pop stated: “The entry of a ticket sales company, which is well-known among the largest organizers in Europe and the world, into the Romanian market will definitely improve the chances of Romanian organizers in bringing concerts of more well-known foreign artists to Romania.”

Piletilevi Group has acted as a mediator for the world’s top artists such as Metallica, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons, Depeche Mode and many others, and for sports events, being a sales partner for the basketball EuroLeague Final Four tournament in Kaunas, the Rally Estonia WRC stage and the Biathlon World Cup stage held in Otepää, Estonia, last year.

Piletilevi Group is owned by entrepreneur Sven Nuutmann’s investment company EastCom Capital and BaltCap private equity funds. It is an international ticket sales and event organization company that owns Piletilevi in Estonia, Bilesu Serviss in Latvia, and Bilietai.lt in Lithuania.

Bilete.ro has been operating on the Romanian market for 17 years, selling over 1.5 million tickets annually. With 40 employees, the company sells tickets in the online environment bilete.ro, which sees one million monthly visits, and at 1,600 partner sales points across the country, having more than 300 customers in all fields of events. The main areas served are sports, electronic & live music concerts & festivals, children’s entertainment, and theatre.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: the company)