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
Bi?eshu Parad?ze.
SIA Bi?eshu Parad?ze operates the electronic ticket platform (bilesuparadize.lv
(https://www.bilesuparadize.lv/en/)) 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 Bi?eshu
Parad?ze sold tickets for more than 7,000 events. Among SIA Bi?eshu Parad?ze's
customers are prominent cultural and entertainment institutions as well as
independent event organisers in Latvia. The main founders of SIA Bi?eshu
Parad?ze, J?nis Daube and ?riks Na?ivaiko, 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
(https://www.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 (mailto: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.
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