Estonia's Up Invest buys Bilesu Serviss owner Baltic Ticket Holdings

TALLINN - Estonia's leading investment firm UP Invest OU has acquired Baltic Ticket Holdings OU (BTH), which owns Latvia's Bilesu Serviss ticketing platform. 

Member of the board and CEO of UP Invest Sven Nuutmann said the investment was motivated by desire to expand into an entirely new area.

"We see the ticket circulation market as having potential for expansion in the Baltics and Belarus where BTH is active today. We also value highly the company's recent development and the contribution of its board," Nuutmann said.

He added that negotiations were tense, while both sides walked away with a satisfactory result in the end. The sides will not disclose the volume of the transaction. BTH will continue under recent management.

Baltic Ticket Holdings was created in 2007 to operate Piletilevi in Estonia and Bilesu Serviss in Latvia. Lithuanian Bilietai and Kvitki in Belarus joined BTH group in 2016.

CEO of BTH Jaanus Beilmann said the company's mission is to offer culture fans information and convenient access to tickets for as many cultural and entertainment events as possible. BTH offers event organizers professional services, including organization of ticket sales, rent of ticket management software, ticket verification software and hardware solutions and marketing opportunities on BTH sales channels.

BTH ticket portals see 45 million annual visits and the group's total ticket sales volume is over 100 million euros a year. The group's software development and server management takes place in Estonia.

BTH will continue offering independent, private-capital based ticket mediation services after change of ownership.

"BTH will continue actively investing in updating software and sales tools, introducing a number of complex services to help organizers offer guests more convenient pre- and post-event services in the coming years," Beilmann said, adding that the activities of all BTH companies are aimed at offering patrons a higher-quality experience.

BTH subsidiaries offer services via the following online domains: www.piletilevi.ee, www.teatrix.ee, www.kinkekaart.ee, www.bilesuserviss.lv, www.bilietai.lt, www.kvitki.by, www.teatr.by and www.vpodarok.by. BTH sales points are partnered with major and well-known companies like Selver, Circle-K, Latvian Post, Rimi, Maxima, Vaga, Evroset, Svjasnoi, as well as theaters and concert halls in all countries.

BTH group companies employ a total of 111 people.

The transaction needs to be approved by the competition authorities of the countries.

UP Invest is owned by Margus Linnamae for 78 percent and Ivar Vendelin for 20 percent.

Via its holdings, UP Invest owns also news agency BNS and Postimees.