Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Investments, Markets and Companies, Mergers and take-overs

Member of the board and executive manager of UP Invest Sven Nuutmann said that while UP Invest is well established through Apollo Group movie theaters in Estonia, acquiring Forum Cinemas will help reinforce its position in Lithuania.

"The spread of COVID-19 means times are difficult for the movie theater industry all over the world, with consolidation a necessity. That said, Forum Cinemas is a very well-managed company throughout the Baltic countries and we are very happy wit the transaction," Nuutmann said.

He said that the aim is to take the best technological solutions and service standards of both Apollo and Forum cinemas to all movie theaters in order to offer moviegoers an even higher-quality service.

The sides hope to conclude the transaction by the end of this year or the beginning of 2021 at the latest. The transaction will enter into force after it is approved by the competition watchdogs of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Forum Cinemas OU is the Baltic region’s largest movie theater operator, operating the Coca-Cola Plaza in Tallinn, Ekraan in Tartu and Centrum in Viljandi. Forum Cinemas has a single theater in Latvia and five in Lithuania.

Forum Cinemas OU is part of Finnish film distributor and cinema chain Finnkino Group that is in turn owned by Odeon Group that belongs to U.S. movie theater chain AMC since March of 2017.

UP Invest concentrates on health care, media, real estate, retail goods and services investments and cleantech venture capital investments. UP Invest is owned by holding company MM Grupp, owned by Margus Linnamae and Ivar Vendelin.

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