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Mauri Dorbek will take over as manager of Apollo Kino OU.

The acquisition of the cinema chain is an important step in strengthening the retail portfolio of Up Invest and creating synergy among the companies in the portfolio, Up Invest board member Kristjan Vilosius said in a press release.

Vilosius said that Apollo Kino has introduced novelties in Estonia, such as self-service box office, which they are planning to implement across the Baltics. Apollo Kino is about to open several new cinemas in Latvia in the next couple of years and a new cinema at the Ulemiste Keskus mall in Tallinn in 2019.

As a result of the transaction, Apollo Kino will get a strong strategic co-owner, Ivar Vendelin said. "Partnership with Up Invest, which got its start from the Apollo stores several years ago and emerged as strategic cooperation on a bigger scale, has turned out to be functioning very well. This transaction is yet another step towards closer cooperation between the two groups. Apollo is only at the beginning of its development phase and together with Up Invest we will try and shake and change the present entertainment market even more," he said.

Vendelin will continue as chairman of the supervisory board of Apollo Kino. The manager of the Apollo stores, Mauri Dorbek, will become CEO and board member of Apollo Grupp.

The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms under which Up Invest acquired 55% of Apollo Kinod OU. In the same transaction, Up Invest acquired 55% of Blender cafes. The adviser in the transaction was Cobalt law office, and financing was provided by Swedbank.

In 2015, Up Invest acquired 50% of Apollo Holding OU, owner of the Apollo book and entertainment store chain. At the time half of the shares in the company were kept by Toomas Kruus. At present 32.5% of the Apollo bookstore chain is owned by Ivar Vendelin through his businesses.

Apollo has cinemas in the Parnu Keskus mall in Parnu, in the Astri mall in Narva, and in the Solaris and Mustamae malls in Tallinn. Earlier this year the company opened cinemas in the Lounakeskus mall in Tartu and in Auriga center in Saaremaa. The audience numbers of Apollo cinemas are estimated to reach approximately 1.9 million viewers this year.

In 2016, it earned a profit of 461,203 euros on sales of 5.6 million euros.

The investment company Up Invest focuses on investment in healthcare, media, real estate, retail and services, as well as on cleantech venture capital investments. The news agency BNS is a holding of Up Invest.

Up Invest belongs to MM Grupp OU, a company majority owned by Estonian businessman Margus Linnamae via the Dutch-registered company MM Holdings B.V.

Linnamae announced in July this year that he has sold 20% of MM Grupp OU to Ivar Vendelin, by which he remains owner of 78% of the company. The remaining 2% of the shares belong to Aare Kurist.

MM Grupp is owner of the medicines wholesaler Magnum Medical, the pharmacy chain Apotheka, the media group Eesti Meedia, the pet goods retailer Petcity and other companies connected with Margus Linnamae in Estonia and abroad. The group's consolidated sales in 2016 totaled 481.1 million euros and profit 14.8 million euros.