Resource Partners

Resource Partners acquires majority stakes in iaBilet and BestMusic

Resource Partners acquires 82.5% of iaBilet and 55% of BestMusic Concerts from NCH Capital and founding shareholders, partnering with co-founders to drive the next stage of development.

iaBilet is Romania’s leading event ticketing platform; BestMusic is an established concert promoter with over 3,000 shows organized.

Founders Emil Ionescu and Razvan Manta retain minority stakes and executive roles.

Resource Partners, a leading private equity investor in Central and Eastern Europe, announces the acquisition of an 82.5% stake in iaBilet, Romania’s leading online ticketing platform, and a 55% stake in BestMusic Concerts, a pioneering promoter of live entertainment events. The transaction marks Resource Partners’ strategic entry into the high-growth digital ticketing and live entertainment sector.

The investment kicks off a new phase of accelerated growth and platform expansion iaBilet. Backed by Resource Partners, iaBilet is set to scale up its digital infrastructure upgrades, broaden its service portfolio for promoters, and elevate the ticketing experience for millions of users.

Founded in 2012, iaBilet began with a bold mission: to bring together Romania’s live events into a single, digital platform - simplifying ticketing for users and professionalizing the experience for promoters. Over the past 13 years, that vision has become a reality. Today, iaBilet processes tickets for over 2,000 events per day and serves as a trusted guide to Romania’s vibrant entertainment landscape. The company’s fully proprietary platform combines ticketing, marketing automation, and real-time analytics, allowing both major promoters and independent organizers to manage and grow their events seamlessly. Its innovative features, including the secondary market service daBilet.ro, are setting new standards for the industry.

BestMusic has played a major role in shaping Romania’s live music scene, bringing top international acts to Romanian stages and building a loyal fan following along the way.

Gosia Bobrowska, Managing Partner at Resource Partners, stated:
“We are long-term believers in the Romanian market, which continues to offer highly entrepreneurial businesses with regional potential, and iaBilet is a great example of that. From the outset, we were impressed by the company’s edge and ability to build strong trust with both organizers and audiences. As a consumer-focused investor with deep sector knowledge, we see strong growth prospects in the live entertainment and digital services space and are excited to support the company’s next stage of development.”

Miruna Popa, Investment Manager at Resource Partners, added:
“We’re excited to mark our second Romanian investment in the last two years. iaBilet is a category-leading business, deeply embedded in the local events ecosystem and trusted by both promoters and end-users. Our focus now is to enhance the digital experience for all stakeholders - offering organizers better tools, expanding value-added services around events, and making ticketing more seamless and rewarding for users. This is a strong local champion with real regional potential, and our vision is to support iaBilet in becoming a next-generation ecosystem for live events.”

The deal follows more than a decade of growth for iaBilet, which processed over 4 million tickets in 2024, powering events for more than 3,000 promoters and achieving a turnover of €5.8 million.

Emil Ionescu, CEO and Co-founder of iaBilet and BestMusic, commented:
"We’re incredibly proud of how far iaBilet has come, and we’re ready to take it further. With Resource Partners’ support, we will continue building tools that give organizers more autonomy, improve event visibility, and give customers better access and flexibility. This new partnership will help us serve the live events community even better, while staying true to our values of accessibility, innovation, and reliability."

The platform recently launched daBilet.ro, Romania’s first secure ticket resale service, and is developing a new suite of digital tools to help event organizers manage their sales, analytics, and marketing more independently and efficiently. This momentum reflects a wider trend: demand for live entertainment in Romania and the wider region is expanding fast, driven by digital adoption, rising consumer spending, and a new generation of tech-savvy event organizers.

NCH Capital - iaBilet’s long-standing institutional partner - played a key role in professionalizing the company and supporting its growth into Romania’s top independent ticketing platform.

Ovidiu Petre, General Manager of NCH Capital Inc. Wilmington - Bucharest Branch, declared: “NCH ​​Capital is the largest investment fund in Romania, active for over 30 years, during which time it has returned over $2 billion to investors. The fund has successfully restructured and transformed dozens of companies into notable successes, which were subsequently acquired by foreign and local investors. NCH has invested in agriculture, construction materials, industrial capacities, banking, brokerage, food production, port capacities, real estate, and now marks its fourth sale in the internet sector. The fund has provided and continues to provide the companies in which it invests capital, but especially managerial expertise, strategic vision, and business intelligence.”

During the transaction, Resource Partners was advised by: RTPR Law Firm, Forvis Mazars and RSK Group. 

About Resource Partners

Resource Partners is an independent private equity fund founded in 2009 by a team of internationally experienced investment managers who have invested in the CEE region since 2000 on behalf of top regional and international financial institutions and funds. Since its inception, Resource Partners has raised three generations of funds, leading to total investments of over 500 million euros. The Fund invests in companies in full development, with experienced management teams, and supports them through its expertise in managing accelerated organic growth, international expansion, and the integration of bolt-on M&A acquisitions.

About iaBilet

Founded in 2012, iaBilet is Romania’s leading online ticketing platform, serving concerts, festivals, theatre, sports, and family events. The company works with over 4,000 event organizers and operates a fully digital platform with over 4 million tickets sold in 2024. iaBilet continues to invest in product innovation, including daBilet.ro, a secure ticket resale marketplace, and new tools to help promoters manage events directly.

About BestMusic

BestMusic is a concert promoter, its founders have a 20-year track record and over 3,000 events produced. Known for its close collaborations with major artists and top-tier production standards, BestMusic has played a key role in Romania’s live event landscape, bringing global acts such as Iron Maiden, Slipknot, The Hollywood Vampires, The 1975, and Eros Ramazzotti to Romanian stages.

 

Media Contact:

Resource Partners Małgorzata Bobrowska malgorzata.bobrowska@resourcepartners.eu t:+48 22 377 7900

iaBilet Emil Ionescu emil@iabilet.ro t:+40 752 158 896