Forum Karlín was built by the Karlín Group on the land of a historic building, where modern steam boilers were manufactured by Českomoravská Kolben & Daněk (ČKD) for the whole of Austria-Hungary. Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill played a significant role in the overall architectural design of the building.
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The space was ceremoniously opened in 2014, before the coronavirus restrictions, more than a hundred concerts and various social events took place every year.
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Through its company Bestsport, Prague Entertainment Group BV already owns and operates the O2 arena in Prague and the O2 universum multifunctional and congress center.
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“The combination of all three objects makes a lot of sense to us. PPF has been active in the O2 arena since 2012, and we definitely want to use our almost ten years of experience in operating the largest Czech arena for other spaces as well. Forum Karlín is a great hall and with its capacity of about 3,000 people it fits perfectly into our offer of spaces that we want to offer to organizers of domestic and foreign concerts or other social events, ”said Robert Schaffer, Chairman of the Board of Bestsport.
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“Me and my partners from the Karlín Group, Serge Borenstein and Jan Ludvík, are extremely happy to see how the young company we took over two years ago has grown and acquired its own identity. It will now continue under a highly professional team located in the Czech Republic, which we can rely on, ”said Forum Karlín director and Grimaux, a Canadian who founded the first Czech Ticketpro ticket network in the 1990s.
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Even earlier, until 2018, the group of real estates in Prague’s Karlín, including the Karlín Forum, belonged to entrepreneur Zdeněk Bakal, who then sold them to the Amundi real estate fund. Bestsport, which operates the O2 arena and O2 universum, is fully owned by Prague Entertainment Group BV of the PPF Group.
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The largest Czech hall, O2 arena, with a capacity for 18,000 spectators, was opened in 2004. So far, more than ten million spectators have visited O2 arena. In September 2019, a new multifunctional and congress center O2 universum was opened, which has up to 39 halls of various sizes.
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PPF invests in a number of industries, from financial services to telecommunications, media, biotechnology, real estate to engineering. PPF operates in Europe, Asia and North America.
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At the end of 2020, it employed more than 94,000 people worldwide. PPF has its corporate ownership and management structure in the Netherlands. Until his death at the end of March this year, Petr Kellner, the richest Czech, was the majority owner of PPF Group, NV
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