The founder of the Lido chain, Gunar Kirsons, after selling shares in the company, is not leaving the restaurant business. He has registered a new enterprise, SIA KG Property, which will focus on creating a network of Daba cafes.
A new company was registered on Wednesday, May 6. Its share capital is 100,000 euros. The sole owner of KG Property is SIA K.E.Projekti, fully owned by Kirsons, according to data from Firmas.lv.
According to Kirsons, KG Property will manage Daba cafes, which will operate on a principle similar to Lido. The entrepreneur states that he intends to create a new business with high added value and thereby enhance competition in the market.
The launch is planned with two locations. The further development of the network will depend on the results of the first cafes. One of them will open in Mežaparks — this is planned to be done by mid-June this year. The second Daba cafe is expected to appear in the center of Riga, at Brīvības Street, 38.
"If I succeeded with Lido, I think I will succeed with this project as well," Kirsons noted.
Investments in the creation of the Daba cafe in Mežaparks, according to him, exceed one million euros.
Earlier, Kirsons explained that he chose the name Daba not by chance: according to him, there is no need to pollute nature in Latvia, and the new cafes are planned to offer natural dishes.
Also earlier, the entrepreneur confirmed that he acquired the management company of the Bella Bella cafe in Mežaparks, SIA RIC. Currently, its sole owner is SIA K.E.Projekti, which belongs to Kirsons. According to Firmas.lv, K.E.Projekti is also the sole owner of the companies SIA CF Development and SIA K.E. īpašumi.
The sale of Lido became known earlier. At the end of January 2025, the subsidiary of the Estonian entertainment and catering group Apollo Group — Treeland — increased its stake in Lido to 96%, buying 21% of shares from Kirsons' K.E.Projekti. After that, Kirsons retained 4% of Lido's capital. On March 31 of this year, Apollo Group became the sole owner of Lido.
The remaining 4% of Lido's capital was acquired by Apollo Group from K.E.Projekti for 3.15 million euros, according to a statement to the stock exchange. Apollo Group stated that Lido is a strategically important subsidiary, and increasing its stake in the company aligns with the group's growth objectives.
Founded in 2000, Apollo Group is the largest company in the entertainment and restaurant business in the Baltics and also operates in the Finnish market. The group includes Apollo bookstores, Apollo Kino cinemas, Blender juice bars, IceCafe ice cream cafes, Vapiano restaurants, the fast food chain KFC, as well as catering enterprises Lido, MySushi, CanCan, and Delano.
In the 2024/25 financial year, the turnover of the Apollo Group reached 227 million euros, which is 6% more than in the previous period. EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — grew by 12% and reached 40 million euros.
Apollo Group is part of the MM Grupp holding controlled by Estonian entrepreneur Margus Linnamäe, which has a wide portfolio of enterprises in the Baltic countries.
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