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Early Days 

ITI Group was established in 1984 by Jan Wejchert and Mariusz Walter. They were joined in 1991 by Bruno Valsangiacomo and together they are the creators and founding shareholders of the ITI Group. On incorporation, the ITI Group was one of the first private companies in Poland. It started its operations as an importer of Hitachi consumer electronics, which it sold through its own outlets. Complementary to the distribution of video recorders, the ITI Group started to distribute home videos and theatrical movies. In parallel the ITI Group started to produce the first corporate videos and advertising spots becoming a production company and advertising agency. In 1985 in a bid to diversify its activities the ITI Group started the production of potato chips and bread improvers under the brand names Lilly Chips and Jan Piekarz respectively. In 1989 Poland was one of the first states to shed Communism transforming from a state controlled economy into a market economy, which had a profound impact on the operations of the ITI Group. In the years 1990 and 1991 international majors were looking to establish their presence in Poland and the ITI Group was a prime partner for many renowned international group. The ITI Group integrated its advertising operations into a joint venture with McCann Erickson, and in the food sector it entered into a joint venture agreement with Intersnack Knabber-Gebaeck trading under the brand name Chio Lilly. In 1993, following the introduction of significantly higher import duties, the ITI Group abandoned the import and distribution of home electronics and as a result In the mid 90’s, the ITI Group focused its activities on the development of its media related businesses. In 1995 it teamed up with CME and launched in 1997 its flag-ship, the free-to-air television channel TVN. In 1996 the ITI Group entered into a joint venture with UCI opening in 1998 Poland’s first multiplex cinema in Poznan under the brand name Multikino. By the end of 2000, the ITI Group disposed of its interests in the food sector focusing entirely on its media and entertainment activities. Since then, the ITI Group has developed a leading position in main segments of the Polish multi-media market - television broadcasting and production, entertainment and new media.

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Broadcasting & Production 

The ITI Group has been involved in television advertising production since its early days. In 1985 the ITI Group launched ITI Film Studio, which was originally active in the production of television commercials and later on in the production of feature films, an activity which has been ceased. Endemol-Neovision, another production company formed in 1997 as a joint venture between the ITI Group and one of the leading international entertainment content producers - Endemol Entertainment International B.V., developed, produced and distributed such successful television formats as Big Brother, and Who wants to be a Millionaire in Poland. The ITI Group withdrew from the investment in December 2004. ITI Group's dynamic development in television broadcasting began as early as 1992 where it placed an unsuccessfully bid in a consortium with Reuters and RTL Group for the first nationwide broadcasting license. In 1995 the ITI Group teamed up with CME to bid for the regional licenses and in 1997 having been awarded the Central and the Northern Regional License it launched TVN on 3 October 1997. Today TVN is the leading commercial free-to-air television channel and one of the most prominent TV brands in Poland. In 2001 The ITI Group started to complement the TVN channel by the successful launch of a series of thematic channels. In 2001, the ITI Group launched TVN 24, Poland's first thematic channel exclusively devoted to national and international news, and current affairs of interest to Polish viewers.In 2002, ITI Group purchased RTL7 from CLT-UFA and TVN re-launched it as a second free-to-air television channel – TVN 7, which is aimed at targeting audiences complementary to those of TVN. TVN Meteo launched in May 2003 is Poland's first weather channel, and TVN Turbo launched in December 2003 is the first Polish television channel dedicated entirely to motoring.In April 2004 ITI Group launched ITVN, the Polish language entertainment channel dedicated to Poles living abroad. ITVN has been followed by TVN Style, a female oriented channel featuring fashion, lifestyle, health and beauty and cooking related programs, which went on air in August 2004. In September 2007, TVN CNBC Biznes developed in cooperation with CNBC was launched. The programs are the result of a daily editorial and technological cooperation between CNBC and TVN CNBC Biznes in Poland.

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Digital Platform 

ITI Group's strong position on the Polish market, its experience and successful launch of several thematic channels as well as the growing market share inspired ITI Group to engage in a new project to revolutionize the Polish media market. In October 2006, ITI Group launched "n" - a new generation television, the most advanced digital platform offering broadcast in HD standard, PRV and VoD features as well as some premiering on Polish television market channels.

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Online 

The ITI Group identified significant growth potential in the Polish internet market and the need to deliver quality content to users. Between 2000 and 2001, the Group launched Tenbit.pl an interactive entertainment website and in 2001 acquired a controlling interest in Poland’s leading internet portal,Onet.pl. Onet.pl, a pioneer of the Polish online market, is also one of the largest European portals as measured by page-views. Onet.pl enjoys a leading position among providers of online services and content. Several of Onet.pl’s sites, such as news, life-style, sport, business and entertainment, are the No. 1 destination for Polish internet users. Onet.pl’s  success is based on its business development strategy to constantly create innovative products and services which are very often ultimate novelty on the Polish market. Some of the most successful Onet’s products include: ZUMI.pl is Poland's first internet address location service. ZUMI.pl is an online map solution displaying business locations, private addresses or any point of interest in Poland. The service provides route planning to fixed or user defined addresses by simply entering post code, street or place name. The powerful performance is based on its database including 1'000'000 current business addresses, around 1'300 city and town maps, detailed road maps and high quality satellite images. In addition, ZUMI.pl provides an easy and effective promotional tool for small and middle size businesses by enabling them to incorporate logos, images, multimedia presentations or price lists. Onet.tv is a multimedia platform featuring a library of more than 9'000 video clips, over 100 TV programs and seven thematic channels: News, Sports, Music, Film, Travel Lifestyle and Education. Among content providers are Associated Press, United Pictures, Hollywood Reporter, TVN24, TVN Lingua, n-Sport, TMT, Bullseye TV etc. The platform’s entire content is available “on demand” and it allows for creating customized schedules as well as playlists.

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Cinema 

ITI Group has been engaged in the entertainment sector since 1985. ITI Cinema has been active in the distribution of theatrical films, the marketing and distribution of videocassettes and later DVDs under the brand name of ITI Home Video for the Polish wholesale and retail markets. ITI Cinema also co-produces feature films and is engaged in the distribution of theatrical films to cinemas across Poland. In 1998, the first multiplex cinema under the brand name of Multikino was opened in Poznan as the result of a joint venture with United Cinemas International (UCI). Today, Multikino successfully operates 23 multi-screen cinemas across Poland and is fully owned by the ITI Group. In February 2008 the ITI Group acquired the operations of Silver Screen. In 2010 Multikino opened its first cinemas in the Baltic territories – Mutikino Riga Plaza in Latvia and Multikino Vilnius in Lithuania.

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Publishing 

Pascal, acquired by the ITI Group as part of Onet.pl, was launched in 1991, is a leading travel book publisher in Poland. In addition to publishing its own titles, it also has the exclusive Polish rights to titles by such publishers as Lonely Planet, The Rough Guides, MGV and Gallimard.In the recent years Pascal expanded its offer by adding lifestyle publications complementing some popular shows from TVN Style to its portfolio. In April 2007, the ITI Group acquired an interest in publisher of Tygodnik Powszechny, the Catholic socio-cultural weekly magazine, which has gained a great respect and popularity among Poles in 60 years of its existence.

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Sport 

In April 2004, ITI Group acquired Legia Warszawa, Poland's leading football club. Legia, formed in 1916, is the all time top of the league team having won the Polish championship 8 times and the Polish cup 14 times among other trophies.

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