German concert promoter and ticketing company CTS Eventim has agreed to buy French media company Vivendi's festival and international ticketing businesses, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday (April 2).
CTS Eventim and Vivendi have signed a ticketing agreement for the deal, which includes leading UK ticket dealer See tickets along with Vivendi festivals Junction 2 in the UK and Garorock in France. Financial details of the deal, including price, were not disclosed.
CTS Eventim is the world's second-largest provider of ticketing and live entertainment services, and acquiring the businesses could help it maintain an advantage over rival Live Nation in its home market of Europe.
“The acquisition supports our internationalization strategy and will also benefit artists and their managers as we will be able to offer even more seamless services on a global scale,” said CTS Eventim CEO. Klaus-Peter Schulenberg in a statement.
Vivendi's festival and ticketing businesses, housed in subsidiary Vivendi Village, generated 137 million euros ($151.2 million) in 2023. View tickets sold around 44 million tickets last year, generating 105 million euros ($115.8 million ). It is the second largest ticketing company in the United Kingdom and also operates in the United States and seven European countries.
The festival operations to be acquired by CTS Eventim generated 32 million euros ($35.3 million) last year. Vivendi will retain its stake in L'Olympia in Paris, See tickets France and Brive festival.
“We at Vivendi are convinced that CTS Eventim will be the right company to take our ticketing and festival business to new heights, supporting See tickets to remain a cutting-edge company … while driving the growth of festivals and unique identities and audiences will be preserved,” he said Hello BavariaCEO of Vivendi Village, in a statement.
CTS Eventim is coming off a banner year. The Munich-based company's revenue surpassed €2 billion for the first time in 2023, rising 22% to €2.36 billion ($2.53 billion at the average exchange rate in 2023). Normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) also rose 32% to 501.4 million euros ($542.7 million).
The companies said they expect to finalize the deal within a few months, pending approval from each of their workers' councils.
Shares in CTS Eventim briefly touched a new 52-week high of 83.85 euros ($90.28) on Tuesday's news before closing at 82.70 euros ($89.04), up 0.3 percent. .
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/touring/cts-eventim-buy-vivendi-ticketing-events-businesses-1235647195/
