German concert promoter and ticketing company CTS Eventim 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 put option agreement for the deal, which includes leading U.K. ticket merchant See Tickets along with Vivendi festivals Junction 2 in the U.K. and Garorock in France. The 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 edge 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 chief executive Klaus-Peter Schulenberg in a statement.
Vivendi’s festival and ticketing businesses, housed under the subsidiary Vivendi Village, generated 137 million euros ($151.2 million) in 2023. See 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 nations.
The festival activities that CTS Eventim is set to acquire generated 32 million euros ($35.3 million) last year. Vivendi will retain its stake in the performance hall L’Olympia in Paris, See Tickets France and the Brive Festival.
“We at Vivendi are convinced that CTS Eventim will be the right company to bring our ticketing and festival activities to new heights, supporting See Tickets to remain a state-of-the-art company … while fostering the growth of the festivals and preserving their unique identities and audience,” said Hala Bavière, CEO of Vivendi Village, in a statement.
CTS Eventim is coming off a banner year. The Munich-based company’s revenue topped 2 billion euros for the first time ever in 2023, rising 22% to 2.36 billion euros ($2.53 billion at the average exchange rate in 2023). Normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was also up 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 employee works councils.
CTS Eventim’s stock briefly hit a new 52-week high of 83.85 euros ($90.28) following the news on Tuesday before closing at 82.70 euros ($89.04), up 0.3%.
