The proposed deal where Ticketmaster and Cablevision were going to buy about 49 percent of tour promoter AEG Live appears to be buckling under the weight of the acquisition’s complexity and may be called off, according to published reports.
Whether the deal, reportedly worth about $200 million to AEG Live, comes to fruition in some form or another is not yet known, though The Wall Street Journal is claiming talks have been called off, mainly due to sticking points between Cablevision and AEG Live. Cablevision, the large East Coast cable television operator, owns Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, the New York Knicks and Rangers, and some cable networks, among other holdings, and was slated to purchase more than 30 percent of AEG Live.
Under the deal, Ticketmaster was reportedly going to buy about 15 percent of AEG Live, and it may still do so even though the ticket giant, which is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, is in the midst of a corporate reorganization as part of its preparations to be spun off.
Both Ticketmaster, which has gone on a spending spree in recent months culminating with its purchase of TicketsNow, and AEG Live are likely motivated to get some sort of deal done. Both are feeling some pressure because they have seen rival Live Nation up the ante in the both the ticketing and concert markets with its recent moves, such as launching a ticketing operation and the potential industry changing mega-contract it signed with Madonna, among others.
