While Live Nation (LN) and Ticketmaster Entertainment (TME) wait for the Department of Justice to rule on their pending merger, CTS Eventim AG, the largest ticketing company in Europe, is planning its own fate. The German company wants to expand into two more European countries this year.
“We want to continue to grow in Europe and that includes acquisitions,” Chief Executive Officer Klaus-Peter Schulenberg told Bloomberg news service. “In five years we want to have grown beyond Europe’s borders.”
In December 2007, Live Nation signed a 10-year pact with Eventim to use the company’s ticketing software in North America while CTS Eventim would manage Live Nation’s ticket sales in Europe.
Live Nation has been pretty mum about its future with CTS Eventim since it signed its merger agreement with Ticketmaster. However, in a recent, close to 600 page filing with the Securities and Exchange, CTS Eventim AG is mentioned only once with LN not really revealing much about its future plans. The proxy statement stated that Live Nation may be required to “take actions, or incur expenses that could limit the ability of Live Nation and TME to fully integrate their businesses successfully.”
