Late last summer, Live Nation acquired the Mexican promoter OCESA Entertainment, however, the purchase has been put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The acquisition was first announced in July, followed by an approval from Mexican regulators in mid-April 2020. However, Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino announced during the company’s first quarter earnings call this week that Live Nation is holding off on closing the transaction as it continues to “evaluate the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic on OCESA’s business and operations” in Mexico and Latin America, Billboard reports.
Currently, Live Nation is in talks with the owners of CIE and Grupo Televisa “reagarding the timing and terms of the deal and have entered into a standstill agreement with them to facilitate those discussions.” This news comes amid widespread cancellations and postponements across the live event industry. During the earnings call, Live Nation revealed that revenue was down 21% in revenue this year.
“Longterm we’re still bullish on their business and ours, we want to be in business with OCESA and get the deal done, but we’re not sure where Mexico stands,” Rapino told an analyst on the call. “I’m not looking to take on any losses from Mexico while they’re going through their six or eight months of a business downturn and come out the other side. Ideally we’d want to get the deal done, we want to delay the cash payment of the deal until we know we are on the other side of this crisis — that’s the intent.”
When the deal was first announced, Rapino called the partnership a “logical extension for both our teams,” which would help further expand Live Nation’s global reach.