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Munich, 6 July 2010. CTS EVENTIM AG, listed on the SDAX exchange (ISIN DE0005470306), is pressing further ahead with its successful expansion programme and is acquiring 100% of Hamburg-based See Tickets Germany GmbH / Ticket Online Group. The share purchase agreement and a 12-year exclusive ticketing contract with Stage Entertainment Germany were signed today. “By making this acquisition, the company is continuing its successful strategy of European expansion. This will further extend our lead on the competition in our core business and adds a number of valuable new events to our musicals segment. This, too, will increase shareholder value on a sustained and long-term basis”, commented Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS EVENTIM. See Tickets Germany was a member company of See Tickets International BV in Amsterdam, 40% of which belonges to Stage Entertainment BV and 60% of which is held by Parcom, a private-equity group. By acquiring See Tickets Germany, CTS EVENTIM is simultaneously taking over Ticket Online Software GmbH, Ticket Online Sales & Service Center GmbH and Ticket Online Polska Sp zoo, Poland. The purchase price is EUR 145 million. In the fiscal year 2008/2009 (1.08. – 31.07.), the group generated EUR 40.2 million in revenue, a normalised EBITDA of EUR 15.4 million (after correction for revenue effects due to currently agreed conditions) and a reported EBITDA of EUR 13.7 million. In addition to further enhancement of its market leadership and securing an attractive programme of events, the acquisition provides CTS EVENTIM with substantial synergies, currently estimated at more than EUR 15 million per annum in cost savings, primarily as a result of scale effects in ticketing operations.
See Tickets Germany: 20 million tickets a year
See Tickets Germany sells more than 20 million tickets a year. The company has its head office in Hamburg, as well as regional offices in Berlin, Brunswick, Dortmund, Frankfurt am Main and Munich. Its range of events mainly comprises musicals and cultural events. Tickets are sold not only via the Internet portal at www.ticketonline.com, but also through many partner websites, ticket outlets, travel agencies and hotels.
Partnership agreement brings attractive musicals to CTS EVENTIM
By making this acquisition, CTS EVENTIM has also secured ticketing access to the attractive musical productions of Stage Entertainment, which has produced worldwide successes such as “The Lion King”, “Mamma Mia”, “Tarzan” and “Holiday on Ice”. CTS EVENTIM has concluded a new and exclusive twelve-year contract with Stage Entertainment. “In future, the attractive musicals produced by Stage Entertainment will also be offered via the sales channels of the EVENTIM Group”, says Schulenberg.
CTS EVENTIM achieves sustained upward growth in revenue and earnings
CTS EVENTIM is Europe’s market leader in ticketing and one of the leading providers of Live Entertainment. So far, more than 80 million tickets for well over 100,000 events have been sold annually in 20 European countries using systems developed and marketed by the EVENTIM Group. In addition to more than 8,000 stationary ticket outlets throughout Europe, sales via the Internet and especially via the www.eventim.de and www.getgo.de portals are gaining increasing importance.
In the current 2010 business year, CTS EVENTIM has already acquired the Swiss Ticketcorner Group and on 1 February launched ticket sales in Great Britain through its own national subsidiary. For the 2010 business year, the Management Board expects the Group “to progress well and to achieve a further improvement in revenue and earnings”.
