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Munich, 14 January 2008. CTS EVENTIM AG, for years the market leader in Germany and Europe in the ticketing field, will operate worldwide in future, thus becoming a “global player” in the ticketing industry. This quantum leap is made possible by a long-term partnership deal concluded with Live Nation Worldwide, Inc., the world’s biggest live events company. CTS Eventim and its ticketing software will be positioned in all the key European markets, in America, Asia, Africa and Australia. “This opens up new dimensions for our company. We will be expanding our international business on a large scale within a short period”, enthused CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg at a press conference in Munich. By the year 2014, CTS Eventim expects the partnership to generate up to 60 million extra tickets a year and additional annual revenues of between 100 and 120 million Euros.
Foundations laid for global expansion
On 20 December 2007, the Management Board of CTS Eventim AG, listed in the SDAX index, signed long-term and largely exclusive partnership agreements with Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. (USA). Los Angeles-based Live Nation (NYE: LYV) is the world’s biggest live events company. In the first nine months of 2007 alone, it organised and produced more than 20,000 live events with a total attendance exceeding 48 million. “This is an alliance between two market leaders. Live Nation dominates the events industry worldwide, whereas we are Europe’s leading ticketing company. The partnership model will create enormous synergies and options for the future“, says Klaus-Peter Schulenberg.
Europe: presence in all key countries
In future, CTS will be present in all the key European markets. Until now, the Group has had subsidiaries in 17 countries. The most recent takeover by CTS was of Italian market leader TicketOne in May 2007. The latter company is based in Milan and markets around 13 million tickets annually, and handled the entire ticketing operation for the XXth Olympic Winter Games in Turin. In December 2006, CTS announced the takeover of 51 percent of the shares in Zritel o.o.o. in Moscow. Zritel (“Spectator”) is Russia’s biggest private-sector provider of ticketing services and operates the Kontramarka and Parter ticketing systems. The new collaboration with Live Nation gives CTS an excellent basis for expanding its current network and for entering markets in many other European countries from 2009 onwards. The exclusive agreement for Great Britain, especially, is extremely valuable. “The barriers to market entry in England, specifically, are particularly great. With LN, we are now in a superb position to successfully enter an attractive market”, Schulenberg commented.
North America: ten-year licence deal
In addition to the key markets in Europe, the partnership will also be focused on America and Canada. Experts estimate the ticketing volume in the United States at several hundred million tickets annually, more than 70 million of which are for concerts alone. “We have found our ideal partner in CTS. In terms of technology, Eventim is the most advanced ticketing platform in the world. Together we will expand on our current market position and implement our innovative ideas. This is absolutely a winwin situation”, added Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation. From 2009 onwards, Live Nation will be using the CTS software in North America under an exclusive ten-year licence. The CTS Group will receive licence fees on a per-ticket basis. Tickets will be sold via the Internet as well as through the stationary box office network. Schulenberg: “America has huge potential. Our strengths in Internet ticketing, above all, will play a major role in this context. By granting the licence, we are simultaneously eliminating the risks and costs involved in establishing a presence of our own”. CTS Eventim will also be granting Live Nation a licence to the ticketing software for the events business in Mexico, South America, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Internet: dominated by CTS Eventim
By entering into this newly agreed partnership, CTS EVENTIM AG is rigorously pursuing its established expansion strategy. Within the next two years, the Group will acquire a presence in almost all the European markets in which it has been absent hitherto, reinforcing its position as European
market leader and second-ranking company worldwide. Online business is growing at a disproportionate rate all over the world – in 2007, the Group logged around 200 million visitors to its various Internet platforms. In the 2006 business year, CTS EVENTIM was responsible for the entire ticketing operation for the Football World Cup in Germany, when it was able to demonstrate the enormous efficiency and performance of its software. The CTS system handled sales of more than 3.5 million tickets, as well as enquiries from more than 100 million people from all over the world. Since January 2007, with its new www.fansale.de platform, CTS Eventim has also been providing Germany’s first-ever resale facility for legally and securely swapping or reselling tickets. Speaking in Munich, Klaus-Peter Schulenberg noted that, “With our new alliance with Live Nation, we are now establishing the ideal conditions for assuming a leading market position in the ticketing industry within the near future, not just in Europe, but also worldwide”.
