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Munich, 20 December 2007. CTS EVENTIM AG (ISIN DE0005470306) has laid the foundation for global expansion of its ticketing systems. The Management Board today signed long-term and largely exclusive partnership agreements with Live Nation Worldwide Inc. (USA). Live Nation (NYE: LYV) is the world’s biggest live events company. In the first nine months of the current year alone, it has organised and produced more than 20,000 live events with a total attendance exceeding 48 million. For CTS EVENTIM, the partnership signifies a major expansion of its market shares in Europe, as well as entry into the American, Asian, African and Australian markets. The annual ticket volume handled by EVENTIM Group systems is expected to increase within only a few years from around 60 million at present to more than 100 million tickets.
CTS EVENTIM and Live Nation will be collaborating in the field of ticket sales on a worldwide basis. Beginning with the second half of 2008, CTS EVENTIM will extend the distribution network already in place in 17 countries to include those markets in the UK, Scandinavia and continental Europe in which Live Nation actively operates as a promoter or producer of events.
In the North American market (USA and Canada), Live Nation will license the EVENTIM ticketing software for a ten-year period, starting in 2009, and will sell tickets not only via the Internet but also through a network of retail outlets and box offices. 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.
By entering into this newly agreed partnership, CTS EVENTIM 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, thus reinforcing its position as market leader. When Live Nation begins as an operator to deploy the CTS EVENTIM ticketing systems in North America from 2009 onwards, this will also generate substantial additional royalties for EVENTIM.
The Management Board will present the details of the partnership at a press conference in January 2008.
