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Munich/Ivry, 31 October 2019. CTS EVENTIM, one of the world's leading providers of ticketing and live entertainment, is significantly strengthening its position in France by acquiring a stake in the country’s ticketing market leader, France Billet. CTS EVENTIM and Fnac Darty (owner of France Billet) have successfully concluded their negotiations, ongoing since end of July, regarding a strategic partnership for their French ticketing activities. The transaction was signed today and will be formally closed shortly.
As planned, in a first step CTS EVENTIM will acquire 48 percent of the shares in France Billet, the ticketing subsidiary of Fnac Darty. At the same time, the company will merge its existing activities in France into the partnership. CTS EVENTIM also has the option to acquire a majority stake four years from the date of the closing of the transaction.
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS EVENTIM, commented: “By partnering with Fnac Darty, CTS EVENTIM significantly enhances its market position in an economically attractive and culturally diverse market. I’m delighted that we were able to successfully conclude our constructive talks in such a short time. Now we will work together on ensuring that France Billet can profit from our technology and our pan-European network as best as possible. We want to offer our customers in France attractive services, a powerful platform, and a wide range of offerings.”
The joint venture will continue to do business as France Billet. All established retail brands will remain in place. In addition to francebillet.com, these include eventim.fr, fnacspectacles.com and billetreduc.com.
Enrique Martinez, CEO of Fnac Darty, added: “We are very pleased to have concluded negotiations with CTS EVENTIM. That shows our common will to accelerate in this rapidly changing market, to pave the way for new avenues of development for France Billet, and strengthen its offer and its innovative capacities in a competitive sector. France Billet will take advantage of the know-how and the strength of the Fnac brand as well as CTS EVENTIM’s expertise and importance.”
As a minority shareholder, CTS EVENTIM will account for its shareholding in France Billet at equity. In the event that the call option is exercised four years later, this opens up the possibility of full consolidation.
About CTS EVENTIM
CTS EVENTIM is one of the leading international providers of Ticketing and Live Entertainment. In 2018, approx. 250 million tickets were marketed using the company’s systems – through stationary box offices, online or mobile. Its online portals operate under brands such as eventim.de, oeticket.com, ticketcorner.ch, ticketone.it, and entradas.com. The EVENTIM Group also includes many concert, tour and festival promoter companies for events like ‘Rock am Ring’, ‘Rock im Park’, ‘Hurricane’, ‘Southside’, and ‘Lucca Summer’. In addition, some of Europe’s most renowned venues are operated by CTS EVENTIM, for example the LANXESS arena in Cologne, the Waldbühne in Berlin and the EVENTIM Apollo in London. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE 0005470306) has been listed on the stock exchange since 2000 and is currently a member of the MDAX segment. In 2018, its 3,141-strong workforce generated more than 1.2 billion Euros in revenue in 21 countries.
About Fnac Darty
Operating in twelve countries, Fnac Darty is a European leader in the retail of entertainment and leisure products, consumer electronics and household appliances. The group counts 25,000 employees and, as of the end of 2018, has a multi-format network of 780 stores, including 571 in France. Fnac Darty is France’s second e-commerce player in terms of traffic (near 20 million aggregated unique visitors per month) with its two retail websites, fnac.com and darty.com. A standard-setting omni-channel retailer, Fnac Darty posted pro forma revenues of €7.475 billion in 2018.
