Reports are circulating today that UK based ticketing giant See Tickets have been sold to French media conglomerate Vivendi in a deal worth in the region of £83 million.
If this turns out to be accurate, and it appears to be, then it would come as a major surprise as it was widely expected that See were to be bought by CTS Eventim, a large European ticketing agent who have been seeking a slice of the UK market for some time.
Today has seen several reports suggesting that it is Vivendi who have jumped in, following-up their purchase of a 65% share in French ticketing firm Digitick in 2010. So far Vivendi have declined to comment on these reports.
See was originally set up as a spin off from Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group and is the second largest ticket retailers in the UK, holding an estimated 20% of the market. A Dutch private equity group called Parcom Capita is making the sale and having moved the German arm of See to CTS Eventim last year it appeared the obvious move for the same company to now buy into the UK
until Vivendi made their bid.
SeeTickets hold many of the biggest contracts in the entertainment industry in the UK as the official vendor for events including Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds festival, Top Gear Live and Proms In The Park and are many buyers first choice when looking for tickets.
In making this move Vivendi will put themselves up against Ticketmaster who merged with Live Nation last year to become the World’s biggest concert promoter.
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