Ticketmaster Online Acquires Smaller Rival
Pasadena-based Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch has acquired a smaller competitor, online ticketer TicketWeb, for $35.2 million in stock, the company will announce today.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, the industry’s largest online ticketer, allows Web surfers to buy tickets to more than 350,000 events each year, usually in large venues like sports arenas and concert halls. Berkeley-based TicketWeb serves 700 smaller venues, including nightclubs, bars and museums.
Both companies make the bulk of their revenue by charging ticket buyers convenience fees.
In addition to rounding out Ticketmaster Online’s ticketing offerings, privately held TicketWeb will complement the local Web guides produced by CitySearch, Ticketmaster Chairman Charles Conn said.
The company’s 51 city guides already offer listings of local events ranging from stand-up comedy to community service.
“When Bruce Springsteen is coming to town, everyone knows about it. When smaller groups come to town, it’s hard to find out about them,” Conn said. The acquisition, he said, will enable the company to “provide access--and tickets--to more cultural and entertainment events.”
The CitySearch side of Ticketmaster’s business has expanded its ticketing capabilities in recent months. In February, the company paid $23 million in stock for 2b Technology, a Glen Allen, Va.-based firm that specializes in ticketing for cultural institutions and historical sites.
CitySearch is also developing its own Internet-only ticketing system for events in small venues in Portland and Seattle.
In the first three months of this year, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch sold $28.6 million in tickets, accounting for 62% of its revenue. Overall, Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch lost $48.6 million on $46.5 million in sales.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch and TicketWeb had held on-and-off merger discussions for three years but could not agree on a price, Conn said. After Ticketmaster completed its acquisition of 2b Technology, a 2b employee sent an e-mail to TicketWeb President and Chief Executive Andrew Dreskin and suggested he join the company as well, Dreskin said.
That prompted Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch and TicketWeb to resume their talks a couple of months ago, with intensive negotiations in the last two weeks, Conn said.
TicketWeb’s 57 employees will remain at their current locations in Berkeley and Britain, Dreskin said.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch has an exclusive agreement to sell tickets from Ticketmaster Corp. on the Web, but it is independent of Ticketmaster, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of USA Networks.
Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch shares closed Friday at $15.25, unchanged in Nasdaq trading.
