AEG Presents opens French office

AEG Presents today announced the opening of a new office in Paris, confirming its expansion into what the company calls “one of Europe’s most important and vibrant markets for live music”.

AEG Presents, US entertainment giant AEG’s concert/festival promotion division, has had a presence in France since at least last October, when it partnered with Matthieu Pigasse’s LNEI to acquire Paris festival Rock en Seine. It is also an investor in the 17,000-cap. AccorHotels Arena in Paris, which replaced Palais Omnisports in 2015.

AEG Presents France SAS was incorporated on 20 December 2017, with AEG Presents UK finance director Stephen van Dyk as president.

The new company is headed up leading promoter Arnaud Meersseman, formerly of Nous Productions and Fimalac/Miala, who steps into his new role as general manager and VP with immediate effect. Reporting directly to AEG Presents UK co-CEOs Steve Homer and Toby Leighton-Pope, he is tasked with developing and growing “a promotions business centred on the thriving French music scene, while at the same time actively supporting AEG’s international roster of touring artists”.

Meersseman comments: “I’ve worked with Toby and Steve since they became involved in Rock en Seine and I’m very proud and excited to become part of the AEG Presents team with this new venture.

“I’m confident we can do some excellent work with both international and French artists as the new office gets underway”

“I have always considered AEG to be best in class in developing venues and festivals that both meet the needs of today’s consumers, and, in the development of the [BST] Hyde Park festival, [has] built something truly befitting of the London park.

“I am looking forward to taking this passion for excellence into the French market, and I’m confident we can do some excellent work with both international and French artists as the new office gets underway.”

AEG Presents (formerly AEG Live), which entered the UK market more than a decade ago, promoted more than 800 live events in 2017. It has exclusive use of Hyde Park for the successful British Summer Time festival (the recently announced All Points East, in Victoria Park, is promoted by sister company Goldenvoice UK) and operates the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, jointly with CTS Eventim.

Its parent company, AEG, is second only to Live Nation in global marketshare; it is behind acclaimed US festivals such as Coachella and Desert Trip, and through AEG Facilities manages many of the world’s top arenas.

“The live music scene in France is incredibly vibrant and one we very much admire, and it’s a real privilege to be able to set up our Paris office,” say Homer and Leighton-Pope in a joint statement. “In Arnaud we have a highly experienced leader and look forward to achieving great things together.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.