Live Nation Finland acquires Hög Agency

Live Nation Finland has acquired Helsinki-based booking agency and promoter Hög, in the latest of a series of moves by the live entertainment behemoth’s Finnish branch.

Founded in 2016 by Mikko Varjamo (pictured), Hög represents Finnish artists including Olavi Uusivirta (pictured), Adi L Hasla, Mouhous and Vilma Alina (pictured).

In addition to the acquisition, which aims to strengthen Live Nation Finland’s domestic roster, Live Nation Finland has also signed emerging Finnish acts, Kube and SONNY.

“After running my own agencies for over nine years, I felt it was time to move forward,” comments Hög founder and CEO Varjamo, who will stay on at Live Nation Finland as an agent. “This new union with Live Nation will enable the company to operate at a different level and will strengthen our position in Finland’s music scene. I’m extremely excited about this.”

“This new union with Live Nation will enable the company to operate at a different level and will strengthen our position in Finland’s music scene”

Live Nation Finland’s Tomi Saarinen (pictured), who took on the role of managing director in August, adds that, “our focus is on developing a strong domestic artist roster and the acquisition of Hög Agency & Promotion is a key part of this plan.

“We aim to be the best possible partner for our artists and enable them to develop and reach their full potential while offering fans memorable experiences. We welcome the Hög super team to the Live Nation family.”

In February, Live Nation Finland acquired urban music festival Blockfest, which, according to Live Nation Finland head promoter Zachris Sundell (pictured), this year sold out to its largest capacity crowd ever.

2019 has been a busy year for Live Nation, with IQ calculating 17 acquisitions or equivalent to date, following Singapore’s One Production in January, Canada’s Embrace Presents, Spain’s Planet Events, Tennessee’s Neste Event Marketing, Blockfest, Norway’s Tons of Rock and Australia’s Moshtix (through Ticketmaster) in February, Belgium’s Antwerps Sportpaleis and New England’s Levitate in April, Denmark’s PDH Music and Los Angeles-based Spaceland Presents in May, Poland’s Go Ahead and Superfly’s share of Bonnaroo in June, IMM’s stake in Rock in Rio in July and the UK’s Rewind Festival earlier this month.

The company is expected to finalise the taking of a majority stake Mexico’s Ocesa Entertainment – the largest promoter in Latin America – before the end of the year.

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