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Germany's CTS Eventim and Fnac Darty have finalised negotiations, initiated at the end of July, to merge their ticketing operations in France
By Jon Chapple on 01 Nov 2019
CTS Eventim has finalised its acquisition of a minority stake in France Billet, the largest ticketing platform in France.
Concluding negotiations begun in July, Europe’s leading ticket seller has acquired 48% of France Billet’s shares from Fnac Darty, and will merge its French ticketing activities into the partnership. Germany-based CTS Eventim also has an option to acquire a majority stake in four years’ time.
The new joint venture will continue to do business as France Billet, while all established retail brands – including Eventim’s eventim.fr and Fnac’s fnacspectacles.com and billetreduc.com – will remain place.
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CEO of CTS Eventim, comments: “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.”
According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2019, France Billet is “the éminence grise of French ticketing, providing the backend for market-leader Fnac Spectacles, as well as for hypermarket Carrefour and Veepee (formerly Vente-Privée) and its discount ticket service, Panda Ticket.”
“France Billet will take advantage of … CTS Eventim’s expertise and importance”
With turnover of nearly €7.5bn in 2018, Fnac Darty, meanwhile, is France’s largest retailer of entertainment products, consumer electronics and household appliances. It has stores in 12 countries, and is also one of the country’s largest ecommerce businesses, with 20m unique visitors to its retail sites per month.
Enrique Martinez (pictured), CEO of Fnac Darty, comments on the Eventim deal: “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.”
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