SA’s Computicket buys self-service platform

South African ticketing market leader Computicket has acquired Entry Ninja, a Pretoria-based event-registration platform for sporting events.

The buy, the terms of which were not disclosed, is the first acquisition by Computicket since its bid to have a Competition Tribunal investigation into alleged exclusionary and anti-competitive practices was dismissed in October. The company is the subject of a long-running probe, initiated in 2010, as a result of complaints by several smaller rivals, including Strictly Tickets, Artslink, Going Places, TicketSpace and Ezimidlalo Technologies.

According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2016, promoter clients of Computicket include Big Concerts and Hilltop Live, the former now Live Nation’s local operation.

The acquisition of Entry Ninja will, says Joseph Bronn, deputy COO of Computicket parent Shoprite, allow the company to “service mass sporting events via Entry Ninja’s innovative system”.

“We were actively looking to extend into event registration so as to better service our customers through the approximately 1,000 Computicket outlets,” comments Bonn.

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