US live music company floats on stock exchange

US hospitality and live music company Venu has floated on the New York Stock Exchange.

Formerly known as Notes Live, the firm owns the 8,000-cap Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs, which launched this summer and is operated in partnership with AEG Presents. It also runs a venue in Gainesville, Georgia.

In March, it announced it had agreed a deal to develop the 20,000-seat Sunset Amphitheater in McKinney, Texas, which will serve as its flagship music venue, and is also planning an $80 million €76m), 12,500-cap outdoor venue in El Paso.

A similar project is also in the works in Oklahoma, and Venue hopes to reach 10 major markets by 2026.

The company initial public offering of 1.2 million shares of common stock is priced at $10 per share, for gross proceeds of $12m (€11.4m).

“We are very excited to be public. That was the goal – to be able to have a company that fans could own”

Venu, which was founded in 2017 by Colorado entrepreneur JW Roth, says it intends to use the net proceeds to “fund the expansion of its business operations, further development of company services, business promotion activities, and for working capital and general corporate purposes”.

It is also looking at general market expansion and “due diligence efforts to explore the opening of new restaurant, entertainment, and music venues”.

“You always think you know what [your company is] worth, but when the public tells you what it’s worth, it’s a whole different experience,” Venu chair and CEO Roth told yesterday’s 27 November) Colorado Springs Gazette.

“When somebody writes a check and gives you money, they trust you. That’s a heavy responsibility. Today is a reward for all of those people who invested.

“We are very excited to be public. That was the goal – to be able to have a company that fans could own.”

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