x

The latest industry news to your inbox.


I'd like to hear about marketing opportunities

    

I accept IQ Magazine's Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

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.”

 


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.

Read Sillerman’s parting words to SFX staff

Robert FX Sillerman has officially stepped down as CEO of SFX Entertainment.

It was announced when SFX declared bankruptcy on 1 February that company founder Sillerman (pictured) would resign as CEO but remain as chairman. IQ revealed later that month that the dance music promoter, which floated on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2013 for an IPO of US$13 per share, had debts of $490 million, much of it owed to companies bought by SFX and still awaiting deferred purchase price payments.

Below is Sillerman’s farewell letter to SFX staff, circulated on Tuesday (29 March) and obtained by Billboard:

As most of you are aware Thursday, March 31, will be my last day as CEO of SFX. I will remain as Chairman of the Board. The disappointment I know we all feel should not be the lasting impression that remains. We had a bold vision, a revolutionary one. That we stumbled along the way can never detract from the energy and hope that brought us all together. As we enter this next phase, despite the place we find ourselves, there is much to be proud of. It remains incumbent on all of us to refocus our energies and find the path to success that is out there. I am confident that with renewed discipline combined with passion and creativity that our original goals can and will be met.

As Chairman I remain available to help in any way that I can. I maintain both an emotional and financial interest in our company’s success and intend to participate as and when called upon. As such this is anything but a goodbye; rather a reset of roles with a renewed emphasis on collaborative success. While we aren’t where we wanted to be, and will be, it has been an honor [sic] and a pleasure.