Dusseldorf court confirms ban on CTS’s Four Artists acquisition

A Dusseldorf court has rejected an appeal by CTS Eventim that sought to overturn the block on its acquisition of German promoter Four Artists.

Eventim, Europe’s largest ticket agency, announced in March 2017 it planned to acquire Four Artists, a Berlin-based promoter and booking agency which organises more than 2,000 shows annually, as well as a number of festivals, to bolster its events division.

The acquisition was unexpectedly torpedoed that November by Germany’s competition watchdog, the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), which ruled that the merger would substantially lessen competition by strengthening CTS Eventim’s already dominant market position.

A CTS Eventim spokesperson confirmed to IQ at the time it would appeal the decision, and later did so, seeking legal redress in the German court system.

However, in in a decision handed down late last week, the Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf (Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf) dismissed the company’s appeal, siding with the Cartel Office. A spokesperson tells MusikWoche Eventim will consider the court’s verdict before deciding whether to reappeal.

CTS Eventim lost its appeal against a ban on charging fees on print-at-home tickets in another OLG, in Bremen, in August.

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