Barry Diller: Trust Me - You’re Going To Love The Ticketmaster/Live Nation Deal
This will be a fun one to handicap. One side: Struggling Ticketmaster, which holds a near-monopoly on concert ticket sales, and struggling Live Nation, the biggest concert promoter in the world. On the other side: Just about everyone who’s ever bought a concert ticket and grumbled about the experience later.
Ticketmaster (TKTM) and Live Nation (LYV) formally rolled out their merger agreement today, which calls for Live Nation to buy out Ticketmaster shareholders for $575 million in stock. But the financials here are less important than the public relations: In order to get this deal done, the two companies are going to have to convince regulators that they come in peace and mean no harm- no matter how loudly their constituents disagree.
So far, we’ve only heard the carping about the deal, but it’s been loud, and prominent: Bruce Springsteen has weighed in. So has the New York Times. And now Congress is getting warmed up, too.
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