Petri Joins Kentaro Tribe

Petri Lunden has sold his Gothenburg-based artist management company to Kentaro Group, one of the world’s leading sports rights agencies.

"It’s entrepreneur-driven, it’s not public listed and you don’t have to report every five minutes," Lunden, who quit Scandinavian promoter EMA Telstar when it was bought by SFX in 2000, told Pollstar when questioned on how such a sellout fitted in with his well-documented anti-corporate stance.

He will stay on as chairman of Hagenburg AB, largely owned by Kentaro, which will restructure to accommodate the absorption of Talent Trust.

It will hold the exclusive right to provide music and artists for Kentaro’s sporting events.

Kentaro, which takes its name from the central African tribal word for "lion mother," handles the worldwide media rights for a host of high-calibre European and international soccer matches.

It also handles the distribution rights for many of the world’s most important televised boxing matches.

Attaro, a wholly owned subsidiary, organises the events and runs the sponsorship and hospitality packages.

The company’s based in Switzerland but has a network of European offices including in London, Hanover, Stockholm and now Gothenburg.

It’s the major shareholder of Hagenburg, the Stockholm-based recording label and artist management company with clients that include Alcazar, The Poodles, Film On Four and Sarah Dawn Finer.

It’s headed by Henrik Johnsson, who will now work alongside Lunden, and represents several leading Scandinavian TV personalities including Ulrika Eriksson, Alice Bah, Anna Lindmarker, Charlie Söderberg, Claudia Galli and Linda Isacsson.

Johnsson and Hagenburg colleague Mathias Andersson are also presenters, fronting a range of programmes on Swedish TV.

Lunden, whose three Talent Trust employees will also be moving to Hagenburg, has a roster that includes The Cardigans, Europe, Peter LeMarc and Danish rock band D-A-D.

Hagenburg will now be split into three divisions. The management wing, with Lunden and Johnsson at the helm, will represent the live acts.

All three of Lunden’s staff, Linda Holmgren, Hanna Ilestam and Anders Fästader, will also be staying on with Hagenburg and continue working from Talent Trust’s Gothenburg offices.

The media department will be run by Andersson and will represent the TV personalities.

Amanda Spaner heads the legal department, which reportedly gave advice on former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s recent takeover of the U.K.’s Manchester City soccer club.