Ticketpro’s Serge Into Baltics

The proposed Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger has cast doubts over the future shape of Europe’s ticket businesses, but Prague-based Ticketpro has shrugged them off and expanded into The Baltics.

“I have wanted to start Ticketpro in the Baltics for several years. I truly believe in the potential of this marketplace,” said Ticketpro chief Serge Grimaux, after the company’s online-systems at ticketpro.ee, ticketpro.lv and ticketpro.lt helped shift 50,000 tickets for Madonna’s Aug. 4 show at Tallinn Song Festival Grounds in less than a day.

The show is promoted by Live Nation and Baltic Development Group.

It was the fastest sellout ever in The Baltics, with 90 percent of the sales being made online. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have online ticket businesses, but many will only accept local bank cards and historically sales have only been about 30 percent of the house.

Ticketpro is in the middle of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. Grimaux’s ticket business competes with Germany’s CTS Eventim – which has a 10-year contract with Live Nation – in central and eastern Europe including Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Slovakia. He’s also a co-director of Interkoncerts, the Czech wing of LN’s international promoting network.

Setting up in The Baltics is something of a coup for Ticketpro as CTS Eventim was expected to be first through the door. Germany-based Eventim recently bought a 70 percent stake in Lippupiste Oy, the second-biggest ticket company in Finland, for euro 5 million (US$6.8 million).

Eventim was believed to have an eye on Piletilevi, which is based in Tallinn and has a longstanding partnership with Lippupiste. It’s owned by Baltic Ticket Holding, which also owns Bilesuserviss in Latvia. BTH is opening up shop in Vilnius, Lithuania, in November, which will give it a platform in all three states.

At the time of the Lippupiste deal, Piletilevi general manager Jaanus Beilmann said he’d had no contact from Eventim.

Apart from buying in to Lippupiste, the Munich-based company is setting up its own office in Stockholm to help service the worldwide ticketing deal the company did with Live Nation at the beginning of 2008. Appel says the company will also set up in Norway and Denmark in 2009.

Grimaux said the Madonna show will undoubtedly mark the history of the area, and Ticketpro could not have a better occasion to bring a new era of ticketing to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Ticketpro is also selling tickets for Madonna shows in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bulgaria.