Viagogo Moves To Switzerland

Viagogo UK is shifting its operational base to Switzerland in what appears to be a maneuver allowing it to sell tickets for the Olympic Games without falling foul of UK law.

It’s changed its name and put itself into liquidation, transferring its business to Viagogo AG, which is registered in Geneva and has offices in Zurich.

The move opens a loophole that would enable Viagogo to trade tickets for the Olympic Games, although it has previously said it would not get involved.

Harry Porter of Freud Communications, the company that looks after the secondary ticketer’s public relations interests, says Viagogo’s interests stretch throughout the continent and it makes sense to move to a central European location.

He says changing the name and going into liquidation is “a standard practice” for any big company wanting to switch its operational base.

“Liquidating the UK operation under the name of Viagogo would have sent out the wrong message,” he explained.

Asked of the commitment Viagogo made regarding Olympic ticket resale, Porter told Pollstar “Viagogo gave an undertaking not to break the law.”

The company April 17 announced a “collaboration” with the Spanish Olympic Committee, which means the Swiss-based Viagogo will now offer any tickets left over from the SOC’s allocation – without falling foul of the UK government’s ban on the re-selling of tickets for the Games.

Viagogo is believed to have begun the move to Switzerland soon after “Dispatches,” an investigative documentary on the UK’s secondary ticketing business, was aired in February.

Two undercover reporters visited the company’s London office. Their findings suggested the company operates more like a tout than a fan-to-fan site. Viagogo failed with a court action to prevent the programme from being screened.

The Safeconcerts website points out that the move to Switzerland also means buyers and sellers are no longer dealing with a UK company and any problems with Viagogo would now be settled under Swiss law.

The Swiss office is also Viagogo’s base for trading tickets for shows in Denmark, where it’s against the law to resell for more than face value.

The paper trail behind Viagogo’s change of status starts at Companies House, the UK’s registrar of companies. On March 22 Viagogo Ltd., the UK arm of the company, changed its name to Consolidated Information Services Ltd.

The new company wasn’t registered as a ticket agency but classified as a 74909, which covers “other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified.”

On March 26, the newly named company went into liquidation.

On April 3, a statutory notice of liquidation appeared in the London Gazette under the name of Consolidated Information Services Ltd.