Features
Bechir Changes Sides
Swiss promoter Andre Bechir looks to have switched sides by selling 80 percent of his new company ABC to German ticketing and entertainment giant CTS Eventim.
Photo: eventim.com
Bechir is the founder and former head of Good News Productions, which is largely owned by Eventim’s German rival, Deutsche Entertainment. Last October, Bechir left Good News, which he’d started more than 40 years earlier, having sold it to DEAG in 2000.
Swiss media giant Ringier, which bought 39 percent of Good News from DEAG in 2001, appears to have a foot in both camps.
At the beginning of 2010 it set up a 50-50 joint venture ticketing company with Eventim. At the time the new company said it hoped Bechir, who was still head of Good News, would be a major content provider.
ABC has upcoming shows with Depeche Mode, Placebo, Leonard Cohen, and Michael Bublé, as well as multiple performances of Cirque de Soleil.
“André Béchir is one of the truly outstanding promoters in Europe. We have a long-standing friendly relationship, and I really look forward to working with André,” said Eventim chief Klaus-Peter Schulenberg.