LN Buys Swedish EDM Presenter

With the likes of Electric Daisy Carnival, Hard Fest, Holy Ship! and Creamfields already in its portfolio, the world’s biggest concert promoter can now add the annual Summerburst Festivals held in Stockholm and Gothenburg. The most recent expansion in the Nordic territories has come from German promoter FKP Scorpio, while acquisitions in the European dance market have mainly come from Robert Sillerman’s SFX Entertainment.

Immediately before Christmas Live Nation snapped up a majority holding in C3 Presents, which was planning to debut its Lollapalooza Festival in Europe. The first one will be at Tempelhof Airport in Berlin Sept. 12-18, with a lineup that includes Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Sam Smith, The Libertines, Seeed, and Beatsteaks.

. The German side is being run by top festival booker Stefan Lehmkuhl and UK-based festival promoter Festival Republic, a company co-owned by LN, so it’s likely more European Lollapaloozas are to follow.

SPG Live, or Stureplansgruppen Live, was founded by the Stureplansgruppen restaurant chain and in the last five years has become Sweden’s foremost organizer of dance music events.

“As we continue to grow our electronic business globally, I am delighted that we are bringing SPG into the Live Nation family,” said LN Electronic Music chairman James Barton, the Cream and Creamfields Festival founder who sold his company to the L.A.-based firm in 2012. “I look forward to working closely with Anders Boström and Karl Ohlsén Pettersson as they look to develop our business in the region,” he said.

Artists playing this year’s Summebursts include Avicii, Martin Garrix, and Axwell & Ingrosso. Last year the festivals sold 110,000 tickets between them.