Superstruct Entertainment Invests In Wacken Open Air Promoter ICS

Superstruct Entertainment announced that it has entered into a partnership and investment agreement with International Concert Service GmbH (ICS), best known for promoting the world’s most famous metal festival, Wacken Open Air.

Financials of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement remains subject to approval from competition authorities.

ICS is a full service producer and promoter of live entertainment events, specialised in the harder rock genres. While Wacken is its flagship event, ICS also produces and promotes ancillary events such as the Hamburg Metal Dayz, the Wacken Winter Nights, the Full Metal Cruise, and the Werner Race, an event that combines motorsport and live music.

ICS founders Holger Hübner and Thomas Jensen, as well as the rest of the current leadership team, will remain responsible for the day-to-day management of the business after the transaction closes.

Hübner and Jensen released a joint statement following the Superstruct announcement: “Joining the Superstruct network is terrific news for our team and our fans. 

“We will continue providing world-class experiences through our portfolio of live events and now we are able to additionally benefit from a partner with a global network and experience. This will help us grow further and make what we do even better. We very much look forward to working with the Superstruct team to continue pushing the envelope. Our goal is always to inspire and enthuse heavy metal fans around the world and to make people happy with our live activities.”

James Barton, CEO of Superstruct, said: “We are very excited to join forces with ICS, the global leaders in metal. Led by Holger and Thomas, and supported by an experienced team overseeing a portfolio of quality events, we are confident that together we can continue to expand ICS and take the company and its events to the next level.”

Wacken Open Air just celebrated another sold-out edition, Aug. 1-3. The festival’s organisers traditionally start selling tickets the day after the festival ends. 

This year, it took fans only 21 hours to snatch up all of the available 75,000 tickets for the 31th edition of Wacken, July 30-Aug. 1, 2020.

Wacken is Superstruct’s second investment in Germany in short succession. Earlier this month, Barton announced that he had entered into the same kind of “investment and partnership agreement” with independent live entertainment and event management company Next Events GmbH. 

Also this year, London-based Superstruct invested in Danish independent promoter Down The Drain Group, and acquired several live music and entertainment festivals from Global Media & Entertainment in the UK.