CTS Eventim Negotiating To Acquire French Ticketing Business Fnac Darty

Both CTS Eventim and Fnac Darty have started exclusive negotiations on a strategic partnership, which would result in Eventim acquiring 48% of the shares in France Billet.

Eventim.fr would become part of the new joint venture, which would also include francebillet.com, fnacspectacles.com and billetreduc.com, which got acquired by France Billet earlier this year.

The plan is to close the transaction by the end of this year.

CTS Eventim also has the option to acquire a majority stake four years from the date of the closing of the transaction.

CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg commented: “By partnering with Fnac Darty, we seek to create a company that offers its customers attractive services, a powerful platform, and a wide range of offerings. 

“At the same time, we intend to use this investment to significantly strengthen our market position in an economically attractive and culturally diverse market. I look forward to our further discussions with Fnac Darty.”

Fnac Darty CEO Enrique Martinez added: “We are very pleased with this project with CTS Eventim, which is part of our process of implementing our Confiance+ strategic plan and rolling out our platform to partners who are experts in their field. 

“In a rapidly changing market, this value-creating partnership would pave the way for new avenues of development for France Billet, now backed by two major players, and would strengthen its offer and its innovative capacities in a competitive sector. France Billet would take advantage of the know-how and strength of the Fnac brand as well as CTS Eventim’s expertise and importance.”

Fnac originally started as a retailer for cultural and electronic goods, and still operates many physical outlets in France, where it is still very commonplace for customers to buy their tickets at a physical point of sale.