Bundeskartellamt clears merger between CTS Eventim and FKP Scorpio

The Bundeskartellamt has cleared the acquisition of the concert and festival organiser FKP Scorpio Konzertproduktionen GmbH ("Hurricane", "Southside") by CTS Eventim AG & Co. KGaA.

CTS Eventim is known particularly for its ticket online shop "Eventim.de". Via an electronic platform, the company also provides ticketing services for event organisers and advance booking offices, and also organises events itself, especially rock/pop tours and festivals ("Rock am Ring", "Rock im Park").

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "CTS Eventim has a very powerful market position, especially in the sale of tickets via its own platform and online shop. The market power of platforms raises many new questions for antitrust enforcement. Over the past months we have done much groundwork to explore the business models of digital platforms. We are currently conducting a proceeding against CTS Eventim on the suspicion that it has abused its market power with certain business practices. CTS is also a strong competitor in the organisation of rock/pop tours and festivals. We have therefore closely examined the planned merger although CTS already had a stake in FKP Scorpio. However, its increased share in FKP Scorpio will not result in a relevant change of conditions in the market."

In the tour promoters markets the competition situation in the music festival and rock/pop tour concert segment in particular was closely examined. In the case of festivals, there were only partial overlaps between the regional market areas, where new large festivals such as e.g. "Lollapalooza" in Berlin or "Rockavaria" in Munich have created effective competition. As regards the organisation of concert tours, the US company Live Nation Inc., another large provider, has entered the German market. The merger will therefore not create a dominant position or significantly impede competition in this segment either.

For more general information on the market power of Internet platforms please also see our press release of 9 June 2016.