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Business News Digital Live Business
AEG takes full control of AXS
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 19 September 2019
AEG has taken full control of its ticketing business AXS Tickets, according to a report in Billboard. It’s thought AEG hopes that, by wholly owning AXS, it can more easily innovate in a bid to expand its presence, especially in the US market.
The live giant set up AXS after its main rival, Live Nation, merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, a move which understandably made AEG nervous about working with the market-leading primary ticket agent.
AEG partnered with Canadian technology firm Outbox – which had been launched a few years earlier by Cirque du Soleil – in order to develop its own ticketing solution. A few years later it merged with paperless ticketing firm Veritix. It was as a result of those deals that AXS had two other co-owners alongside AEG.
There was talk of European ticketing giant Eventim acquiring AXS outright, and of a possible deal with American ticketing start-up Rival. But neither of those seemingly came to pass, resulting in AEG moving to buy out its partners in the business.
The move will likely instigate a renewed push to grow AXS’s market share. In the US, the consent decree that has restricted Live Nation/Ticketmaster from leveraging its concert promotions and ticketing businesses to the benefit of each other is due to expire next year, meaning AEG’s big competitor may become more aggressive in the years ahead.
AEG will want to be in a position to respond to any new moves by Live Nation, and insiders say that will be easier if it is in full control of AXS.