BREMEN, Germany (CelebrityAccess) — German ticketing and entertainment company CTS Eventim announced that it has provided financial support for its Austrian subsidiary Barracuda Group after the regional promoter was put at risk amid a banking scandal.
According to CTS Eventim, Barracuda had approximiately €34 million Euro on deposit with Austria’s Commerzialbank Mattersburg, which went into liquidation on order of the Austrian Financial Market Authority this month amid allegations of large scale accounting fraud at the bank.
The accounting fraud, which was alleged to have misrepresented more than €500 million in assets at the bank, included forged interbank deposits, according to Austrian prosecutors.
The scope of the financial resources provided to Barracuda was not disclosed.
Barracuda, which was established in 2004, is one of the leading concert promoters in Austria and produces the Nova Rock and Frequency festivals and has been the exclusive promoter at Burg Clam Castle, one of Austria’s most popular concert venues.
CTS Eventim acquired a 71% stake in Barracuda Music at the start of this year.
“Even in times of Corona, we are pursuing a long-term corporate strategy and are fully aware of Barracuda’s enormous potential. We are therefore pleased that Barracuda, one of most creative concert promoters in Europe, has been a member of our corporate family since early 2020, which also means a significant investment in Austria, a market that is so important to us. The team around Ewald Tatar, Barracuda’s managing director, can rely on us totally, even in these turbulent times.’ He added, ‘We would like to emphasise at the same time that both CTS Eventim and the Barracuda Group will take any steps that are necessary to protect our rights in respect of the current situation at Commerzialbank Mattersburg,” said CTS Eventim CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg.
“We are immensely struck by the fast and uncomplicated way that CTS EVENTIM jumped to our side and are really very glad to have such a strong and flexible company as our parent. We are delighted for hundreds of thousands of music fans from Austria and abroad that we are able to carry on our successful work and that the future of Nova Rock, Frequency and hundreds of concerts a year is secure,” added Ewald Tatar.
