BERLIN (CelebrityAccess) – DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG), has today (June 7) announced that the company is acquiring a majority interest of 50.1% in I-Motion GmbH, the German operating unit of LiveStyle, Inc., USA and one of the country’s largest electronic music promoters.
Established in 1994, I-Motion promotes between six and eight electronic music events a year including “Mayday,” “Ruhr in Love,” and “Nature One,” which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The three events alone attract some 2.5 million visitors to Germany.
LiveStyle, Inc., the US parent company of I-Motion, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in New York, Chicago, Denver, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany and Brazil, is one of the world’s largest music event producers and produces numerous events in North America, Europe, South America, Australia and Asia.
With I-Motion already selling some 200,000 tickets annually, DEAG expects further growth for the ticketing business via myticket.de over the course of the partnership. The Executive Board estimates that the additional sales potential for DEAG will total EUR 15 million annually.
Commenting on the acquisition, Randy Phillips, President & CEO of LiveStyle remarked: “Many years ago I had the pleasure of negotiating the purchase of MAMA Concerts & Rau by DEAG. In the course of closing that transaction, I got to know Peter Schwenkow, the CEO and Founder of DEAG, quite well and was very impressed by his love of music, business acumen and vision for DEAG. It seems I was right then and am right now. In addition, Detlef Kornett, of DEAG, and I were colleagues for many years at AEG and I am thrilled to be reunited with my friend. The key execs at I-Motion feel that DEAG is a great fit for them and I know it will be a great partner for LiveStyle in Germany.”
Prof. Peter Schwenkow, CEO of DEAG, continued: “The partnership with I-Motion and LiveStyle offers us further potential for our ticketing business. Through the targeted introduction of individual events abroad, we will also have the opportunity to grow internationally. For example, by offering the established and very successful electronic event ‘Mayday’ again in Poland, the UK and Switzerland in the future.”
Chuck Ciongoli, Executive Vice President and CFO of LiveStyle, added: “In recent years, I-Motion has shown, above all by planning, organising and carrying out its own projects, that our German subsidiary always knows how to set new accents in the field of events and entertainment and profits from our international network. With DEAG, we now have a strong partner at our side who can look back on a wealth of experience in this market. We are convinced that both sides will benefit from our new relationship and are looking forward to a long-term partnership.”
