Ticketmaster Acquires Sweden's BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB

(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Ticketmaster has acquired BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB, the largest live event ticketing company in Sweden. Created in 2001 as a merger between BiljettDirekt and Ticnet, BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB has been servicing Swedish clients and customers with ticketing solutions for sports, concerts, theatre, festivals and more as well as distribution of travel tickets since 1997.

Headquartered in Stockholm, it has sold nearly 15 million tickets annually for many leading Scandinavian event producers, arenas, theatres and sports clubs in Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The acquisition of BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB follows Ticketmaster's recent expansions into Norway and Denmark and positions Ticketmaster as the market leader in Scandinavia. Ticketmaster's European ticketing operations now include England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Denmark and The Netherlands in addition to Sweden.

"BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB is a strong business, with strong growth potential, and we are pleased to welcome promoters and venues in Sweden to our growing family of international clients," said Paul LaFontaine, vice president of European Business Development, Ticketmaster. "Ticketmaster's singular focus is being the best ticketing service in Europe, and we look forward to introducing new services and features that allow ever increasing flexibility for clients and added convenience for consumers."

By combining Ticketmaster's wide array of technology solutions and ticketing services with BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB's client relationships and ticketing solutions, Ticketmaster plans to provide clients and consumers throughout Sweden with broad and convenient access to live entertainment tickets. Ticketmaster is acquiring BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB from AB Trav och Galopp, SI Foretagstjanster Holding AB, SJ AB, and Silja Line AB. The Company will continue to operate in Sweden as BiljettDirekt Ticnet and in Norway under Ticnet. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are pleased to join the industry leader, and believe Ticketmaster's expertise in the ticketing business will provide our clients with the very best solutions to grow their businesses," said Mats Brandt, CEO of BiljettDirekt Ticnet AB. "We look forward to putting the full complement of Ticketmaster's resources to work for our clients and consumers." –Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner