Live entertainment and ticketing giant CTS EVENTIM is expanding in Switzerland.
The company is acquiring a 60% stake in Zurich-based Gadget Entertainment as well as a 60% stake in the St. Gallen-based wepromote Entertainment Group.
By acquiring majority stakes in the two Swiss firms, CTS EVENTIM is growing its live events portfolio by 400 to 500 concerts per year in addition to adding popular music festivals such as Open Air St. Gallen, SummerDays Festival, Seaside Festival and Unique Moments.
EVENTIM LIVE is also adding a further 32 promoters to its national and global network.
On completion of the transaction, Gadget Entertainment and wepromote will merge their operations with those of ABC Production, which already belongs to CTS EVENTIM.
The name of the new company, based in Zurich, will be Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG.
The newly-formed abc Entertainment Group AG will be managed by five partners: Christof Huber, the festival director in St. Gallen and Arbon, Cyrill Stadler, for many years the CFO and Verwaltungsrat of the Wepromote Group, and the Gadget partners Eric Kramer, Oliver Rosa and Stefan Wyss.
Kramer and Rosa will represent the company as Managing Partners, whereas Wyss will manage the Live Events business and Huber the Festival business. Cyrill Stadler will act as the Financial Director.
“By acquiring majority stakes in Gadget and wepromote, and subsequently merging them with ABC Production, we are efficiently reorganising our business activities in the Swiss live events sector.”
Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, CTS EVENTIM (pictured)
CTS EVENTIM CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg said: “By acquiring majority stakes in Gadget and wepromote, and subsequently merging them with ABC Production, we are efficiently reorganising our business activities in the Swiss live events sector.
“Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG will be a powerful events and entertainment network.
“We can thus deliver impressive proof of the great progress we are making in expanding EVENTIM LIVE, our international promoter network. This means we can offer artists not only highly performant ticketing systems, but also broader opportunities for international tours and customised solutions – all on a one-stop basis.”
“Due to the involvement of CTS Eventim and our taking over the business of abc Production, we can generate some crucial momentum for further growth.”
Christof Huber, Gadget
Christof Huber, Festival Director at Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG, added: “We have been jointly preparing for this step for quite some time.
“Due to the involvement of CTS Eventim and our taking over the business of abc Production, we can generate some crucial momentum for further growth.”
Oliver Rosa, one of the two managing partners, added: “Thanks to our diversification, we are well positioned for the changing market environment and want to exploit the many scale effects in the best way possible.”
Eric Kramer, one of the two designated managing partners, said: “Our consistency and reliability as a key player in the Swiss music business means that we can lead the way into the future, in step with the market.”
“Merging these companies is a logical and consequential step and will have a sustained impact on the Swiss market in the live events segment.”
André Béchir, ABC Production
André Béchir, Managing Director of ABC Production, added: “Merging these companies is a logical and consequential step and will have a sustained impact on the Swiss market in the live events segment.
“I am looking forward to the new partnership and to applying my extensive experience to actively assist Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG in my role as consultant.’
“The merger of the three firms – Gadget, wepromote and ABC Production – to form the new Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG is creating one of Switzerland’s most powerful entertainment companies.”
Dr Frithjof Pils
Dr Frithjof Pils, Managing Director of EVENTIM LIVE, said: “It was only recently, in March 2019, that we concentrated our promoter activities in the new entity called EVENTIM LIVE.
“Within less than a year, our network already comprises 32 international and national promoters, who each year organise more than 40 festivals and around 6,000 live events attended by 12 million visitors in 13 countries.
“What this shows is that our idea is successful and is well received by the market.
“The merger of the three firms – Gadget, wepromote and ABC Production – to form the new Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG is creating one of Switzerland’s most powerful entertainment companies.”Music Business Worldwide
