Industry News

Massie acquires Vibe Tickets from administrators

Founder Luke Massie has acquired Vibe Tickets in a restructuring of the business that saw it placed into administration.

The development was announced by Vela Technologies, which bought a stake in the business in 2016.

In a filing the investor described how funds raised towards the end of 2017 were intended to keep the business operating while an injection of £1m was sought. At the time it was reported Vibe was seeking around £2m.

Vela said that when those funds weren’t forthcoming it became clear “there was a requirement to restructure the Vibe Tickets business in order to attract more substantial funding from investors.”

In a statement it added: “As a result it has not been possible for Vibe Tickets to reach agreement on the terms of a further fundraise with investors.

“The board of Vibe Tickets therefore had no alternative but to seek advice which required the directors to act in the interests of both creditors and shareholders, resulting in THEVIBE Ltd being placed into administration on 30 April 2018.”

According to Vela, Massie has formed a new holding company, Vibe Group Holdings Limited (VGHL). VGHL was incorporated at Companies House on April 23, 2018, with Massie the sole officer at present.

“In the coming weeks, it is expected that VGHL will acquire 100% of Vibe Tickets and 90% of Vibe Pay,” Vela said. “The remaining 10% equity holding in Vibe Pay will be owned by key management of Vibe Pay. It is the intention that further funds will be raised by VGHL.”

Following completion of the restructuring of Vibe further investment is expected to be committed to VGHL from Scott Fletcher (£500,000) and Vela Technologies (£200,000).

Antony Laiker, executive director of Vela, added: “We have supported Luke Massie and Vibe Tickets since 2016.

“We saw the opportunity to support a business that was both highly disruptive and would enable ordinary fans of music and sport, who were being forced to pay excess fees on top of inflated prices, to benefit from a transparent social media platform to buy and sell tickets.

“Vibe has made strong headway reaching over 84,000 users and has generated over £7m of ticket volume, all with minimal marketing spend. Vibe Tickets is doing what it set out to do – disrupting the big players.

“Various financing routes for Vibe Tickets were explored. However, the corporate structure surrounding Vibe Tickets did not lend itself to securing further funding.

“Based on previous discussions with the management of Vibe Tickets, we anticipate that the “restructured” Vibe business will provide the platform for Vibe to engage with parties who have expressed interest in supporting and growing the business further.”

Image: Vibe Tickets