Swiss ticketing company Daimani has cast doubt on whether Viagogo will be able to close its $4.05bn buyout of StubHub in an opinion piece in which it is heavily critical of both brands.
eBay completed the sale of the secondary ticketing provider to Viagogo in cash in February this year, having announced the move in November 2019. The deal still requires approval from the competition authority in the UK before it can complete, although it has already been passed in the US.
Daimani, which connects official providers of VIP Hospitality packages with corporate or individual customers, has taken a look at the impact that Covid-19 could have on the megadeal that shook the industry.
It is critical of Viagogo’s Eric Baker’s minimising of the threat of Covid-19 to the live events sector in February. It added: “There’s also plenty of questions to be asked of eBay, and their decision to offload StubHub in the first place.”
Daimani said in the blog: “Why is Daimani even interested in this? After all neither company offer the same sort of official VIP hospitality access that we do.
“Well, we’ve been following this merger closely because both companies have a truly wretched record. And anything that is bad for the live event business is, ultimately, bad for all of us.”
In February, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered a halt to any integration between Viagogo and StubHub until it completes its investigation into the merger.
The CMA launched a phase 1 investigation into deal in December and is looking into whether the deal will result in a “substantial lessening of competition within the market,” by looking at the provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002.
Read more on Daimani’s take here.
Image: Ajay Suresh
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