Featured Image: Photo by Chris Liverani on Unsplash
DEAG Deutsche Entertainment has decided to postpone its re-entry onto the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as it seeks to finalise its latest acquisition targets.
The event organiser and owner of My Ticket and Gigantic said the initial public offering (IPO) delay comes after receiving “overwhelming positive feedback” in discussions with investors about the growth of the company as well as on new entertainment formats.
While DEAG initially planned to return as a public listing in the first quarter of this year, it said it will first complete its latest acquisitions.
“DEAG is currently in advanced conversations with several acquisition targets in accordance with its growth strategy, particularly in the Ticketing segment,” read a DEAG statement.
“For this reason, the Management Board has decided to continue conversations with investors at a later date, aiming to reconsider an IPO later in the year, after finalising the acquisitions and when the macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions, especially in DEAG’s core markets, the UK and Germany, have improved.”
Just a fortnight ago, DEAG stated that it was going to return to the stock market in order to raise money for further growth.
It had posted strong financial figures since COVID-19 with a recorded revenue of €324.8m (£278.7m/$353.8m) and EBITDA of €30.9m in 2022. These were well above pre-pandemic levels.
It has also boosted revenue through M&A action, completing 12 acquisitions since 2021 including a recent deal with Dutch EDM business I-Motion.
Last month, it also acquired 85% of How To Academy, which produces podcasts, live streams, films, and publishes its own books. The deal was made through its subsidiary Fane Productions with a view to building its market position within the spoken word and literary events sector.
That followed it purchasing a majority stake in Irish company Oshi Software, which operates the tickets.ie ticketing platform.
DEAG’s Ticketing and Services business currently has over one million monthly users and over 820 content partners. In 2022 the revenue generated by the Ticketing and Services business almost tripled compared to the pre-COVID 2019 figure.
The company has increased the share of its own event tickets sold via its own platforms from one million out of 5.3 million tickets (19%) in 2019 to a targeted three million out of 10 million in 2023 (30%) and targets a continued mid-term increase in this percentage.
DEAG currently promotes more than 5,000 live events each year and sells more than 10 million tickets annually as a result. The group has run offices in its core markets of Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Ireland for more than 40 years.
Share this