Weko prohibits merger of Ticketcorner with Starticket

However, the merger plans are not completely off the table: the companies are considering a further appeal of the decision. The Weko justified its decision on Tuesday with a strengthened dominant position of the new company: This would have meant that competition would no longer have played an effective role. Consumers would therefore have had to prepare for higher prices, for example.

The last time the Weko prevented a merger was in 2010, when it concerned the merger of the two telecommunications companies Sunrise and the then Orange (now Salt).

Now, for the first time in seven years, the Weko has resorted to the prohibition. In February, it had already announced that it would take a closer look at the merger project of Ticketcorner and Starticket.

After the examination, it apparently saw no alternative but to veto the merger: it was unable to find any target-oriented conditions that would have allowed the merger project to be approved, the supervisory authority writes in the communiqué.

Ticketcorner already dominates market

The Weko is particularly concerned with competition in the third-party distribution of tickets. Ticketcorner and Starticket distribute and market concerts, shows and other events on behalf of the event organizers. Here, the Weko has clear indications that Ticketcorner already has a dominant market position at the present time.

The market share is very high, said Weko President Vincent Martenet in response to a question from the SDA news agency. However, he was not allowed to give exact figures because of business secrets. According to the "International Ticketing Yearbook", Ticketcorner has a market share of 60 percent, Starticket around 35 percent. In any case, it was clear to the competition watchdogs that together the two companies could have controlled the Swiss market for third-party ticket sales and thus eliminated effective competition.

Even technology companies have not been able to touch the nascent ticketing giant, he said. Companies like Amazon and Facebook are not even in this business yet, not even in the U.S., Martenet said. Moreover, Ticketcorner and Starticket maintain very close relationships with event organizers. New competitors would not be able to compete with this exclusivity.

Advantages through large media groups

By contrast, the Weko did not see any problems with self-distribution, where Ticketcorner and Starticket provide event organizers with software solutions that enable them to distribute tickets themselves. However, the Weko also feared that the companies' owners had strengthened their market position. Ticketcorner is now owned by the Ringier Group and the CTS Eventim Group. Starticket belongs to the Tamedia media group. The media houses had reached an agreement in a merger contract at the end of October.

According to the contract, Tamedia would have held 25 percent of the new ticketing company. The main share of 75 percent would have been held by Ticketcorner Holding, which today is owned half by Ringier and half by CTS Eventim.

Owners consider moving on

The media companies hoped the merger would give them a stronger position vis-à-vis foreign competitors and a better starting position in the wave of digitization that was rolling on. They also wanted to counter the growing importance of direct sales.

They were disappointed by the Weko decision. According to Tamedia, the Weko's "no" decision ignores the dynamic development of the ticketing market and weakens Swiss providers in international competition.

The media company now intends to further develop Starticket under its own steam. During the challenging audit phase in recent months, Starticket has achieved double-digit sales growth and acquired numerous new event customers, it says. Ticketcorner also intends to continue its business "entrepreneurially independent and with unchanged commitment." However, the companies have not completely abandoned the merger project: they now want to examine the justification and reserve the right to challenge the decision at the Federal Administrative Court. (SDA)