Live Nation Entertainment Acquires Leading Spanish Ticketing Company ServiCaixa

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) today announced that Ticketmaster, the Company's ticketing division, has entered into an agreement to acquire ServiCaixa, the largest ticket retailer in Spain from "la Caixa", the leading Spanish savings bank and financial services group. The transaction, which is subject to Spanish antitrust approval, will create the leading ticketing company in Spain through the combination of Ticketmaster Spain, formerly known as TickTackTicket, and ServiCaixa, legally named Serviticket SA.

By joining these two complementary ticketing companies, Ticketmaster will provide the foremost ticketing services across Spain and the wider Iberian peninsula for all genres, including cinema, music, sports, performing arts, museums and attractions.

As part of the transaction, Ticketmaster will enter into a multi-year marketing and ticket distribution partnership with "la Caixa", which will allow Ticketmaster to offer tickets through the bank's 8,100 ATM's located across Spain. The new Ticketmaster Spain will provide expanded service to existing "la Caixa" customers by offering a greater diversity of ticket inventory through multiple distribution channels, including online, shopping outlet and "la Caixa" ATM's.

"Expanding internationally in attractive markets where we can replicate our integrated model and grow profitably represents one of our key growth initiatives," said Michael Rapino, President and CEO of Live Nation. "This acquisition and our recent expansion in France put us on track in executing our plan and further strengthen Ticketmaster as the world's leading ticketing company."

"Through this transaction, we will significantly enhance our distribution footprint and growth potential in Spain," said Alan Ridgeway, CEO of Live Nation International.  "In particular, this combined range of assets will now enable us to grow our presence in the online advertising and sponsorship markets."

"We are very pleased to have a multi-year agreement with the world's leading ticketing company," said Benjami Puigdevall Esteve, Managing Director of e-la Caixa. "We believe that the new Ticketmaster Spain will provide la Caixa with continued access to a broad range of ticketing services and cross-promotion opportunities for the benefit of la Caixa and its customers."

About Live Nation Entertainment:

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE-LYV) is the largest live entertainment company in the world: connecting 200 million fans to 100,000 events in over 40 countries which has made Ticketmaster.com the #3 eCommerce website in the world.  For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.

About la Caixa:

"la Caixa" is Spain's third largest financial institution, with a network of over 5,400 branches, more than 8,100 ATM's, a workforce in excess of 28,000 and more than 10.5 million customers. "la Caixa" Group has assets worth 285,724 million euros and recorded a net profit of 1,307 million euros at 2010. e-la Caixa is responsible for carrying out the multi-channel management strategy developed by "la Caixa".  For further information, visit www.lacaixa.com.

About ServiCaixa:

ServiCaixa leads the Spanish ticketing market, both in terms of volume and the range of tickets available. In 2010 ServiCaixa processed over 43 million tickets, sold 9.7 million advance ticket sales, and had 1.8 million Club ServiCaixa members, thereby consolidating its position as one of Spain's leading cultural clubs.

SOURCE Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.