Live entertainment company Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG) has acquired 85% of the shares in Berlin-based classical music festival, Classic Open Air at Gendarmenmarkt.
DEAG has acquired the shares via its wholly owned subsidiary, DEAG Classics AG. Classic Open Air has been taking place since 1992 and has become a renowned classical music event under organisers Gerhard Kämpfe und Mario Hempel.
The event attracts between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors each year to the Gendarmenmarkt in the heart of Berlin, with the festival accompanied by light shows, fireworks and lasers.
DEAG Classics AG hopes to strengthen its position in the classics and jazz market through the acquisition. DEAG has also said that the acquisition of the shares will increase the volume of its ticketing business.
Hempel, managing director of Media On-Line Management and Classic Open Air KG which organises the event, will remain a shareholder and provide support and advice.
Professor Peter L H Schwenkow, chief executive of DEAG and Jacqueline Zich, divisional board member of DEAG Classics AG, said: “We are adding an attractive festival series to our event portfolio, which has already hosted many top national and international stars in recent years. We are delighted to be able to contribute to the further development of Classic Open Air with our live expertise and outstanding network.”
Hempel added: “I am very pleased to have found the right partner in Peter Schwenkow and DEAG Classics AG for the further development of Classic Open Air at Gendarmenmarkt, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. DEAG has the potential to make this unique event even more international at one of the world’s most beautiful venues and I am very much looking forward to being able to accompany this.”
DEAG recently announced that it was very much in the hunt for potential ticketing acquisitions, and was in “concrete” discussions with merger and acquisition targets.
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