DEAG Deutsche Entertainment Aktiengesellschaft (DEAG) has acquired a majority stake in Irish ticketing platform Tickets.ie.
Through its UK subsidiary MyTicket, DEAG has acquired a majority stake in Irish company Oshi Software, the operator of the ticketing platform Tickets.ie.
The acquisition expands DEAG’s presence in Ireland, with the company hoping for synergy between its other venture in the country, Singular Artists. The concert and event organiser was founded in Ireland in autumn 2020 by DEAG – through its UK subsidiary Kilimanjaro Live – and promoters Fin O’Leary, Brian Hand and Simon Merriman. It organises around 300 live events in Ireland and Northern Ireland annually.
Tickets.ie was founded in 2004 and caters for large events and small, intimate shows in clubs. The company has worked with over 1,000 event promoters and venues since its inception.
Professor Peter L H Schwenkow, chief executive of DEAG, said: “Ticketing is DEAG’s fastest growing business area and an important earnings driver. Especially after the Corona pandemic has subsided, we are experiencing a massive increase in demand for tickets for physical events.
“We already have a strong international market position with our own platforms and are now expanding our position further. The ticketing market in Ireland is also showing strong growth rates. With myticket.ie and tickets.ie, we have strong independent third-party content platforms here that are an excellent complement to our ticketing portfolio.”
John O’Neill, founder and managing director of Oshi, will remain as a shareholder in the company and will continue to manage the company in the long term.
O’Neill added: “We see this deal with DEAG, Kilimanjaro and Singular Artists as bringing our relationship to the next level, of partnership and collaboration. That, to us, is very appealing and exhilarating as we’ll be working closely with them to ensure that all their great artists reach the maximum audience possible.”