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On Friday an investor in Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc (NASDAQ: TKTM) has filed a proposed class action lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming the Hollywood company sold itself too cheaply to Live Nation Inc.
If you currently hold Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc (NASDAQ: TKTM) shares, you have certain options and you should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc. immediately!
Email: mail@shareholdersfoundation.com
Or call us at:
+1 (858) 779 - 1554
Ticketmaster, the world’s largest ticket broker, announced on Feb. 10 a merger with Beverly Hills’ Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, to form Live Nation Entertainment. Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. announced Ticketmaster shareholders would receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. Ticketmaster shareholders would hold 50.01 percent of the new company, while Live Nation shareholders would have 49.99 percent. Ticketmaster shareholders are asking a Los Angeles state court judge to block the deal, which is pending regulatory review by the Justice Department’s antitrust division. According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that Ticketmaster executives exploited the temporary downturn in the company’s share price, off almost 40 percent in the last three months, and secured benefits for themselves outside of the deal to the detriment of Ticketmaster’
Meanwhile Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc was also hit with a C$500 million ($410 million) lawsuit in Canada and a lawsuit in US on Monday concerning its business practices
But the deal was generating controversy even before it was announced. Ticketmaster was hit with a US lawsuit complaining about the company's sales practices for allegedly redirecting fans, including those trying to buy Springsteen tickets Feb. 2, to TicketsNow.com where the tickets were marked up by hundreds and even thousands of dollars. In the complaint filed Feb. 6 in Los Angeles Federal Court the plaintiff alleges that Ticketmaster gets a 15 per cent cut from TicketsNow, which it owns. 'Ticketmaster profits twice as the result of the monopolistic scheme,' so the lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages. The 'Defendants have illegally bilked event ticket purchasers out of millions of dollars' and the lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop the practice. Springsteen, in a posting on his website, said that 'we perceive this as a pure conflict of interest,' and 'The abuse of our fans and our trust by Ticketmaster has made us as furious as it has made many of you.' Springsteen recently posted a statement on his Web site saying the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation could end up "returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing." Ticketmaster, based in West Hollywood, Calif., issued an apology Feb. 4 for having steered Springsteen fans to TicketsNow and vowed to refund them the price difference between the face value of tickets and those purchased inadvertently through the reseller. On Monday Ticketmaster was now also hit by a $410million lawsuit in Ontario, Canada claiming Ticketmaster made a similar up-selling move in November for a Smashing Pumpkins concert and 'conspired to divert tickets to popular events' from its main website to its own ticket auction website, www.TicketsNow.com. The representing plaintiff in the lawsuit also claims that he had recently bought two concert tickets for $533.65 including service charges on TicketsNow.com. The lawyers are claiming that their client would have only had to pay $133.00 for the pair if they were available on Ticketmaster's main website. The lawyers plan to ask the judge to allow one plaintiff to represent all the other ticket buyers in a group lawsuit. A hearing for this certification motion hasn't been set. Laws prohibiting the resale of event tickets for more than their face value are also in place in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and lawyers said they plan to file similar suits in those provinces. Even though the Canadian lawsuit was filed on the same day as a similar American action, the suits are unrelated, according to lawyers. New Jersey's attorney general launched an investigation.
Charles Schumer, a Democratic senator from New York who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a statement Tuesday opposing the merger, calling the Springsteen ticketing debacle a "bait-and-switch"
Analysts believe the Ticketmaster-
Bill Pascrell Jr., a Democratic representative of New Jersey, called for the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings after news of the potential merger broke. Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, took a balanced view of the deal and said "Music's had a tough time obviously. So to the extent that there can be some efficiencies and you can run a better business, that's something that we have to look at as something pragmatic. On the other hand, the question becomes, `Does this create too much authority and power and control under one roof"
If you currently hold Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc (NASDAQ: TKTM) shares, you have certain options and you should contact the Shareholders Foundation, Inc. immediately!
Email: mail@shareholdersfoundation.com
Or call us at:
+1 (858) 779 - 1554
or send us your information by mail / facsimile:
Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
Trevor Allen
3111 Camino Del Rio North - Suite 423 -
92108 San Diego
Tel:+1-(858)-
Fax:+1-(858)-
mail@shareholdersfoundation.com
www.ShareholdersFoundation.com
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