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Ticketmaster Lead Counsel on Live Nation Merger Issues
The proposed merger between Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc., the world's largest concert promoter, won Justice Department approval in January 2010, following a year of negotiations. The deal was the first negotiated under the Obama administration, which has pledged to impose more stringent antitrust review of corporate mergers.
For consumer groups, independent concert promoters and some performing artists, the combination of West Hollywood-based Ticketmaster and Beverly Hills-based Live Nation represents a threat to competition in ticket sales. The settlement between the companies, the Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 17 states, awaits review by a federal judge. The Canadian Competition Bureau also participated.
The final deal came with strings attached. Ticketmaster must sell one of its ticketing divisions and license its ticketing software to concert promoter Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. (AEG). Moreover, the merged company, to be called Live Nation Entertainment, will be subject to “tough anti-retaliation provisions,” according to the Justice Department.
The law firm Latham & Watkins advised Live Nation, and Los Angeles-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher counseled Ticketmaster. At Gibson Dunn, Steven Sletten, a partner in Los Angeles, led a team of dozens of lawyers in Los Angeles, Washington, Dallas, New York and London. In an interview, Sletten stated that he prepared his client to face a tough audience, both at the Justice Department and in the court of public opinion. The ticketing services aspect of the merger, which constituted a minor aspect of the deal from a business perspective, proved the stickiest point in the negotiations, he said. The interview transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: Negotiations over this merger have been going on for a year. How much work was this?
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