Ticketmaster has bought a majority stake in Beijing- and Shanghai-based ticketing and event promotions company Emma Entertainment Holdings. Terms were not disclosed.
The purchase marks the third investment Ticketmaster has made in the mainland China market in the past 12 months, following the formation of Broadway China Network and Beijing Gehua Ticketmaster Ticketing, a joint venture that is the exclusive supplier of ticketing services for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Emma Entertainment will change its name to Emma Ticketmaster, while Jonathan Krane will remain company CEO.
“What attracted us to Emma is great local management,” said Ticketmaster executive VP Eric Korman in a statement. “Under Jon’s leadership, Emma has established more than 30 exclusive ticketing venue contracts in five different major cities in China in just three years of operation. Equally as important, Emma has been instrumental in presenting many major events in the People’s Republic of China, such as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.”
Speaking at the Music Matters conference in Hong Kong on May 30, Krane said the Chinese market is now stable enough to handle multi-city tours by major acts. “There’s more of a market to reach than ever before,” he said.
