Britain’s Competition Commission cleared the proposed merger of the two U.S.-based live music giants, Live Nation Inc. and Ticketmaster Inc., for the second time on Friday (May 7).
The U.K. regulatory body dropped its objections to the deal in December but revisited the decision after a challenge made in January by CTS Eventim, a Germany-based supplier of software which is an existing partner of Live Nation’s in the United Kingdom.
The Competition Commission reiterated its earlier findings, saying that the merger would not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the U.K. in the market for live music ticket retailing, live music promotion or live music venues.
Ticketmaster, a retailer of tickets, and Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promoter, completed their merger in January after agreeing with U.S. competition authorities to divest some assets.
