(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) —
Ticketmaster has acquired Lippupalvelu Oy, the leading ticketing service provider in Finland. Lippupalvelu Oy has been servicing clients and customers in Finland with ticketing solutions for sports, concerts, theatre, and festivals since 1946. Headquartered in Helsinki, Lippupalvelu Oy sold 4.5 million tickets in 2003 for many of Finland's leading Scandinavian promoters, arenas, theatres and sports teams.
The acquisition of Lippupalvelu follows Ticketmaster's recent expansions into Sweden, Norway and Denmark and positions Ticketmaster as the market leader in Scandinavia. Ticketmaster's European ticketing operations now include England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands, in addition to Finland.
"Lippupalvelu Oy is a strong business with an exemplary record of serving clients. We are pleased to welcome promoters, teams and venues in Finland to our growing family of international clients," said Paul LaFontaine, vice president of European Business Development, Ticketmaster. "Ticketmaster is committed to is being the best ticketing service in Europe. We look forward to introducing new services and features to the Nordic Region that give our clients increased flexibility and consumers added convenience."
By combining Ticketmaster's wide array of technology solutions and ticketing services with Lippupalvelu Oy's client relationships and ticketing solutions, Ticketmaster plans to provide clients and consumers throughout Finland with broad and convenient access to live entertainment tickets. Ticketmaster is acquiring Lippupalvelu Oy from TeliaSonera Finland Oyj and private investors. Ticketmaster will continue to operate Lippupalvelu Oy and under the leadership of Harri Kaasinen. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to combine the historically strong ticketing business of Lippupalvelu with the world-wide industry leader, Ticketmaster. We believe this venture will provide our clients with the very best technology and ticketing solutions to drive their businesses," said Paul Gardner, vice President of Business Development, TeliaSonera Finland Oyj. –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
