| Ticketmaster and Live Nation Merge |
 By
Big Dave 2/5/10
The long sought-after merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation was completed on January 25 when both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Canadian Commissioner of Competition signed off on the deal after seeking concessions from the two companies.
Among the concessions included in the final settlement are requirements that Ticketmaster license their software to AEG Live and divest their self-ticketing/software subsidiary Paciolan to Comcast-Spectacor.
The post-merger company would also be under a ten-year prohibition from retaliating against venues that opt to sign with a competing ticketing services provider.
"[Both companies] agreed they will not use their market power in ticketing to leverage anticompetitive deals at any venues or with any promoters." said Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney.
Michael Rapino, CEO of Live Nation, said, "This is a good and exciting day for the music business, and we are close to finalizing the creation of a new company that will seek to transform the way artists distribute their content and fans can access that content. The Department of Justice was thorough and aggressive in their analysis and their remedies, and we are confident that with this resolution the playing field is competitive and broader as a result of this transaction. We believe that this merger will now create a more diversified company with a great selling platform for artists and a stronger financial profile that will drive improved shareholder value over the long term."
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