The Stage

Stage Entertainment buys Really Useful’s See Tickets

Published Tuesday 8 January 2008 at 16:45 by Alistair Smith

Stage Entertainment subsidiary Stage Ticketing International has purchased See Tickets, the UK’s second largest ticketing operation, from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group.

The development marks the third major move within the UK market by Stage Entertainment, which last year secured a long-term lease on the Shaftesbury Theatre, where it is currently producing Hairspray. It had previously taken over UK theatre production company Adam Spiegel Productions.

As of January 31, See Tickets will become part of the Amsterdam-based group. According to a statement released by the company “this agreement enables Stage Ticketing to enter into the UK market, as well as providing new business opportunities for See Tickets in Continental Europe. See Tickets holds a long-term agreement for the provision of ticketing services for the RUG theatres in London.”

Stage Ticketing International is a separate entity within theatre operator Stage Entertainment. The ticketing division employs around 1,000 people and combined with See Tickets, sells more than 40 million tickets each year.

Henk Kivits, chief executive of Stage Entertainment, said: “This acquisition is a major step for Stage Ticketing International and will further strengthen our position in the highly competitive ticketing and live entertainment markets. We strongly believe that these combined activities will benefit our customers and clients and increase our share of the business in the UK and Continental Europe.”