Cashing Out: Week of February 8-14th, 2009 in Online Marketing News
Ticketmaster and Live Nation’s $2.5 Billion Merger
A press release announced the merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation. The newly formed Live Nation Entertainment is a combined enterprise with a value of approximately $2.5 billion. According to the release the new company is focused on improving ticket pricing and technology, and increasing event attendance. The name change was spurred in hopes of distancing the new company from negative press surrounding Ticketmaster. Live Nation Entertainment is projected to generate $6 billion in revenue in ’09.
Microsoft Store Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
Seeking some of Apple’s success with retail outlets, Microsoft threw its hat into the ring when it named David Porter as the new Corporate Vice President of Retail Stores. Porter comes to Microsoft from Dreamworks SKG and with an extensive background in retail with Wal-Mart. According to the release, “the purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy”. Perhaps they should try making software that works.
So Much for Keeping Things Quiet: Facebook and ConnectU series of settlement revelations
The terms of settlements often not disclosed. This week a series of nearly slapstick events revealed the terms of the settlement between ConnectU and Facebook. First to let the cat out of the bag was the lawfirm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, which formerly repersented ConnectU, when an ad (pdf) the firm created was found and published by the Recorder. In the ad the lawfirm claims to have won a $65 million settlement against Facebook.
Not to be outdone the following day Facebook security was outwitted when the Associated Press got a hold of an electronic document containing elements of the hearing that had been redacted and pasted those into the redacted version (pdf) of the transcript. According to AP the transcript revealed that Facebook’s own internal appraisal was $3.7 billion. Significantly lower than $15 billion valuation by Miscrosoft in 2007. The document also revealed that under their settlement, Facebook agreed to pay ConnectU $20 million in cash and 1,253,326 shares of common stock.
