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04-03-2009, 06:35 PM
By Ethan Smith
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. (TKTM) said Friday that it has received subpoenas from four government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, including the Justice Department, investigating the company's activities in reselling concert tickets.
The company sent an email Friday to ticket brokers who use the company's TicketsNow Web site saying that it had received subpoenas from Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the New Jersey Attorney General and the Canadian Competition Bureau. The company confirmed that the email was authentic but declined further comment.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
Ticketmaster's proposed merger with concert promoter Live Nation Inc. (LYV) is already under review by the Justice Department's antitrust division; it was unclear from the company's email whether any of the subpoenas in question were issued as part of that regulatory review, or part of a separate investigation.
The email indicated that the investigations stemmed at least in part from an episode in February in which people trying to buy tickets to two New Jersey Bruce Springsteen concerts were redirected from Ticketmaster's main site to TicketsNow, where seats were priced at many times face value.
The letter said that Ticketmaster had been asked for information relating to its dealings with ticket brokers, including the names of every broker who resells tickets on TicketsNow and copies of their business contracts.
The letter added that Ticketmaster would take steps to protect the confidentiality of its business relationships but that it considered the requests "lawful demands," and would respond to the requests next Friday, April 10.
-By Ethan Smith, The Wall Street Journal; ethan.smith@wsj.com
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. (TKTM) said Friday that it has received subpoenas from four government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, including the Justice Department, investigating the company's activities in reselling concert tickets.
The company sent an email Friday to ticket brokers who use the company's TicketsNow Web site saying that it had received subpoenas from Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the New Jersey Attorney General and the Canadian Competition Bureau. The company confirmed that the email was authentic but declined further comment.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
Ticketmaster's proposed merger with concert promoter Live Nation Inc. (LYV) is already under review by the Justice Department's antitrust division; it was unclear from the company's email whether any of the subpoenas in question were issued as part of that regulatory review, or part of a separate investigation.
The email indicated that the investigations stemmed at least in part from an episode in February in which people trying to buy tickets to two New Jersey Bruce Springsteen concerts were redirected from Ticketmaster's main site to TicketsNow, where seats were priced at many times face value.
The letter said that Ticketmaster had been asked for information relating to its dealings with ticket brokers, including the names of every broker who resells tickets on TicketsNow and copies of their business contracts.
The letter added that Ticketmaster would take steps to protect the confidentiality of its business relationships but that it considered the requests "lawful demands," and would respond to the requests next Friday, April 10.
-By Ethan Smith, The Wall Street Journal; ethan.smith@wsj.com