Tamedia regrets rejection by the Competition Commission – development of Starticket to be continued by Tamedia alone

Zurich, 23 May 2017 - Swiss media group Tamedia regrets the decision by the Swiss Federal Competition Commission to prohibit the merger of Starticket and Ticketcorner and reserves the right to take legal action. The merger would have created a wide-reaching ticketing group with innovative services, high performing platforms, mobile apps and scanning solutions for event customers. The rejection of the merger by the Competition Commission fails to recognise the dynamic development taking place in the ticketing market and weakens Swiss suppliers in the international competition.

New event customers and fully updated ticketing system from 2018

As a result of the rejection of the merger by the Swiss Federal Competition Commission, Tamedia has decided to continue to drive the growth of Starticket alone. During the demanding review phase over the last few months, Starticket has achieved double-digit turnover growth compared to the previous year and has acquired a number of new event customers. Its new customers include the Fête des Vignerons winegrowers' festival, which is held around every 20 years and is one of the largest public occasions in Switzerland. Over the last few months, Starticket has also been working on the consolidation and development of the ticketing systems operated by Starticket and the former Ticketportal AG, which means that one of the most modern and efficient ticketing platforms in Europe will be available to partners and customers of Starticket from the start of 2018.

Tamedia looks forward to continue to accelerating its growth together with the Starticket management team.