Market Currents

• Monday, November 9, 2009

• 16:34 PM Live Nation (LYV): Q3 EPS of $0.82 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $1.8B (+14%) vs. $1.6B. Expects Ticketmaster merger to close in Q1. Shares -1.4% AH. (PR) Comment!
• 00:10 AM Notable postmarket earnings: ARNA, CCO, ERTS, FLR, HOLX, LGF, LYV, MBI, MDR, PCLN, QGEN, RAX, SLW, SQNM Comment!

• Friday, October 16, 2009

• 08:02 AM Ticketmaster Entertainment (TKTM) and Live Nation (LYV) are facing intense antitrust scrutiny for their proposed merger, and may be forced to make concessions to complete the deal, sources say. The outcome could have potential repercussions for other high-profile deals such as Comcast’s (CMCSA) rumored proposal to take a majority stake in GE’s (GE) NBC Universal. Comment!

• Thursday, October 8, 2009

• 08:21 AM Britain's Competition Commission opposes the proposed merger of Ticketmaster (TKTM) and Live Nation (LYV), saying it would lead to higher prices and less competition. In response, Ticketmaster stressed that live music is now the industry's driving force, and says it's still "optimistic that it will ultimately be approved." (CC ruling (.pdf)) Comment!

• Thursday, June 11, 2009

• 08:32 AM U.K. antitrust regulators are investigating a proposed merger between Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TKTM) because "there is a realistic prospect of a substantial lessening of competition." A Justice Department review is already under way. Comment!

• Thursday, May 7, 2009

• 16:43 PM Live Nation (LYV): Q1 EPS of -$1.29 misses by $0.55. Revenue of $499M vs. $562M. Shares -1.2% AH. (PR) Comment!

• Tuesday, April 7, 2009

• 08:04 AM StubHub (EBAY), the largest online reseller of tickets, has met with regulators over Ticketmaster's (TKTM) proposed merger with Live Nation (LYV), says CEO Chris Tsakalakis. He's concerned the combined company will try to freeze out resellers. 1 Comment

• Tuesday, March 3, 2009

• 06:56 AM Live Nation (LYV): Q4 EPS of -$4.33, including $270M in goodwill impairment, vs. consensus of -$0.22. Revenue of $916M vs. $1B. Shares +0.95% AH. (PR) (-from Mon. evening) Comment!

• Tuesday, February 10, 2009

• 09:49 AM The boards of Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TKTM) approve a merger agreement, laying the groundwork for what will likely be an intense regulatory review. 1 Comment

• Monday, February 9, 2009

• 09:47 AM Live Nation (LYV) and Ticketmaster (TKTM) move closer to a merger agreement. An announcement could come by tomorrow morning. LYV +1.5%. TKTM +0.1%. Comment!

• Wednesday, February 4, 2009

• 05:59 AM Sources say Ticketmaster (TKTM) and Live Nation (LYV) are in merger talks and could announce a deal as early as this week. Combining the two companies would create a music industry powerhouse with a combined market value of over $700M. Comment!

• Thursday, November 6, 2008

• 18:21 PM Live Nation (LYV): Q3 EPS of $1.41 vs. consensus of $0.44. Revenue of $1.59B (+9%) in-line. (PR) Comment!

• Friday, September 12, 2008

• 06:08 AM Live Nation (LYV), set to launch its own ticketing-service in January, announces a deal to start selling venue-management firm SMG's tickets. The moves comes as a blow to Ticketmaster (TKTM), which currently handles the ticketing at Live Nation venues. Comment!

• Thursday, August 7, 2008

• 16:05 PM Live Nation (LYV): Q2 EPS of $0.02 beats by $0.22. Revenue of $1.16B vs. $1.05B. [PR] Comment!

• Thursday, July 31, 2008

• 11:14 AM Cheech & Chong light up for a new comedy tour, thanks to a mega-budget from promoter Live Nation (LYV). Comment!

• Friday, June 20, 2008

• 06:34 AM Live Nation (LYV) chairman Michael Cohl will likely leave. Cohl wants to accelerate the firm's mega-star '360' deal-making; CEO Michael Rapino doesn't. Comment!