eBay Inc. will acquire privately held StubHub, an online reseller of event tickets. The acquisition will enable eBay to expand its presence and offering in the online tickets segment, the company says, while allowing the 7-year-old StubHub to continue to scale its business but now using the resources of eBay. EBay is a secondary market ticket seller that enables secondary market ticket sellers to post tickets for events, primarily music and sports, for consumers to bid on. The online auction site’s Tickets & Experiences category is featured in the short list of categories on eBay’s home page.
“StubHub has been extremely successful in the online tickets segment, and it’s a perfect complement to eBay’s tickets business,” says Bill Cobb, president of eBay North America Marketplaces. “Together we can strengthen both businesses and provide fans with more choice and better service.”
EBay has agreed to purchase StubHub for an estimated aggregate value of approximately $310 million, which will include the company’s net cash as of closing. The acquisition—subject to regulatory approval and approval of StubHub’s stockholders—is expected to close this quarter. EBay’s chief marketing officer Gary Briggs will speaking at Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition, June 4-7 in San Jose, on How eBay Will Continue Re-Shaping the E-Retailing Industry, June 5, 8:45-9:15 a.m.
In 2005 online event ticket sales reached $3.4 billion, and they’re expected to jump 27% in 2006 to $4.3 billion, according to The State of Retailing Online 2006, a Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research Inc. Event ticket sales accounted for 82.9% of all online ticket sales. In 2005 moviegoers spent $700 million online for film tickets, 17.1% of all online ticket sales. Online movie ticket sales are expected to rise 15% to $800 million in 2006, the Forrester research predicts.
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